County agencies invite kids to Earth Day activities

The Earth Day Celebration at the Waseca County East Annex on Wednesday, April 22, featured children’s activities, free snacks and refreshments, and free saplings.

 

The tree chosen for this year’s giveaway was aspen. The saplings came in small brown paper bags; the soil was black and had plenty of moisture to last the trip home. Amy Nelson with the Waseca County 4-H program was among those who helped hand them out. The east annex was full of children and tables set up for Earth Day. Nelson continued, “We are here because of donations and help from the 4-H, the Waseca Soil and Water Conservation District, and the Waseca High School Student Council.” 

 

To the right of the tree giveaway was a table with red Solo cups filled with popcorn to munch on. Dave Bilitz was there with three of his children, Zachery, 9, Xander, 9, and Brady, 6. Said Bilitz, “We’re from the other side of Janesville, thought we’d come and check it out, see if we might learn something.”

 

Mariana Izaguirre, Community Health Worker for the Waseca County Public Health department had a table set up with activities for kids and a spinning wheel. She explained, “Kids spin the wheel, then depending on where that lands, they get an environmental health question. If they answer that question correctly they get to pick a prize from the treasure chest.” She pointed to a box with surprises inside.

 

Alexis Myers, from 4-H was at the next table showing kids how to make a clay pot that closed. “We want the kids to be able to take their seeds that they win here, put them into the clay pots they’ve made and take that home with them.” She picked up a white clay pot still in production and said, “See, before the clay dries, we can close their pot up and the seeds stay safe inside until they get home.” There were three kids making pots.

 

Audrey Gray and Violet Jewison were next to that; they had packets of lima beans, paper towels, bottles of water and clear plastic bags. Said Jewison, “We give the kids a lima bean, they wrap it in a paper towel to keep it wet. We put that in a clear bag and once they see it’s starting to sprout, then they can plant it in the ground. You can plant these anywhere, but if you plant it in your yard where you mow like some kids have done, just remember where it is and tell your parents so they don’t mow it over.”

 

Last but certainly not least were Alexis and Kim Olson: On their table were handfuls of assorted pipe cleaners and a big yellow box of Cheerios, (not the honey-nut kind). Said Alexis, “We take the pipe cleaners, and we thread the Cheerios along them. Once you get a ring of them you can hang it anywhere and watch the birds show up to feed.”