On Monday, we were very lucky in P1 to take part in an online lesson with Nigel from the Ulster Museum. He delivered two large boxes from the Nature Room to our school, which contained a hedgehog, red squirrel, buzzard and fox. He then taught the children about each of the animals in turn. Both Nigel and I were very impressed with the knowledge the children had about hibernation and migration and their awareness of predator / prey and nocturnal animals. It made me very proud to hear them share their knowledge with such enthusiasm and also to ask Nigel excellent questions about each animal. We get to keep the animals for a week before we have our second lesson next Monday. Each day, we will focus on one of the animals and try to draw them exactly as we see them. Today, we started with the hedgehog and had our first gallery session afterwards. The children loved seeing each other's work and were great at giving praise to each other about their artwork. It was very sweet to hear them say things like, "I love the way you did so many little spines," or "You're nose is very cute," or indeed "I love your big fat body!" We are really looking forward to our next lesson where we get to show Nigel our pictures and ask him as many questions as we can think of about any animal we like!
