Category: Camp Rockford 2021

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

It’s Okay to Cry, But It’s Not the End!

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Our last day began with sharing some of our favorite things about Woods and Wetlands. Using their journals to document and share was optional, but everyone got to take home their journals and colored pencils at the end of the day. Maybe they’ll use them for their own nature adventures! It was fun hearing all the different memories the kids had and to hear the others pipe up and say, “Oh yeah! I remember that. I loved that too!”

  • This book is a favorite EVERY SINGLE TIME!

Since some of the kids wanted to go back to the two “new” spaces we explored on Wednesday, and others wanted to return to our “normal” spot, while a few were eager to walk upstream to the giant boulder and the tunnel they hadn’t seen yet, we compromised. Everyone agreed that we would spend 15 minutes in each area and then vote on where we wanted to spend the remainder of our time. I set the visual timer (they LOVE this thing and are so much more willing to move on, pack up, or give up a nature exploration tool to another explorer when they feel they have control over the timing,) and off we went.

In the woods up high above the Rogue River some of the kids returned to throwing various things into the water just to see if they could, and to watch the rings and ripples created as the sticks, rocks, and acorns hit and either sunk or floated. Others challenged themselves to climbing the slanted, fallen tree. New “nature Swiss army knives” were crafted from sticks and imagination.

  • She was absent on the day we first explored here. This log offered more risk, due to its height from the ground, but as usual, kids only went as far as they felt personally safe going.
  • Wondering about this leaf gall.

After 15 minutes, we moved on down to the main channel of the river so that we could catch and observe more crayfish. I think this activity could have entertained most of the kids for the entire morning if we’d had more dip-nets available!

  • Sturdy logs provide balance challenges in shallow water but deep muck!
  • The teachers are still interested in looking at different seeds.
  • Catching crayfish and trading nets.
  • Nature finds a way in some of the oddest places!
  • Their laughter and joy makes me so happy!

Traveling in order, next we moved to our “normal” spot with The Meeting Log, Logjam Bridge, and forts. It was a good place to stop for a snack mid-morning. A few explorers were still set on “fishing,” so I went to the creek with them. These photos capture some really peaceful, calm moments where no one was talking or yelling or moving around. Just feeling at-ease and quite content. These are the moments when kids have had enough active exploration in a location and they can now just sit down and breathe, mindful of how good it feels to be in a natural space they have bonded with.

  • Our youngest explorer has already learned to watch for and recognize “poky plants” and knows how to carefully move them out of his path. He is only 5!

The end of the route we took was where “our” creek flows through two, metal, tunnels beneath a dead-end, gravel road. Some of the kids chose to join me in wading upstream to it in the water, while others chose to walk along on the bank with Mrs. Webb. My intention was to merely show them the mossy boulder and yell into the echoing tunnels, but enough kids begged to wade through the tunnel that I gave in and agreed to this adventure. After all, one of my favorite repeated activities in my own childhood was walking through a similar tunnel with my older sister, yelling and echoing while brushing spiderwebs away from our faces. I warned our intrepid explorers that there would be cobwebs and spiderwebs so we brought short sticks to wave before our faces. A few kids were triumphant as we emerged into the sunlit creek on the upstream side of the road, while others seemed to feel a little less secure and were more than ready to go back. Together we sloshed back through the dark tunnel, each of us with one hand above our heads to follow the metal ribs of the tunnel so we didn’t bump our heads on the low ceiling.

Meanwhile, those explorers who chose to hang back with Mrs. Webb got busy mud painting some trees and roots, apparently to protect and bandage them. When the tunnel group met back up with them, some stayed there and others returned to The Meeting Log with me.

  • The only explorer tall and strong enough to master the boulder!
  • Her first try failed and she got a little scrape on her leg, but she didn’t give up!
  • She made it to the top!

Those who remained with me went back to their teeter-totter experiments. This time, when they announced that they were perfectly balanced, I offered some questions to get them hypothesizing and testing.
What happens if the kids on one side scoot further forward? Backward?
What if both sides move forward at the same time? Backward?
What happens if one person stays toward the back and the others move forward? Now alternate?
What about when one side moves forward and the other moves backward?
They tried every scenario and invented some of their own. Levers, fulcrums, balance, weight, distribution… it’s SCIENCE, people!

It wasn’t easy to say good-bye to this group. They were a stellar class of kids! There were a few tears- one of our sweet boys was full-on sobbing when his mom picked him up- and we were surrounded by hugs. I assured them all that Woods and Wetlands is always available if their parents can gather a group of at least five explorers and we can choose any natural space available for future adventures!

T.

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Much to Do. It’s STEM, It’s Literacy, It’s Nature Therapy.

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I must admit, I can no longer keep up with daily writing about all of the wonder and joy we are experiencing during this summer’s Woods and Wetlands camp! I will just have to let photos and captions give you a fraction of what goes on out there. We discover new things every day. Kids create, invent, problem-solve, think, communicate, gain confidence, and ever so much more!

