Our first ever service tyke hike was a great success. Thirty-three hikers of all ages worked to remove almost as many bags of garlic mustard from a small section of the Hartland Segment.
Starting off with a look into the past, we envisioned what the area may have looked at thousands of years again with Lisa Wheeler's Mammoths on the Move. Then, after a brief hike, I introduced the aliens that are talking over Wisconsin's forests: garlic mustard.
As we headed back towards our work area, I asked the kids to yell garlic mustard every time they saw it. Needless to say, they were yelling a lot.
Once we got to the work zone, we talked about one of my classroom mottos, "Work hard! Play hard!" We lived out this motto by puling garlic mustard in two different areas before our natural play.
The wet but not soaked ground made it very easy for all hikers to easily pull out the invasive plant with intact roots. The kids seemed to have plenty of fun filling up their bags.
Of course, they had plenty more fun exploring a sweet natural play site adjacent to the work area.
Our youngest generation needs to learn to love and appreciate nature before we ask them to take care if it. I hope this hike (and future hikes) will be a small step in this direction.
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