Article Link: http://www.exchangepress.com/article/all-creatures-grand-and-humble-cultivating-empathy-for-wildlife-in-preschoolers/5025929/
It started with a scream on the playground. “Ahhh!
A bug!” I went over to the girl who had found a small green beetle by the playhouse slide. She was wailing and hopping from foot to foot, yet she had not run away from the crawley critter.
“Oh wow,” I said. “Did you find a beetle? Can I see? I love to look at beetles!”
I scooched in close and made a show of examining the beetle. “Wow! Look at her little antennae! It is so cute how they move around like that to help her feel the world! I wonder if she would like to feel this leaf?”
By now, the girl had quieted down and was watching my every move with interest. I coaxed the beetle onto a leaf and brought it to eye level. “Hi there, little beetle friend! Thank you for choosing to walk onto my leaf!”
“She is so cute! I love beetles,” the girl cooed.
“Where do you think she lives?” I asked the girl.
“Umm, plants?” We brought the beetle over to the fence and let her walk onto some leaves. Together, the girl and I went around to the other children on the playground and asked ...