Accidentally getting into trouble is an experience shared by children and pets. My cat, Rye, loved to chew on things. Unfortunately, his chewing included electrical cords: to laptops, toasters, hair dryers, even Christmas lights. Not even the mild shock he’d receive if the wire was live would deter him from chomping on them!
Carol Foote’s book, Trouble Dog, highlights another pet whose penchant for mischief helps them make a difference. Tucker goes from living in a shelter to working as a conservation dog with his trainer, Laura. Read the book together and use one or more of the following activities with children 3+ to explore the world of conservationism and helping care for our ecosystem.
Boredom. When Tucker is bored, he finds problematic ways to entertain himself. Ask children: When do you feel bored? Invited them to use their bodies and faces to demonstrate how they look and act when they are bored. Then ask: What do you do to keep yourself from being bored? Rank those activities on a ‘trouble’ scale, with 1 being not really trouble to 10 being a lot of trouble.
Games. Laura turns learning into a game to make the process fun for Tucker. Help children create a game that teaches others something. For example, they might create and hide clues that lead others to a book about plants, play 20 Questions to guess the name of constellations, or design a board game that includes facts about protecting the environment.
Smells. Tucker uses his nose to find things. Laura trained him to recognize different smells. Collect some items with distinct smells, like spices, foods, flowers, cleaning supplies, etc. Place them in opaque containers and invite children to sniff each one and try to identify it by its smell. Then hide a particularly strong smelling item and encourage kids to locate the item using their noses.
Snails. Tucker’s first conservation job is finding invasive Rosy Wolfsnails. Encourage children to research this pest to learn more about how they live and why they are a problem. Then challenge them to identify invasive species in their state. Collaborate or suggest a friendly competition to see who can list the most in a set time period. Brainstorm ways to manage one or more of your local pests.
Scat. Scat is another word for animal poop. Conservationists use it to track animals and learn about their diet and health. Download a scat identification chart (see Related Resources). If you are able, take a walk and look for animal scat, using the chart to guess its origin. Or invite children to find foods or other items that resemble different kinds of scat and match them to the images on their scat chart.
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