Empathy and Literacy: Learning that trees and humans have far more in common than we might have ever realized. Noticing and caring for tiny creatures reminds us we are not alone on this earth. Seeing, feeling, smelling, listening to, and tasting nature creates lasting thoughts and feelings. We held a toad, crayfish, spiders, grubs, slugs, minnows, mushrooms, and fairy shrimp. Everyone was gentle and kind. They were able to imagine what it might be like to be one of these small lives so different from ours. We read the book, A Snake In the House, and the kids were on the edge of their seats, so to speak, wondering how the little snake would get back home to the pond where it belonged. At the end there was a collective sigh of relief as the boy in the story “shared its joy at being home.” In addition to listening to both fiction and nonfiction read alouds, the kids are exploring the field guides and gaining interest in looking up our various “finds” using iNaturalist. They are writing and/or drawing in their nature journals almost daily, though not everyone was developmentally ready for that and we didn’t push it because we don’t want to create negative associations with writing or journaling.

Math: Estimating how long a stick or string needed for “fishing.” Gauging the distance one can leap or jump from a log into the water or the ground. Today one explorer created a monetary system using beech nuts (1 is worth $5 because, due to the beech scale disease, there aren’t going to be so many of these in the future,) and acorn caps (worth only $1 because they were all over the place.) Two other explorers stood on the steep, high bank over the river and had a “rocks vs sticks vs acorns” contest to see which created the biggest and most circles rippling outward in the water. They energetically proceeded to throw the aforementioned items as hard as they could into the river. (Hello, physical strength and spatial senses!) They noticed the rings started small and grew larger as they expanded.

  • They rarely seem to mind the cold water!
  • An explorer found a hawk feather!
  • Interesting mushrooms called, “dead man’s fingers!” Eww!
  • Explorers went upstream.
  • We cross the log in whatever way feels safest to each individual.
  • These kids are amazing listeners.
  • Reading, “A Snake in the House.”
  • Kids are careful observers.
  • Snake grass is so cool!
  • Mushroom gills match one of the nature patterns we learned about.
  • Dead trees provide food and habitat to other animals.
  • Teamwork!
  • Jelly fungus!
  • Sticks CAN be used safely with practice.
  • A pretend campfire.
  • He lost a tooth today!
  • Looking up into the tree canopy is a different view to consider.
  • We used the game, “Lock On,” to greet each other at Morning Meeting. The kids loved it so much they played it in small groups in the woods!
  • I thought this was a keyhole to the fort but was informed that it’s where Jerry lives… Not sure who (or what?) Jerry is.
  • Teepee for pretend campfire.
  • This lacy-looking web used to connect bark to the tree trunk and branches.
  • A few of us wandered upstream to the road and discovered this huge, moss-covered boulder!
  • She wanted to try to climb up.
  • Not quite tall enough yet.
  • We discovered an American toad. She was very frightened of us and tried to rely on her camouflage for protection. When that didn’t work, she peed on me!
  • Do you see our toad?
  • Tree canopy
  • The kids were so gentle with the toad..
  • We got our hands very dirty to make it safe for the toad to be held in them.
  • They loved the puppets and books!
  • Slugs have cool eyes!
  • We looked at tiny “critters” living in and underneath decomposing logs.
  • Hands need to be nice and dirty before handling an amphibian!
  • We found some animal scat!
  • Weird mushrooms call for weird faces!
  • The “dead man’s fingers,” were VERY strange fungi!
  • A buddy approach to log exploration.
  • As the dead log is decomposed it looks very red.
  • Some kind of caterpillar was eating this leaf.
  • Learning about tiny living things reminds us that we are not the only ones who depend on this planet’s health and balance.
  • We compared trees to humans.
  • One way of removing water from our boots is the “flamingo move.”
  • These spiders make amazing webs across the creek!
  • Examining one of the spiders.
  • Finding the matching tree to the leaf.
  • Animal puppet greetings
We have an adorable set of Michigan wildlife finger puppets. The kids LOVED these!

  • Make a wish! Dandelions are important flowers.
  • So many different ways that plants spread their seeds!
Our focus began today as seeds. We looked for (and found) different types of seeds. However, it quickly became more about crayfish since that’s what nature gave us today!
  • Time to check out the “big” river!
  • These kids have already shown us that they can be safe, so we trusted them to balance on these logs on the edge of the river.
  • A dead and VERY smelly crayfish we found and examined.
  • Everyone wanted to see what was down there in the water!
  • Tiny crayfish!
  • These crayfish were too small to even pinch us.
  • Taking turns with the crayfish before putting them in the water again.
  • We used a bucket of water for viewing some of our finds.
  • Dip net to scoop up muck and look for movement in it!
  • One of our “crayfish handlers.” The kids were so gentle with the. small creatures they found.
  • The explorers who were comfortable handling the larger crayfish showed us how to do it without getting pinched!
  • The kids found many small crayfish, one big one, and a few minnows. We looked at them in the bucket of water for a while.
  • Both wanted to be the one to dump the bucket back into the river. This was a compromise they both agreed to.

