Kids go mud balling to learn about plants
Whittier Elementary School fourth grade teacher Melissa Guerin, right, throws a mud ball with her students during an Earth Day celebration at Newport Banning Land Trust in Costa Mesa on Tuesday.
A class of fourth-graders from Costa Mesa’s Whittier Elementary School had a ball Tuesday — a mud ball, that is — as part of an early Earth Day celebration put on by the Newport Banning Land Trust.
More than 30 youngsters went to the Land Trust’s office on West 17th Street in Costa Mesa to toss mud balls along with Newport-Mesa Unified School District board member Karen Yelsey.
The goal of the event, in its second year, is to “make learning about plants and nature fun,” according to Robyn Vettraino, executive director of the Land Trust.
Newport Mesa Unified School District Board Member Karen Yelsey reacts as Whittier Elementary School fourth graders Giovanni Castillo, bottom, and Maria Leon, both covered with mud, give her a hug as they celebrate Earth Day with a mud balling event at Newport Banning Land Trust in Costa Mesa on Tuesday. The event is an effort to build the NBLT nursery and restoration program for Newport Banning Ranch.
Mud balling is when “students take a wheelbarrow full of very wet soil and mix seeds into it, then make snowball-like balls of mud and throw (them) into trays,” Vettraino wrote in an email Tuesday.
The trust gave the class a field journal a few weeks ago to introduce the children to the parts of a plant and show them what makes plants grow, according to Vettraino.
“A big priority for us is community involvement in our restoration and long-term stewardship,” Vettraino wrote. “So getting kids involved at a young age is a great way to engage them for the long term but also bring the experience home for their family and friends to hear about.”
Earth Day is officially April 22.
Newport Mesa Unified School District Board Member Karen Yelsey, left, joins a Whittier Elementary School fourth graders in throwing mud balls during an Earth Day celebration at Newport Banning Land Trust in Costa Mesa on Tuesday.
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Twitter: @LukeMMoney
