Materials
4-6 small rocks White glue
A small piece of wood for each child, about 2" x 4" x 1" (5 cm x 10 cm x 2.5 cm), wood chips work fine
Small wiggle eyes
Moss or twigs
Instructions
1. Tell the children that each of them is going to start a rock collection. Arrange for a walking field trip to find rocks, or ask the children to bring their own rock collections to school in boxes. Make sure they label their boxes with their names.
2. Let each child share a few favorite rocks.
3. Allow the children time to look at each other's collections.
4. Let the children pick partners and sort their rocks.
5. Ask the teams to explain to the class how they classified the rocks.
6. Ask older children to count the rocks in each category and write the number on paper to make a rock report.
7. Now help the children make "rock critters." Give each child a piece of wood and let her select four to six rocks.
8. She may glue two to three of her larger rocks onto the wood.
9. Glue smaller rocks onto the larger rocks to make critters' bodies.
10. Give each child wiggle eyes to glue on their top rocks.
11. Let each child use the moss or twigs to decorate her creation.