  • Perfectly camouflaged “dark fishing spider” beneath loose bark on an oak overlooking the river.
  • This tasty looking (inedible) mushroom turned out to be called “oak bracket,” or “pseudoinonotus,” or “warted oak polypore,” or “weeping polypore,” or, “weeping conk.” That’s a LOT of names for one cool mushroom!
  • She found a bone! (A WHAT?)
  • Sticks became “nature Swiss army knives,” and “machetes.” Imagination knows no bounds!
  • Using wooden “knives” to cut grass.
  • Looking underneath loose bark.
  • He found a cicada’s nymph exoskeleton.
  • After using a wood version of a Swiss army knife, she used the grass they cut as a colorful hair piece.
  • Noticing circular ripples from rocks, sticks, and acorns thrown into the water from the steep bank above.
  • Rocks vs sticks vs acorns
  • Another cool mushroom!
  • Staying a stick-distance from the weeping oak conk.
  • This mushroom has amber colored liquid oozing from it. We have never seen one of these before!

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Happy Campers

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This week began our fourth and final session of Woods and Wetlands at Camp Rockford. (There will always be more Woods and Wetlands available throughout the entire year to anyone who wants it!) Two days in and both Mrs. Webb and I feel that this is an easy, happy, bright little group of explorers. They collaborate and follow directions. They listen attentively and are eager to explore and learn together. In short, we know we are going to have such a fun final session! We talked to each other about how much we enjoy seeing this space through the eyes of new campers every two weeks. It never gets boring for us because we see the joy, wonder, and curiosity of the kids and we can’t help but be excited again, right along with them!

We learned Brain Gym and used the Rhythm Greeting during Morning Meeting on day 1, followed by some quick safety tips and hands-off lessons about poison ivy. After dropping off our supplies at the Meeting Log, everyone wanted to check out the creek. The whole group used the Log-jam bridge to make their way down to the water. At first most of the kids were wary about getting wet or letting the water go over the tops of their boots, but by the end of the morning they were happily wading around getting wet and muddy. It was a successful exploration day! One boy declared that he would be in that creek every single day of camp!

  • They’re so busy!
  • Bare feet in the creek! (Just this once.)
  • An impromptu, student-led contest to see who could hold their hands in the cold water the longest!

One of my favorite things about teaching and learning through play and exploration outdoors is that nature always shows us something new, even in a space that Mrs. Webb and I have explored for six weeks straight! For the first time all summer we found fairy shrimp, which are tiny shrimp-like creatures, found in the mud and sand of the creek, that are very important as food for many other animals in the food chain. The kids with nets were scooping up nets full of what looked like just leaf litter, mud, and sand and dumping them out just on the edge of the creek. I showed them how to pick and paw their way through it looking for small creatures. In just a few scoops we discovered multiple fairy shrimp! (We put it all back in the creek pretty quickly.)

Later we gave the kids their nature journals to decorate as they please with their colored pencils. I asked them to draw or write about something they saw or did on the first day. There were a few drawings of fairy shrimp in there!

On day 2 we learned about some common patterns found in nature. First everyone was given a card with 8 patterns on it and we asked them to try to draw at least one of these in their nature journals. They did a great job and some even added to the patterns to turn them into something else, such as a snake or a tree. We greeted each other while passing around part of an old paper-wasp nest and marveled at the patterns these insects were able to make by chewing wood and mixing it with their saliva. As the nest was passed to each child, they made eye contact and said good morning. We read the book, Nothing to Do, and looked for the patterns on each page. Our purpose today was to keep an eye out for patterns like these in real-life nature.

We discovered a spiral patterned shell, wavy lines on and under the water, meandering patterns beetles left on a log, and a triangular rock.

Throughout the morning our group flowed and regrouped in multiple ways and places. Some explorers chose to play and build a fort in the woods with Mrs. Webb. We had a snack break and a few who finished their snacks early went to check out where one of the trails led. We had more creek explorations and briefly captured some tadpoles to look at. The kids who were catching and releasing these little creatures were careful to make sure they got water poured over them repeatedly so that they could live through the observations.

I loved watching a few of the kids find new and creative ways to move across the Log-jam bridge as they continue to master living in their own bodies, developing their proprioceptive systems. Balance, coordination, strength, flexibility, spatial sense, and self confidence are just some of the many benefits of unstructured play in nature. One boy worked out routines and methods that suited him and then taught those around him how to do the same. For a few minutes a small group of explorers took turns sitting and sliding down the side of the log to try to land on their feet in the creek. This was followed by jumping into the creek from a standing position on the log. Not everyone tried it that way, but those who were ready to dare themselves were taking just enough risk to feel both safe and thrilled at the same time. This was my opportunity to explain to them why we don’t try to dare or challenge other kids to do what we are doing. In Woods and Wetlands everyone does what feels safe and comfortable for them as individuals.

