Jam investigates his neighborhood

​Jam and some friends took a closer look at their neighborhood. I asked them to write things they thought every neighborhood should have. We did this outside so I told them not to cheat by looking around. They came up with some general good stuff like trees, houses, and playgrounds. To encourage them to think harder I asked them questions to lead them to other items in our neighborhood. Our dialog went as follows: I asked, “If you changed Kal’s stinky diaper where would you put it?” They answered, “In the trash.” I asked, “Would you want that trash to stay inside and stink up the house?” They yelled “NO!” Then I said, “So what do you need?” Before I finished my question they yelled dumpster, and pointed to the dumpster by our cars.  Then I asked, “So do you think that is important for a neighborhood to have? Why?” Some repeated back to me the same diaper scenario back to me and some gave me other reasons. We talked about street lights, fire hydrants, and electric boxes and poles. Once they made their list we searched the neighborhood for them. 

​The best find was when one of the kids pointed out the storm water inlet and manhole. He said it was important because the inlet kept the road from flooding. Such a smart answer moment hilariously transitioned into Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle sewer conversation. It’s funny how TMNT sneaks in every conversation.  

The kids got side tracked checking the playground off their list because… well you can see why. Overall they had a blast running through the neighborhood, and asked me when they could do the next activity. So I guess Investigate With Jam has extended to With Jam and Friends.

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Activity

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Investigate your neighborhood.
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Case study #11: Try to find the items on the list. Discuss why they are important to have in your neighborhood.

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