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KINGSTON TWP. — The warm sun overhead and a cool breeze rustling through the trees made for an excellent day to learn about nature.
On Saturday, children between the ages of 4 to 10 were welcomed to Frances Slocum State Park to partake in the “Egg-citing Egg Activities” educational workshop hosted by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the state park.
Children and their parents met at the campground amphitheater area to learn all about eggs and the animals that lay them.
“Eggs are the start of life for all living creatures,” said Kathy Kelchner, the park naturalist, “and birds are not the only creatures that lay eggs.”
Children were invited to touch and view examples of eggs of all different sizes, from the enormous emu egg to the minuscule hummingbird egg. There were also activities to show other types of delicate eggs existing in nature – substituting tapioca for amphibian eggs and ping pong balls for turtle eggs just to name a few.
The children were invited to participate in hands-on arts and crafts and egg-themed challenges. The activities included gathering under the picnic tables to create a paper-egg “hatchling,” egg on a spoon races (with replicas of turkey and red-tailed hawk eggs) and blowing on eggs with straws to show their elliptical shapes and trajectories.
The children were also able to naturally dye eggs blue and brown using red cabbage juice and onion skins, as a natural alternative to traditional egg dyes.
“[Eggs] are awesome,” exclaimed Matthew TerBush, 5, of Shavertown.
“It was cool. I liked when she made the egg fit into the bottle with the fire,” added 6-year-old Nicholas Consentino of Berwick.
Kelchner, the master of ceremonies for the event, is in her 19th season at Frances Slocum and hosts school programming and events in the spring and fall.
Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, however, Frances Slocum State Park is hosting family friendly activities and events every Saturday afternoon free of charge and open to the public.
“If you can get kids involved and interested in nature when they’re small, it will help keep them interested as they grow up and help them make informed decisions,” said Kelchner.
Next Saturday Frances Slocum State Park will be hosting “Life in the Pond” at 1 p.m. for children ages 5 and up. Children will be able to use dip nets to see what kind of life lives at the edges of the pond. It is free of charge, and attendees are encouraged to wear old sneakers and clothing.
Attendees should meet at the gravel parking lot at the bottom of Campground Road.