  • A hole in the creek bank looks like an animal’s burrow.
  • Testing their strength against the current of the creek.
  • Snails are fun to watch as their eyes pop out on stems and then retract again.
  • Watch this!
  • Jumping from the log.
  • They are so patient with each other!
  • Repetition is an important part of childhood play and learning.
  • Tadpole!
  • Another tadpole
  • The other part of our group walked upstream to meet us.
  • Teamwork!

We are incredibly fortunate to have this beautiful piece of property where kids can freely and safely play and learn. As water becomes more and more scarce and precious in the west, we are even more grateful than ever for all of Michigan’s lovely wetlands and waterways. I hope these kiddos grow up to be adults who love and protect our natural resources so that everyone from microscopic moss piglets (tardigrades or water bears) to fairy shrimp, to frogs, beetles, and bats and more, to HUMANS, will always have safe, clean, healthy water.

Water. Is. life.

T.

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Puppets, Rescue Squad, and Raspberries

woodsandwetlands

It turns out that kids of all ages listen more closely and follow directions better when the directives are delivered by Mr. Porcupine. Mr. Porcupine is not living in a tree in the woods; he lives only on my hand, and until today, I didn’t realize he carries more authority and fascination than I ever could! Puppets are always a hit with younger kiddos, so I wasn’t sure that this slightly older group would go for them, but WOW, did they EVER! Initially I intended that my Michigan wildlife puppets would be used only for our Morning Meeting greeting for a fun way to learn about some Michigan wildlife, but a few of the kids were eager to bring them down to our exploration space as well. After extracting a promise that the puppets wouldn’t leave our main area, I let them play as they chose. They loved creating silly voices for the different animals. Toward the end of our morning two of the girls asked if Mr. Porcupine could wake up and come out for a play date. From that moment on, all of the kids were engaged with Mr. Porcupine, asking him questions, tickling his belly, trying to find food he liked, and laughing at his responses.

  • Puppets in the fort.

Before we left Morning Meeting I assigned the kids a new “noticing” task for our last day: noticing with our first 5 senses. We were lucky to begin with the sense of taste! I have no pictures to show, but between Morning Meeting and going to the Meeting Log, some of the kids and I discovered a tasty batch of ripe, wild, red raspberries! We spent quite a bit of time carefully picking and eating, with one boy checking with me every single time he picked a berry, to make certain it was safe to eat. He couldn’t get enough! There is something about foraging for wild food that just feels right!

The Rescue Squad from Tuesday and Wednesday continued and evolved today with some of the boys getting in on the rescues. There is one fairly deep spot under the log-jam in the creek where I have asked the kids to avoid playing. At some point one of the Rescue Squad girls informed me that they didn’t need me to be there anymore because they had everything under control and could rescue each other as needed. (It just occurred to me that the rescues started after we read the book, An Extraordinary Egg, in which a frog needed rescuing!) I smiled at that but told them that seriously, they cannot play pretend near that deep spot. They informed me, just as seriously, that they weren’t “playing pretend,” that they were truly able to rescue each other. At that point I made sure they understood that if someone, even a small child, fell in that spot and the current pulled them toward the logs, it is NOT an easy thing to lift another human whose clothes and boots are filled with water, and that they absolutely were NOT to practice rescues there at all. Though I never leave the kids alone in or near the creek, I stayed put right next to that particular place after that, just in case.

Toward the end of our morning some of the kids took on a new project; they decided to speed up the decomposition of our Meeting Log! Meanwhile, others engaged with Mr. Porcupine who had decided to wake up and participate. Then we all lay down in the soft grass and leaves and looked up into the tree canopy while Mrs. Webb guided our attention to the patterns of light and dark where the sun shone through the leaves or where the leaves were in shadow. Some of the puppets joined us.

In the last 5-10 minutes, I asked everyone to try to create one, final, journal entry for the session. Write or draw something you noticed with your 5 senses today. Some of the results were: the sound of water flowing over rocks, birds singing, kids splashing, taste of wild raspberries, scents of water and logs, the feel of mud and bark, and the sight of mushrooms with pores and gills.

  • Camouflaged bug!
  • Sniffing the water
  • Heart shaped leaf
  • The pores turned blue-black after being touched by our fingers.
  • pores vs gills
  • Not everyone loves journaling.
  • Sniffing a log

Children learn best through doing, through playing, and by following their own interests with guidance and enhancement from adults. During Woods and Wetlands children learn and grow in so many ways. They notice not just the natural world around them, but how they fit into that world and how they feel when engaged with it.

