Activities With Kids in Southern Chile “The Truth of the Woods”

During our visit in southern Chile, we went to the school: “Colegio Kopernikus” in Frutillar. This classroom had students between 3 and 5 years old. They share a special methodology of education, so they have a different implementation of the national curriculum.

The weeks ahead were coordinated with the children. Since this part of the year was Autumn in Chile, the children did their traditional hike to the woods and encountered many mushrooms. They called the next week of science, “The truth of the woods,” and implemented some activities related to this knowledge. The teacher reviewed the film Fantastic Fungi, where they had inspiration for the new activities with kids in the classroom. They made a mini-museum with their drawing and plasticine sculptures as part of the activities so the children were prepared for our visit. Part of the activities planned with the kids was having a mycologist in the classroom to know about their experiences in the woods and the tools that we used in mushroom field work. So, in a conversation session they asked their questions and we showed them our principal tools for our field work like, “The Field Guide of Chilean Mushrooms.”

Daniela Torres, in charge of these activities with the children, told them some curiosities about mushrooms related to the Modul 1, Lesson 2 of the FF curriculum: Mycelium the Sources of Life. Some of their questions were about how the mushroom grows, if they are poisonous or dangerous, and to tell the class their favorite mushroom encounter.

After our visit, the teachers did the mycorrhizal network activity that we proposed in the FF curriculum. We already see what a wonderful impact our FF Curriculum is having on these children and we can’t wait to share more!

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