Laughlin Chapel Summer Camp Visits Seeing Hand Garden
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Laughlin Chapel summer campers got to float among butterflies, buzz with bees and even more during a visit Thursday afternoon to the Seeing Hand Association’s Edelman Garden on Wheeling Island.
The children made that visit as part of Laughlin Chapel’s six-week summer camp, and Program Coordinator Judi Saunders said it was a good way for the kids to connect with nature when many of them may not have before.
“Children nowadays are so into all the electronics and video games and falling back away from being involved with nature,” she said. “This just helps you understand nature a little bit better.”
The kids had plenty of different opportunities to learn. Stations included a lesson on bees with Windswept Farms’ John Welty, a lesson on butterflies with Heather Tokas of Butterflies From Heather, a lesson on the life cycle of an apple with the Ohio County Solid Waste Authority, a lesson on pollinators from Robin Lee and a display of several animals from Schrader Center Environmental Education Center Naturalist Courtney Comack. Those lessons came within the Edelman Garden, where the kids could peruse growing peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, herbs and more.
The garden has been a part of the Seeing Hand Association’s health and wellness program for the blind and visually impaired, said Seeing Hand Executive Director Karen Haught. But they also wanted to welcome members of the community to enjoy the garden. This is the second year the Laughlin Chapel summer camp has visited the garden, and Haught said the Seeing Hand Association loves inviting them.
“We just thought it would be a wonderful day and it’s very exciting for them,” she said. “They love the different activities and they love the hands-on activities. That’s the goal, to give them a lot of hands-on experiences.”
The campers got to see a caterpillar form into a chrysalis and learn more about bees and turtles. As much as the kids enjoyed seeing more of nature, Comack said she loved giving them that opportunity just as much.
“Einstein said that the more you study nature, the better you’ll understand everything,” she said. “I feel it’s connected me to so many different angles and helped me connect to people, too. When you speak about it with passion, the kids connect. And once you get them to care, that’s our goal.”