Woods and Wetlands programs are available all year long! Contact me for more information!

T.

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Exploring New Places

woodsandwetlands

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Our week thus far is sunny and dry, for which we are grateful after last week’s sodden conclusion! Mosquitoes continue to plague us but we keep spraying each other and continue moving around which helps some. My intention this week was to introduce a variety of tree-related facts and inquiries, but the kids had other ideas. We discovered a section of the creek that is much shallower and easier to get into than our usual spot. The kids dug in the mud and found worms which were then tied onto the fishing poles some of our explorers were making with sticks and some cotton string I had in my backpack. The mud was also useful for painting on trees and a few girls made what they called a “mosquito trap,” packing mud and moss onto a knot of a tree on the banks of the creek. On Wednesday the mud-packing on the tree turned into patching bark back onto the tree. The kids involved called themselves, “Tree Doctors.”

With actual goals in mind, the kids were motived to problem-solve in order to meet these goals. How to find more worms? How to attach a worm to a string without a hook? How to tie knots? Where might we find fish? The fishing activities continued on today at our usual spot in the creek.

Before leaving our Morning Meeting circle today I had kids pair up with a Michigan field guide in order to just page through looking at different plants and animals that could be out there in that woods at that moment. Looking at some familiar photos prompted a few memories about having seen or encountered the featured plant or animal in the past. One explorer told me a story about how his mom “freaked out” when a bat was in their house.

This morning the ticket to go explore and play was just one page of their nature journal showing with picture or words what they hoped to do or see today. At the end of our morning I asked anyone who wanted to share about what they did and whether it was what they had hoped to do in their journals. Yesterday we journaled about what we already did or saw that morning.

On Wednesday some of the girls created a “Rescue Squad.” They assigned themselves and each other to various positions on the squad. Playing at being rescuers, they had the opportunity to safely try out what it might feel like to be someone who helps and saves others. I asked them to consider who, in real adult life, are these people? They promptly rattled off: firefighters, medics, ambulance, police, doctors, nurses, and lifeguards. Pretend play is incredibly valuable, even for older children such as those going into 3rd grade this fall. The more practice children get at trying out different roles, the better they can make connections to the world around them and to themselves.

Below: While waiting for everyone to arrive, some of the kids love to make up games and routines on the benches before we begin Morning Meeting. Though they couldn’t tell you this, they are testing their own balance, speed, flexibility, coordination, and spatial awareness.

I brought a section of an old paper-wasp nest so that the kids could touch it and see it up close. They noticed right away that the pattern of the cells matches one of the nature patterns we learned about last week. It’s hard to believe that bugs can make such a beautiful home out of wood and saliva! We learned that the wasps only use the nest for one season and then build a new one the following spring. If you leave up the old one, it deters them from building there again because they are territorial and don’t want to build near another nest, even if it is not in use!

We used the leaf-matching greeting again, but this time did 3-4 rotations so they greeted more people. The next day, I asked them to try to find the tree the leaves came from.

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Woods and WET WET WET lands!

woodsandwetlands

We never cancel for rain, only for thunder/lightning, so we were out in the rain this morning with almost no let-up. At first it was a novelty for the kids to play in the rain. But after about an hour and a half they were starting to feel they’d had enough. Frankly, so did the teachers! I will admit to being puzzled as to why only a couple of our explorers wore raincoats, given the forecast. It’s not fun to play outside when we are wet and, after a while, cold. At the very end one of the boys who had been pretty miserable for the last 45 minutes suddenly announced, “I forgot! I have a raincoat in my backpack!” !!! Sigh. I wonder how many others had ponchos or raincoats in their backpacks the whole time?

We did manage to have a good time, regardless. We greeted each other just before it down-poured by finding the person with the matching tree leaf and saying good morning to them. I intended to have them trade leaves with someone else and greet each other again as I introduced some different kinds of trees and how we tell them apart by looking at their leaves or bark, but as the clouds above us opened we ran for the protection of the tree canopy instead.

Beneath the protection of a leafy beech tree I gave a mini lesson about trees, comparing them to humans. Trees have crowns and we have heads. Trees have branches and leaves while we have arms and fingers. Both trees and humans have trunks. Trees have roots while we have legs and feet. Trees have bark and we have skin. Trees of a family are stronger and healthier when they live nearby each other. Human friends and families are stronger and healthier when we remain connected than when we are isolated. Human skin bleeds when cut. Trees “bleed” sap when cut. Both blood and sap are released to protect us and trees from germs or diseases getting in. Trees and humans develop scabs to heal over a wound. Trees take in the air we breathe out and we take in the air trees breathe out. Trees (and other plants) store carbon dioxide in their roots, which is another reason their roots need to stay underground! We still have so much to learn about trees and humans, but we know that we need trees!

