It all started with a picture,
This picture in particular done by graphic artist and continual inspiration Catrin Welz-Stein 0f Germany.
Something about its whimsical impossibility made me think about our next beaver festival way before I should and wonder about the idea of creating a mystery for children to solve as the activity. What if the mystery used the collection of “suspects” at a beaver pond that represented all the wildlife? What if children were asked to find out what happened to the missing salmon?
I imagined children getting a top secret dossier containing 6 cards showing the foot prints of 6 different species. Then having to find what animal left what footprint and solve the crime. Participating exhibits would have a matching card showing the species, like an otter, and its alibi. “It wasn’t me. I was saving it for my birthday”. Or the beaver, saying “Not me, I don’t eat fish!” And so on until the mystery is solved.
By eliminating all the ‘suspects’ kids can solve the mystery and find the solution: (maybe the answer is that salmon swam to sea?) When kids know they come back to me and collect their reward for solving the case!
Mulling about looking for the reward I stumbled upon this miniature magnifying glass made by Solid Oak Inc in Rhode Island for their Steam Punk Collection. It sells for 10 dollars on Amazon, which is way outside our budget. It sells for 7 at their website which is better but still outside our budget.
So I started researching the owners and learning what I might about them. Turns out the VP of marketing is also a passionate supporter of the humane society and against animal cruelty. I thought maybe there was a chance he’d take mercy on beavers but I knew Rhode Island tends to be a tough sell on our flat tailed friends.
It was a tough sell. When I talked about our work to the woman running the store she pointed out how beaver dams block everything from getting by including water and fish. I gamely persevered. And tried to make our story irresistible.
It is hard work sounding irresistible from 3000 miles away, But I kept hoping. Yesterday the VP wrote that he could get me 100 magnifying glasses shipped directly from the supplier for a price we can afford and just like that we have ourselves a festival! HURRAYYYYYYYYYYYY!
I could see it all coming together in my mind! All respect to Amelia Hunter and Catrin Welz-Stein, but I always like to imagine ideas to encourage our artist to be intrigued so she can create something way better than anything I can do.
So now its just a matter of creating the clue cards and inserting details. Excellent. I like to leave myself plenty of time so I can know the details of that I’m asking for when I start the grant writing process, which believe it or not is due at the end of December. Bruce Thompson of Ecotracs in Wyoming says he’ll help me with footprints, and I’m thinking 2 inch square business cards for the footprints to match together with the suspects, with kids putting the entire mystery together to reveal the solution.
The activity teaches: whose at a beaver pond, what footprints go with that animal, and reminds everyone about SALMON and why they show up in beaver ponds in the first place. Which is a great way to show that beaver ponds matter.
Oooh how exciting!
