Well, what is it, anyway?

This is a picture of something we found while pumpkin hunting. I have no idea what it is, but someone said it was used to ward away spiders.

I love finding new and interesting things, and then trying to figure out what they are. I have seen this in the classroom I work at. They bring in interesting thing things from nature and have each child guess what it is. This not only brings science and nature into the classroom, but it allows the children to think freely about what each item is. The one I remember most was a cocoon, but the children really didn't know what it was. The most common answer was a leaf.
Children learn by relating things they know to things they are unfamiliar with. In this instance, the cocoon was on a twig, and leaves grow on twigs, so it must be a leaf. This is how children learn about new things. They build on the knowledge they already possess.

In my classroom, I'll be sure to allow this kind of thinking and learning, because it's the natural process. Children need to be able to form their own ideas about things, and by bringing in elements of nature and allowing them to see it, touch it, smell it, listen to it, and sometimes taste it, they get a sense of the world around them and can freely form decisions on different subjects. Of course, some guidance is needed, but by allowing children to make their minds up on something gives them a freedom that they may not have experienced yet.