We explored a couple of new sections of the woods this morning. Everyone got to pick a beech nut or two. We examined their spiny-looking shells and broke open a few to see the two, green seeds inside. Interesting mushrooms were popping up all over the place. The weirdest fungi we saw today were a kind of coral fungi that I think are called, “white worm coral” or (my favorite) fairy fingers! But they could also have been crown tipped coral. My pictures of it are blurred from the rain on my lens.

Yesterday a large, dead, branch fell from a tree not too far from where we were playing, so today I talked a lot about dead branches and dead trees. We practiced looking up before remaining in one place very long, checking to see whether there were any dead limbs above us. I always warn our explorers to never trust a dead branch with your full weight and to stay out of the woods in strong winds.

  • Beneath the beech tree
  • Looking at leaf litter
  • Slug!
  • The Indian pipes are taller!
  • Be careful! It’s slippery!
  • Rain catchers

It was while we were checking out a new area that I noticed the most amazing interaction between 3 of the girls. One girl had walked away from her little group and was sitting on a log looking unhappy. Another girl (their evident leader) went to her and they talked for a few moments. The leader then went back to the group and spoke with one of her friends and they both went over to the girl sitting on the log. Using a kind and gentle voice, their leader encouraged the girls to talk out their conflict, and she gave them wording and support. And then?
“I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to make you sad. Will you forgive me?”
“Yes, I forgive you.”
And all 3 girls hugged each other.
I was stunned. Their leader glanced at me and I smiled at her and told all three that I was so proud of them for their problem-solving and kindness toward each other.

With the older kids’ camp gone this session we went farther afield, so to speak, and discovered a much shallower and more easily accessed bend of our creek! I was grateful for this new space because it kept the kids interested for just a little bit longer when they were all sick of being wet. We splashed around in it for a little while and then headed back to our Meeting Log. The sky brightened even as the rain continued to fall and we returned to the field a bit early in case any parents guessed that we might need to end camp prematurely.

I invited anyone who felt like it to come with me for a walk down the road to look for black raspberries since we saw so many last week, but unfortunately a truck had come through this morning and mowed them all down. Nevertheless, to my great amusement, half of the group moved on to excitedly jumping up and down in the puddles along the edges of the road. How they could still be delighted by water when we were so deluged already was beyond me, but at that point I was happy for anything that took their minds off of being drenched to the skin. Even our fingers were all pruned up!

Thinking back on our session today I believe this group was uniquely suited to the situation we found ourselves in. They are an upbeat, happy, active, and connected little group of kids and it takes more than a couple hours of rain to dampen their spirits for long!

Just the same, I won’t lie; I do hope we have some dry, sunny, mosquito-less days next week!

T.

  • Nature treasures!
  • The Rogue River in the rain.
  • We watched a slug for a while.
  • Wet but undaunted!
Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Nature Patterns and The Best Day

woodsandwetlands

This one is like a snake!
That one reminds me of lightning!
It’s a vine!
This one is kind of like a spiderweb!
I see a tree branch!
If you turn this pattern it’s like a tornado!
A beehive!
This is like the pine needles!
It’s a daddy longlegs!
That one reminds me of a pumpkin!
Or an onion!
This could be a snail shell!
Like the river!

Such a creative, verbal, kind, and visual group we have this time! During Morning Meeting we introduced some common nature patterns and read and moved with the book, Flow, Spin, Grow. We used our fingers in the air to draw spirals and coils, spinning from small to large and then large back to small. This is art, math, and language all spinning together! We asked our explorers to try to draw at least one of the patterns in their nature journals, encouraging them to add to the drawing to make the pattern into something specific in nature.

Our greeting was the Silent Greeting which relies on eye contact and movement as we go around the circle. Each student chooses which silent greeting they want to use. We saw waving, sign language, smiles, and finger-waves.

The mosquitoes are still pretty thick out there, but more manageable and everyone is sprayed and sprayed again with repellent. We pat non-Deet repellent on our faces and necks. Skimming Amazon’s site I discovered a plethora of hats with mosquito nets and also nets to put over one’s own hat. Click here for a link to the ones that Mrs. Webb and I are going to try.

Our group has more girls than either of our first two sessions did. During Morning Meeting one of the girls mentioned their “Girl Club,” and when I began to say that any clubs needed to be for everyone, she smiled and patiently explained to me that she called it a “Girl Club,” because girls built the fort, but that anyone could join. Later, as I looked through our photos from today, I noticed that the boys and the girls have chosen to divide themselves, which is interesting to me. I try to avoid divisions by gender, but if the kids choose it themselves, as long as there is kindness between them, I have no issue with it.

