Come along with me…to the prairie!

September 13th-19^th is Iowa Prairie Heritage Week!

Iowa’s landscape was once covered by vast rolling hills of prairie.  An estimated 85% of the land was prairie grass and flowers when European settlers first arrived.  Since that time the Iowa landscape has changed drastically and today only 1/10 of 1% of our native prairie remains. 

The largest remaining prairie remnants in Iowa can be found in the Loess Hills of Western Iowa.  Other prairie remnants can be found in old graveyards, railroad right-of-ways, road ditches and scattered in small patches on state, county or private lands.

Prairies are a diverse pool of plants species, are habitat for many wildlife species and are a protective buffer for ground and surface water supplies.

Several events are planned across the state to celebrate our prairie heritage.  Visit the Iowa Prairie Network Calendar of Events to find an event in your area. Contact your local county conservation board to learn more about prairies in your community.

Teaching about Prairies

·         Ask children about prairies. Have they ever been to a prairie? What did it look like?

·         Look at pictures of prairie grasses, plants and wildlife.

·         Read books together about prairies.

·         Using pictures and/or furs, talk about animals that live on the prairie.

·         Try bringing in prairie plants for kids to look at, touch and explore.

·         If possible plan a trip to a local prairie so children can get a hands-on look at a prairie.

·         Contact your local county conservation board for resources, such as naturalist programs and supplies, they are always happy to help.

Prairie Crafts
Try these prairie themed crafts from the KinderNature website.

Compass Plants

Carefully glue the sunflower seeds onto the lid of a frozen juice can. Glue yellow tissue paper petals to the juice can lid forming the compass flower. Add leaves (made from green construction paper) to the stick with glue. Finally, glue the flower head to the stick. Parade around the room with your compass plants and talk about what a compass tells us and how the compass plant got its name.

Grass Weaving

Cut notches in the end of a piece of cardboard (cut to the desired size of weaving) approximately 1/4 inch apart and 1/4 inch deep. Carefully place the strings in the slits of the cardboard, knotting the ends. Keep the string taut by slightly bending the cardboard. Weave dried prairie grass or raffia in and out across the strings. Taping the end of the grass with a small piece of masking tape will help smaller children.

 

Reading Connections
Butterfield, M. 1999. Animals on Plains and Prairies. Raintree Publishers.
Fleming, D. 1991. In the Tall, Tall Grass. Henry Holt and Co.

Fowler, A. 2000. Lands of Grass. Scholastic Library Publishing.
Geisert, A. 1998. Prairie Town. Walter Lorraine Books.

Howard, F. 2006. Grasslands. ABDO Publishing Company.

Johnson, R.L., P.V. Saroff and G. Braasch. 2000. A Walk in the Prairie. Lerner Publishing Group.

Mader, J. 2004. Living on a Prairie. Scholastic Library Publishing.

McGehee, C. 2004. A Tallgrass Prairie Alphabet. University of Iowa Press.

Nichols, C. 2002. Grassy Lands. Benchmark Books.

Penny, M. 2003. Grasslands. Thameside Press.