Julian and Oliver are pretending to be poisonous worms that are covered in a
poisonous slime, which their bodies make because they mostly eat a plant that is
poisonous to everyone else. The worms are camouflaged with rock color, until
they sense danger, then they flip over to show their red bellies to warn predators
they are poisonous. I played the bird trying to eat the worms, only to find they
taste disgusting and are poisonous. They are special worms with complete faces –
eyes, nose, mouth, ears. The worms love marshmallows and s’mores, they
discovered them when some campers left them behind after packing up to go
home. They offered some marshmallows to me and my babies after we became
friends when I discovered I couldn't eat them. They like to eat the excess
poisonous slime on their bodies. This recycles the poison, so they don’t have to
completely rely on the one specific plant for the poisonous slime.
This narrative is a game to them; they are fully invested in being worms
and talk freely about themselves as worms. For this story to take place the children - or
at least Julian, who was the instigator - had to know a great deal about the natural world and the animals in it. He had to know that some animals use camouflage for protection, some use bright colors to warn off predators, some can eat plants that are poisonous to other animals and take on those poisonous properties, some can eat their own bodily secretions and reuse them, worms don’t normally have “faces,” and they even had to have some knowledge of the effects that humans can have on animals and their habitats.
There is a lot of understanding going on in one story! I realize I don’t have any
proof of where they learned all of these facts about animals and the natural world. Many times when I ask them where they learned something, they just look past me blankly, then say, “Um, I don’t know.” As if to say, “isn’t it common knowledge what a worm looks like? Haven’t you ever looked at one?”
poisonous to everyone else. The worms are camouflaged with rock color, until
they sense danger, then they flip over to show their red bellies to warn predators
they are poisonous. I played the bird trying to eat the worms, only to find they
taste disgusting and are poisonous. They are special worms with complete faces –
eyes, nose, mouth, ears. The worms love marshmallows and s’mores, they
discovered them when some campers left them behind after packing up to go
home. They offered some marshmallows to me and my babies after we became
friends when I discovered I couldn't eat them. They like to eat the excess
poisonous slime on their bodies. This recycles the poison, so they don’t have to
completely rely on the one specific plant for the poisonous slime.
This narrative is a game to them; they are fully invested in being worms
and talk freely about themselves as worms. For this story to take place the children - or
at least Julian, who was the instigator - had to know a great deal about the natural world and the animals in it. He had to know that some animals use camouflage for protection, some use bright colors to warn off predators, some can eat plants that are poisonous to other animals and take on those poisonous properties, some can eat their own bodily secretions and reuse them, worms don’t normally have “faces,” and they even had to have some knowledge of the effects that humans can have on animals and their habitats.
There is a lot of understanding going on in one story! I realize I don’t have any
proof of where they learned all of these facts about animals and the natural world. Many times when I ask them where they learned something, they just look past me blankly, then say, “Um, I don’t know.” As if to say, “isn’t it common knowledge what a worm looks like? Haven’t you ever looked at one?”
No comments:
Post a Comment