It’s been fun to notice how many new friendships are springing up among our explorers. They are, overall, a much more independent bunch and are happy to explore, play, and experiment without need for much teacher intervention or guidance. We are glad to give them their space to do their thing, though we are available for help and support if they need it. A new member joined us today and at Morning Meeting I introduced her and asked the others to imagine they are the “newbie” on day 3 of our session; what might that feel like? The kids responded so empathically! Words about feelings poured forth and afterwards there was never a moment when our new explorer was alone or without buddies to show her the ropes. In fact, while the girls were relocating their fort due to a ground nest of yellow jackets, (or hornets?) our newest friend called out to the other girls, “I have an idea!” and they stopped and listened to her idea. The self-designated leader of the group responded, “You know what? I REALLY like that idea!” (To move the fort near the creek so the fort has a pretty background.) And so it was.

Creek-time was a little different today as the “Girl Club,” which was later renamed, “Friendship Club,” decided to ferry rocks from the creek to their fort. They used our red buckets but quickly figured out that it was one thing to fill the bucket with river rocks, and quite another thing to try to carry said bucket o’ rocks while balancing on the log-bridge! One of the older boys helped and so did Mrs. Webb and I. The other group of younger girls used their creek time to practice climbing and navigating over and along the other logs across the creek. I love watching them figure out where to hold on, where to step, and how to push or pull themselves up as they develop their senses of where their bodies are in space. And all the while their young bones and muscles are growing stronger through physical play and exploration!

  • Maybe we need to take some rocks out before we carry this.
  • Damselfly

During snack break I read aloud the book, Nothing To Do, and the kids noticed all of the same nature patterns embedded in each illustration. I like to punctuate my read-alouds with tiny personal stories from my own childhood experiences. I notice that when adults share their own stories, kids’ ears perk up and they really respond! I paused the book to relate to them how, as a kid, I used to go out with a shovel and dig deep, deep holes near my family’s vegetable garden, and I’d collect the worms I found and put them in a jar of dirt, name them all, and then let them go again. After which my dad would go out to the garden and nearly fall into my holes, so I was told to go fill them in again, which I did, but often dug another one. The kids laughed at my version of the story and laughter bonds and connects us!

  • Dirt doesn’t hurt!

I’ll close with a quote I heard today from our newest explorer; within her first 5 minutes in the woods I overheard her say to her new friends, “I can’t believe we get to do this! This is the best day of my whole life!” My heart was full.

T.

P.S. Should anyone be kayaking or other recreation on the Rogue River downstream from Camp Rockford and you come upon either of our two lost magnifier tops or a silver compass, please tell them we would like them to swim back upstream to us! Only one day after replacing my first 2-way magnifier, the second one lost its top to the creek. Lesson learned: find a way to attach the two pieces or don’t use it in the creek! Click here to see what it’s supposed to look like when both parts are in the same location! (We also would be thrilled if anyone would like to donate a couple of these because the kids love them!)

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Treasures, Forts, and Green-Leaf the Tree Frog

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Day 2 and already we adore this group! Brain Gym improvements literally overnight surprised both of us and nature is working its magic on everyone. I introduced nature treasures and read, If You Find a Rock during snack time. Without fail there are multiple kids who can identify with some of the rocks in this book and it prompts telling of memories and personal stories. Which reminds me to ask you this question, readers: Think back to your own childhood. What are some of your best memories? … Were you outside? With family? With friends? Picture it for a moment.
I’m willing to bet that most of you didn’t think of times you were playing video games or watching TV. That’s because when you are watching a screen you aren’t making memories or real connections. All of the action is happening outside of you. Don’t you want your children to grow up with fond nostalgia for real life, just like you did? If we want children to create memories, to remember their own stories, to collect interesting stories about themselves, they need many opportunities to actively participate in and to experience real life, not just screen life. They need to make real connections with other humans and the planet we depend on. For young children, especially, if it’s in the body, it’s in the brain. When they are out there in the woods and creek, building forts, splashing small and large rocks into the water, mastering how to balance on a log, noticing intricate spiderwebs glistening with raindrops, smelling the warm scent of damp earth, and laughing with friends, their bodies and brains are fully engaged.

  • I love when older children offer to help the littles!

In the creek we looked closely at a beautiful spiderweb with its creator hanging upside down right in the center of it. How long did it take her to make it? How many does she make in a week? Can you imagine making something like that just to catch your food?
Moving downstream to the next log we looked at tiny maple trees beginning to grow where their seeds had landed right in the cracks of the wet log. Some of our explorers challenged themselves to jumping off the log over and over, gaining balance, strength, coordination, spacial awareness, and confidence. When they were tired of it, they moved on.
Other explorers reached into the water to pick up rocks in hopes of finding a treasure. Even that simple activity teaches something! As they look down through the clear, flowing water and reach for what they see, they find that trick of light and water places the object not quite where they thought it was. The vocabulary might not be there yet: refraction, reflection, etc, but the experience is something to build on. So they try again, reaching and feeling, using the sense of touch in coordination with what can be seen. They learn that light and water can trick our eyes and our brains! And then? The treasure! One explorer found a dense rock with a heart-shaped face shot-through with quartz and colorful veins. She kept it with her and took it home to put in her bedroom. Some activities don’t need teacher guidance.

