The Hamilton College Arboretum Association hosted a family day on Saturday, July 19. More than 100 people participated in Root Glen walks, a scavanger hunt, storytelling, and fairy house building.
The families arrived, with many of the little girls dressed in fairy costumes, and began their afternoon with a walk through the Root Glen and the Hamilton campus to gather materials to decorate fairy houses.
Arboretum Outreach Coordinator Lesley Urgo, in an interview with the Utica Observer Dispatch, said, "So many kids go from television to television. We just wanted a day focused on being outside in nature."
The children, parents and grandparents, then gathered on the lawn of the Glen House for a story. Beth Tegart, who works in the Communications Office and is a professional storyteller, performed a finger play and read the book Fairy Houses by Tracey Kane.
Some of the older children spent time with Hamilton Arborist Mike Mahanna who talked to them about things to look for in nature and sent them off on a scavanger hunt specially designed for the Hamilton arboretum.
Many of the children (and their mothers) spent hours making fanciful fairyhouses with bark, moss, twigs and flowers. The children left with their houses, a wand and a bag full of fairy dust. One little girl asked, "If I sprinkle the fairy dust will the fairy come live in the house I made for her?" If you believe in fairies.
The families arrived, with many of the little girls dressed in fairy costumes, and began their afternoon with a walk through the Root Glen and the Hamilton campus to gather materials to decorate fairy houses.
Arboretum Outreach Coordinator Lesley Urgo, in an interview with the Utica Observer Dispatch, said, "So many kids go from television to television. We just wanted a day focused on being outside in nature."
The children, parents and grandparents, then gathered on the lawn of the Glen House for a story. Beth Tegart, who works in the Communications Office and is a professional storyteller, performed a finger play and read the book Fairy Houses by Tracey Kane.
Some of the older children spent time with Hamilton Arborist Mike Mahanna who talked to them about things to look for in nature and sent them off on a scavanger hunt specially designed for the Hamilton arboretum.
Many of the children (and their mothers) spent hours making fanciful fairyhouses with bark, moss, twigs and flowers. The children left with their houses, a wand and a bag full of fairy dust. One little girl asked, "If I sprinkle the fairy dust will the fairy come live in the house I made for her?" If you believe in fairies.
