“IT‘S SNOWING, THE GRASS IS GROWING“ WORKSHOPS IN CHRISTMAS TRAIN
The Public Institution Agency for Nature Protection in Osijek-Baranja County held 6 workshops at the local Christmas train, including 195 pupils from 6 to 10 years of age on December 4, 11 and 18. The workshops under the name “It’s snowing, the grass is growing“ highlighted the issues concerning climate change in our region and globally. The children learned something new in a fun and interactive way. Our goal was to present to them how serious the situation is with climate change and that each individual’s contribution to preserve our planet is highly important. In order to connect the winter season and Christmas with our topic, we decided that the children should make snowmen, decorate them in their own way, plant wheat seeds in the hat of the snowman (planting wheat seeds is a tradition for Christmas in Croatia and it symbolizes prosperity and fertility; it is believed that if the wheat grows high, thick and is very green, the next year will be more successful in financial terms), take them home and continue to nurture them. This way, we sent out an important message that each individual can actually do something useful just like the pupils that will water and nurture their snowman and wheat. Children learn about waste sorting, recycling, how to behave in nature and about the importance of planting trees from an early age so by planting wheat seeds, they received a special task on a daily basis and the feeling that they are contributing to nature was created in each and every one of them.
