We just came back from a trip to a horse ranch (7D Ranch) outside of Cody, Wyoming. My daughter, Lil, was excited when we first walked into our cabin because there were shelves that had a few children’s books right at her eye level. She wanted to read them immediately! I picked the books that I wanted to read, but kept avoiding one in particular: Who Pooped in the Park?
The title just put me off. I didn’t really want to talk about poop with my three year old when I spend most of my time trying to get her to NOT talk about poop! But, a few days later when it was time for a nap, I could hear that my husband had found the book and was eagerly reading it to our daughter. Somehow, I was not surprised! Interestingly enough, I could hear him reading the book through our monitor and it was quite fascinating. It’s about a journey that a family takes through Yellowstone National Park (although Who Pooped in the Park? is a series that visits many national parks). As they walk, the family learns about the animals that live in the park by noticing different types of animal prints and scat. Believe it or not, I read the book later to my daughter because I wanted to hear it again. I was shocked at how much I learned! The best part is that the book inspired my husband to take Lil on a walk to the nearby river by following horse tracks and horse scat.
When we found ourselves stranded in Cody for an extra day because our flight home was cancelled, we decided to drive out to Yellowstone National Park for a bonus vacation day. And, yes, we went despite having two tired little ones in tow. We just couldn’t resist going since we had the time! In the back of my mind, I kept thinking that it was too perfect since we had been reading a book about Yellowstone all week! Because of that book, my daughter had learned about buffalo, or American bison, as well as other animals at the park. So, when we drove around she knew what animals we were looking for and why. Although she spent most of the day ignoring the gorgeous surroundings, like old faithful….even though her Mother sat for over an hour to get this front row spot *sigh*…
…when there was a buffalo next to her window, she lit up like a Christmas tree saying “that’s so amazing!”
When we got home, I wanted to reinforce the whole experience. I focused on what a footprint is by giving Lil a paint brush and some water. The paintbrush didn’t work out so well, but that turned into a lovely time painting with water (a great activity too!).
So, we filled a tray with water and that did the trick.
We walked around to make our own foot prints and talked about evaporation as our footprints slowly “disappeared”.
When Lil noticed that my footprints were evaporating, she went over with the paintbrush to paint what had disappeared.
We talked about how our footprints looked different because we are different sizes but that our footprints look similar because we are the same species. That led to talking about the animals at Yellowstone and how we saw different sized prints. We also discussed how my footprints were LARGER and hers were smaller just like animal prints we saw.
I love following up books and experiences with an activity. This gave me a chance to reinforce learning by talking about other concepts and vocabulary (different/similar, larger/smaller, species, evaporate, etc.) while reflecting on our big trip! It’s such a wonderful way to “teach” a child.
I think this series is great for families that are taking a road trip or vacationing to national parks. Show your child the pictures, read the book, and then tell them – “guess what? We get to visit this place!” Or, if you know a family or friend that is about to take a trip, it would make a wonderful gift. Check out the Yellowstone version:
Have a great book or activity you’ve done with your little ones? Share with us!
Liz says
This is so amazing!! What a wonderful tool for moms! We LOVE books in our house. They are very much a part of our routine, but I must confess, they are rarely integrated into our play. Now I have a cheat sheet 😉
(And a certain Nana ended up buying us the Who Pooped in the Park book. I felt the same initial resentment as you did. But it has indeed become a fast favorite in our home too!)
happilyevermom says
Hey Liz – glad you liked it! I think Jack would really love the upcoming post – hope to see you here often 🙂