Evening star., 1953-07-27
By jones 6. Deone

/ A pretty and enterprising COL
lege student is making birds,
bugs and tree leaves the current
conversation topics among Prince
Georges County small fry.
To most of the youngsters she's
known as "the nature lady" but |
her real name is Mary Helen
Martin.
Miss Martin is the county rec
reation departments first nature
instructor. This summer she has
organized a program to encour-
age young playground patrons to
take interest in the wonderful
things of the outdoors.
She planned the program her
self and managed to wangle her
way into a two-week course for
National Capital Parks natural
lists to add to her own fund of
nature lore. Since June % she
has been busily travelling a cir
cult of II recreation areas,
spending two hours at each once
a week and leaving special prof.
ects to be carried out in the
interim.
Wins Adults Favor.
The new program already is
winning praise from parents and
recreation leaders and looks like
something the county will want
to adopt permanently.
Miss Martin, just 20, is a |
science student at Cornell. She
lives in College Park, where her
father heads the University of |
Maryland's mathematics depart |
ment. She was the winner Of sew
eral science contests while a STU
dent at the old Hyattsville High |
School. -
She is very serious about her
scientific study, and it's really an
accident that she got into the
play project. She came home
hoping for a vacation research
job, but none materialized. So at |
the suggestion of a friend, who
is a playground leader, she went |
to see Mrs. Ellen Linson, the rec
reation director. Mrs. Linson, to
her surprise, hired her on the
spot.
There wasn't much money
though, so the young nature ex-
pert had to rely on her own in
genuity for most of the equip
ment to carry out her ideas.
Luckily, good deal of the sub
stance of a nature course grows
naturally and it can be collected |
by the children.
Avoids School Atmosphere.
Miss Martin tries to get every
body participating.
II also try to keep it from
seeming like school," she ex-
planned. She has several tech
niqueS.
One is a game. Girls and boys |
line up opposite each other, and |
Miss Martin says: I'm going to
hold up an object I found in the |
woods, and then send you out |
and see who gets back first with
the exact object"
Then she holds up pine cone,
and the youngsters race off. The
first Is back with the right kind |
of cone win. The next item might |
be black oak leaf. and some |
youngsters will bring back white
oak leaves instead. Of they go
again. The game is repeated |
with other leaves. Miss Martin
knows it's popular, because the
kids cheer.
Hikes also produce leaves, and |
incidental encounters with birds, |
insects and other wild things. |
Afterwards the leaves are copied |
with crayon or with spatter |
paint made on the spot from |
clay, and the resulting piece of |
art work, properly labeled. can
be taken home for souvenir.
Leaves and acorns also can be
imbedded in plaster of paris
paperweights.
Each playground is making
what Miss Martin calls a bird
manner. This is a pasteboard
box with bird pictures pasted on
top and a doorbell which rings
when a wire is stretched from
a picture to the proper point in
a list of names. The youngsters
help put the boxes together.
Some play with them for hours.
Insects Coming Up.
The most exciting projects
dealing with insects-are still
to come. Beginning next week,
the youngsters viii be making !