|
|
|
|
Kids
dig into community center archeological activity
Special to The Detroit News
Ellyce Field
WEST BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP - A dozen first- and
second-graders drop their backpacks on the muddy grass
outside the huge white tent, scamper inside and arrange
themselves on two benches. Now they are ready to listen
to instructions from Israeli archeologist Aaron Greener.
For the next hour, the children, all Jewish Community
Center day campers, will be junior archeologists. Diggin'
Israel: A Shalom Street Adventure, at the Jewish
Community Center in West Bloomfield Township, is open to
children ages 5-12 and their parents and grandparents.
This activity, "Tel Shalom," a simulated archeological
dig, has been recreated inside the largest of the three
tents on the grounds of the Jewish Community Center.
Brown-and-gold-smudged white cardboard blocks simulating
the ruins of a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem home surround a
large, square sandbox rich with pretend archeological
finds such as mosaic shards, clay oil lamps, bits of
parchment paper, animal bones and coins.
Each child is given a bucket filled with tools of the
trade - a dustpan, brush and trowel.
"We want you to learn how to dig in the correct way,"
says Greener, a graduate archeology student at Israel's
Bar Ilan University. "Pull the dirt into the dustpan and
then into your white bucket. Don't dig a hole. If you
find something like a pottery shard, call me and we'll
put it in the special blue bucket."
Beginning gingerly, the kids crouch on their haunches
then sit fully in the dirt. They yell for Greener as
they uncover important objects.
"I found something!" says 7-year-old Mayuko Otsuka,
holding a piece of parchment. "Me too!" says Taylor
Alexander, 7, showing a metal hook.
After digging for approximately 20 minutes, the children
leave the tent and pour their buckets of dirt onto large
sifters, still looking carefully for hidden objects.
Israeli college student Avigal Greenberg takes the group
into the Archeology Lab. First, they wash off muddy
pottery shards, looking for differences in artwork.
Then, sitting at a long table, they glue together shards
of their own small pot, which they'll take home as a
souvenir.
The experience ends inside the big tent, where Greener
blows the shofar (a ram's horn) and hands each child his
Junior Archeologist certificate.
"I liked the digging best," says Mayuko. Her friends nod
their heads in agreement.
|
|
