A video from Wunderled Teaching made me think of an old blog post about a Tea Party! Here is an updated version of my blog post and the video, High Tea Plaza Excursion. I would love to know who you would like to invite to a Tea Party!
The Woodland Trust is encouraging families to celebrate the UK’s incredible trees and woods by throwing a tree party! Become a leaf expert and learn more about trees!
We spent a morning walking around in a big local park looking for a suitable tree to invite. So difficult to choose.
It would be lovely to sit under an ancient tree. A tree that could whisper stories. It would also be lovely to have a tea party and invite a small tree. A tree that symbolises hope for the future. Or a crooked tree . . . Or a tree full of glistening crab apples.
Or a tree stump, the perfect home for many animals during the winter months.
So many options. . .
But who to invite to the tea party?
Friends, of course, but a tea party for a tree also needs a special guest. Trees are important to us, but trees are also important for many animals. So we decided to invite an endangered animal as part of the September challenge for The Twelve Months of Endangered Animal Song. An animal that could tell its story at the tea party while our guests are munching on oak leaf-shaped shortbread biscuits and feta savoury muffins.
A tree kangaroo!
“On the Ninth Day of September, we saved
Nine Agile Tree Kangaroos”
Many animals live among the trees, and the woods are a perfect playground for people as well.
Why not be a nature detective and spy on a tree in your neighbourhood? You might not find a tree kangaroo, but perhaps some other interesting animals, maybe an endangered species, in your neighbourhood that are dependent upon a tree. Why not invite that animal to tea?
Facts about tree kangaroos.
Fast, nimble, and graceful!
Tree-kangaroos are fascinating marsupials. Many species of tree kangaroos are incredibly rare due to hunting and loss of habitat, and they are decreasing in numbers.
Tree kangaroos belong to the same family of marsupials as kangaroos and wallabies – macropods. This family of marsupials once lived in trees, but millions of years ago, they climbed down from the trees to live on the ground. But the ancestors of tree kangaroos went back up to live among the foliage.
Tree kangaroos live in the northeastern parts of Australia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. They are experts at climbing and jumping between trees. Sometimes they are called Boomerang roos! Life among the treetops placed new demands on the anatomy of the normal kangaroo.
Their diets of soft fruits, flowers and leaves mean that they have smaller ears and shorter faces than kangaroos, who eat sharp, spiky grasses. To haul themselves up into trees rather than having big, powerful forearms.
The tail of the tree kangaroo is magnificent. It is a long, solid tail that serves as a counterbalance to the weight of their upper body. They have strong curved claws that help them to climb and manipulate food. This is exactly the kind of adaptation biomimicry designers study — a long, solid tail acting as a natural counterweight is the same principle behind counterbalance systems in cranes, robotic arms, and even some prosthetic designs.
Tree kangaroos sleep on a horizontal branch with their tail between their legs and their nose touching their toes.
Wonder Prompt: If you had a tail like a tree kangaroo’s, how would you use it to help you balance? Try holding a long scarf or rope behind you while walking along a low beam or a line on the ground — does it help you stay steady?
Featured photo: By Fred Hsu (Wikipedia:User: Fred Hsu on en.wikipedia) – Photo taken and uploaded by user, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7976632
Updated Mind Map, part of the challenge “The Twelve Months of Endangered Animal Song”. You can find all the other months on the blog “Sparking Children’s Thinkibility“.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biomimicry?
Biomimicry is the practice of looking to nature for solutions, then applying what we learn to design and problem-solving. Instead of inventing from scratch, it means studying how plants, animals, and ecosystems have already solved a challenge — like staying cool, collecting water, or absorbing carbon — and adapting that strategy for human use.
How does biomimicry help address climate change?
Nature has been adapting to extreme conditions for billions of years, so many organisms already hold working solutions to problems we now face at a larger scale — cooling buildings without electricity (termite mounds), collecting water in drought (the Namib beetle), protecting coastlines from storms (mangrove roots), and capturing carbon (corals, forests, kelp). Biomimicry means studying those solutions and applying the same principles to human design.
How can children get involved in biomimicry?
Children don’t need special training to think like a biomimicrist — just curiosity and a habit of asking “how does nature solve this?” Simple ways to start include a backyard scavenger hunt for nature’s patterns, a “design-an-animal” challenge for a changing climate, or building a small model (like a passive-cooling structure or a water collector) inspired by something they’ve observed outdoors.
Is biomimicry only for scientists and engineers?
No — biomimicry is as much a mindset as a profession. Anyone can practice it by observing nature closely and asking design questions. Professional biomimicry practitioners apply it in architecture, materials science, and engineering, but the same core skill — careful observation followed by “what if we built it that way?” — is exactly what this post’s classroom and family activities are designed to build in children.
Åsa Jomård
In 2015, Åsa completed a course in Biomimicry: A Sustainable Design Methodology at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. With over 10 years of experience exploring nature for inspiration and as a former member of Ben, Biomimicry Education Network, she brings both academic background and creative teaching experience to her work. Her materials seamlessly integrate stories, nature observations, and design challenges, making them perfect for inquiry-led learning in early primary contexts.
AI was used as a Thinking Partner.