Sidewalk Crack Safari
About 30 minutes, outside, for ages 8 to 10.
Where it works
Works in any outdoor space
Who it's for
ages 8 to 10
Try this adventure now:
- a plant growing out of concrete
- moss
- an insect using a crack as a road
- a crack wider than your finger
- a seed that landed somewhere hopeless
Today's Challenge
- 1.How did a plant get all the way out here?
- 2.Which crack has the most living in it?
- 3.What is the toughest thing you found?
Quick Start: What you need
- 1pencil
The Goal
Get low and look at the tiny wild world growing in the gaps of the pavement.
How to start
- 1
Gather what you need: pencil. Nothing else required.
- 2
Head outside and see how many you can find: a plant growing out of concrete, moss, an insect using a crack as a road, a crack wider than your finger.
- 3
Talk about what you are seeing. Start with "How did a plant get all the way out here?"
- 4
Print the worksheet to check things off as you find them, and keep it afterwards.
Draw Your Best Crack
Draw the crack with the most going on in it, and everything living there.
Plants can grow in pavement cracks because the gap collects the dirt and rainwater they need.
If you want to push it further
- Count how many different plants you find in ten steps
- Find the smallest living thing you can see without help
Print it and go
The worksheet has the checklist, the prompts, and a space to draw in. One page, ready for a bag or a glovebox.