In the woods Mrs. Webb invited kids who were done with being in the creek to build a fort with her. A small group of explorers built a fort wall and invited others into their “club.” They were proud to show it to me when snack and read aloud were over.

  • “Look at my trident!”

Just before we left, one of the smaller explorers noticed the most beautiful treasure of all, but it wasn’t one we could take with us. Imitating a patch of moss, a tree frog held very still as we gathered around her. The kids really wanted to touch her and while I normally let kids get hands muddy to touch amphibians, today we had so much bug spray all over the place and this was the only tree frog we have seen, I just couldn’t bring myself to let them touch her. We looked VERY closely though! The first name that was proposed was, “Green-Leaf.” Later I suggested adding the name, “Mossy,” as her middle name. We loved looking at her and hope that she will still be there tomorrow!

T.

Camp Rockford 2021, Uncategorized, Woods and Wetlands 2021

Day 1, Session 3: What Is That Thing??

woodsandwetlands

Our new group got off to a fun start! The creek was shallow and clear and the mosquitoes were tolerable, better for some than others. Morning Meeting began with our Rhythm Greeting, this time using our hands, feet, legs, and bellies in various combinations as our drums while chanting, Say your first name, when you do, we’ll say your first name back to you! We quickly went over safety issues and then split into two groups for our first introduction to the poison ivy and how to play safely with sticks.

Day 1 is always open exploration time to get comfortable and bonded with our space. Once we reached The Meeting Log we went over safety rules about the creek, then introduced some different nature exploration tools, and finally headed over to the creek together to check it out. The water was cold but the kids were undeterred! Approaching via the log-jam bridge I repeated, “Only do what you feel safe doing. Take your time. If you aren’t comfortable walking, then sit down and scoot.” Everyone listened to themselves and those who wanted to come across on the big log were able to do it in a way that felt safe (enough) for them. Most kids will only take minimal risks based on their own comfort level. I try to never lift or even support kids on or off of something that is up high because I may not be available when it’s time to get back down or up. If they can get somewhere by themselves, then (with encouragement sometimes) they can get back safely by themselves too.

One of the girls remembered my suggestion to use all of our senses to explore. She sniffed the moss on a log and invited me to do it as well. We both enjoyed the scent of the earthy, damp, green-ness! Everywhere I looked I saw explorers delighted with their experiences. Some sat and scooted across the log. Others balanced carefully, arms out, one foot before the other. One boy jumped off the log from up pretty high and stuck the landing in the cold water! He looked a little surprised but steadied himself and was soon wading happily, dropping rocks in the water to make splashes, some big and some small. Wading in the creek is the time for not only following the kids’ interests, but pointing out things to notice and introducing new vocabulary: Turn this way and look upstream and you can feel the current pushing against the front of your legs. Now turn and look downstream and you can feel the current pushing against the backs of your legs. Over the next 7 days they will hear the words, “upstream, downstream, current,” in context and will become more comfortable with these terms.

Using one of our two dip-nets one boy discovered what looks very much like a tiny eel! What IS this thing? This was a first sighting for me, so we took pictures and tried looking it up in our reptile and amphibian book when we returned to our Meeting Log. We think it may be a “lesser siren” which is a kind of aquatic salamander, but we didn’t observe any legs on it, nor external gills, so we aren’t sure yet. We read that the siren has only one pair of front legs, so perhaps we just didn’t notice them if they were small or still developing. Everyone nearby wanted to hold it, so we got our hands muddy and wet to protect this sensitive creature and continued to pour water on it as it was carefully passed around before being let go into the creek again. Unfortunately, these secretive and sensitive amphibians are declining in numbers due to poor water quality caused by runoff of pesticides and fertilizers that people use on farms and lawns. For safer products, I suggest checking out Gardens Alive so that we can protect and conserve more of our native plants and animals for generations to come!

I noticed a great deal of generosity and kindness between so many of our new campers! It was great to see kids waiting patiently for their turn to cross the log, and also to hear some of the older kids offer help to the younger explorers. They took turns with our only 2-way magnifier and they waited as the little mystery-amphibian was passed around. When the last person to hold it accidentally let it slip back into the creek, the original “finder” of it accepted her apology with grace and understanding. He knew it was an accident as she was going to hand it back to him for release. All of this kindness and also great listening bodes well for our future adventures together! It is a joy to spend time in nature with kids who already know how to be good to each other.

At break time some of the children brought a snack and while they ate we introduced nature journaling. Each explorer was given a nature journal and colored pencils which they may keep at the end of our 2 weeks of camp. Mrs. Webb brought a group over to check out a cool log covered with mushrooms and we had a little more time for creek exploration before it was time to go. Kids were mostly soaked but in good spirits!

T.