Seeing a child’s imagination at work can be a truly amazing experience. What’s even more amazing is seeing them learn values like recycling at the same time. That’s exactly what Happy Dancing Turtle was looking to achieve with their recent Recycled Halloween Crafts class at Pine River-Backus Schools.
“We brought in new materials and household items that would normally be thrown away and just let the kids create…and it’s something they can take home and do at home too,” explained Michelle Hoefs, Happy Program Coordinator. Dancing Turtle. “I mean, we were using toilet paper tubes, tin cans, paper, markers and glue. So it’s not something they have to come here to do, it’s something they can then take the ideas and go home and do as well.
Happy Dancing Turtle offers programs like this craft class and their monthly Nature Club with the goal of educating students on the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling, while fostering a sense of creativity in students.
“Happy Dancing Turtle’s mission is to develop good stewards of the planet, and we do that through events, programs, and classes like this that inspire wonder and drive change,” Hoefs said. “So just then, showing them these little things, you know, it gets them thinking about other things they can do rather than just throwing things away.”
Happy Dancing Turtle will host its 17th annual Back to Basics event on February 11, which will host a number of sustainable living workshops and a recyclables vendor fair. For more information, you can check the Happy Dancing Turtle website.
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