The Christina Lake Stewardship Society (CLSS) has been offering the Young Stewards of the Boundary Youth Program every Thursday for the last four weeks, and they will continue to do so for the month of August. The first session, “Fantastic Fish”, involved a teaching component to teach 16 children the basics of fish identification and life cycles.
This was followed by the spawning game, where they hatched out of their eggs and made their way down the ‘stream’ to the ‘lake’ where they had to avoid predators, played by their parents.
The second session “Fun in the Forest” involved a presentation about the different types of trees that can be found in the area. They then went out and found these trees along the trails of the Nature Park, and had a scavenger hunt.
“Aliens Amongst Us” was a program designed around teaching the children about the problems associated with invasive species, both aquatic and terrestrial. This was followed by a walk outside to identify some weeds, which were bagged and collected.
The children did a great job, and two very full garbage bags of weeds were taken to the transfer station! After the weeds were bagged, we embarked on animal track casting.
The polymer tracks of all kinds of animals were filled with plaster, dried and popped out. The children were in awe of the animal track that they had made of their favourite animal, and they were excited to take them home with them.
“Amazing Animals” was the most recent program to be offered. This session began with a presentation that talked about different groups of animals, mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and some of the species within these groups that you can find around Christina Lake.
This presentation was supplemented with bird and frog calls as well, so the children could hear what these animals sound like. The “Who Am I” game was next, where a picture of an animal was clipped on to the back of each child.
They then had to ask questions of their friends and families in order to find out what animal they were. The 19 children of this session then got their hands dirty and made some animal track castings, and painted animal cut outs.
The Young Stewards of the Boundary Youth Program is a great way for parents and children to learn together about the ecology, and biology of Christina Lake, as well as how to conserve it. This program is offered every Thursday from 10:00 am to 11:30 am and is by donation. Pre-registration is advised because spots fill up fast.
This program would not be possible without the generous support of the Phoenix Foundation, the Government of Canada, the Government of BC, RDKB, and donations from members.
The CLSS would like to thank these groups for making the Young Stewards Educational Tools Project a reality. If you have any questions, comments, or you want to be a part of this program, you can contact the Christina Lake Stewardship Society at 250-447-2504 or clss@nethop.net.
– Submitted by the Christina Lake Stewardship Society