Night Creatures

For this activity, you will need an adult, something to write with, and something to write on. Wait until the sun has begun to set, or better yet, until it’s almost all the way below the horizon. Look out the window or step outside your home. Make a list, either in your head or on paper, of everything you can see and hear when night falls that you can’t during the day. Now make a list of everything you can’t see or hear, but that you know might be quietly going about its special business, sharing the night-time with you. Who are you at night that you aren’t during the day? What might you do differently? What is special about night-time?

Out loud, read Georgia Heard’s "Bat Patrol" and Jacqueline Woodson’s "Firefly." Both of these poems tell a story about a night creature that, though not easy to spot, is important and even magical. What else do we depend on, or makes our lives better, that we can’t always see?

Now write the story of a thing or creature you listed, and what you want the world to know about it.