Spring Break Camp Part 2: Wednesday - Friday Photo Gallery
Enjoy the photo gallery of the rest of our week at Spring Break Camp! We climbed trees, explored, played games, sang songs, told stories, made crafts and so much more! #Camp
Spring Break Camp 2018: Part 1: Monday and Tuesday
What a wonderful first day of Spring Break Camp! The weather was a little brisk, but it was pleasantly warm in the sun by lunch time. Before we could even start our day with opening circle, we found some carnivorous plants growing just off a side trail! We saw venus fly traps, sundews and pitcher plants! It was so cool to see how they changed just over the course of a week! At opening circle, we all shared something that we were grateful for, our community agreements and safe
Forest Families Spring 2018 Session 1
At Forest Families, we connect with children under 5 and their parent or caregiver. We explore the woods together with songs, games, stories and free play/exploration. #ForestFamilies
Fireflies 2018: Week 10 - Sparks and Tunnels!
Two of our friends received super cool survival bracelets for Christmas and Sadie brought hers to program and we all got to practice making a spark with her flint and steel striker! Thank you for sharing with everyone, Sadie! Almost all of us were able to make a spark! (No fires!) So. Much. Pollen! Look! A venus flytrap! Our intern, Hailey, was able to tell us what these mysterious boards are, scattered through the park - snake homes! Native pygmy rattlesnakes and copperheads
Herons 2017-2018: Week 19 - Animal Forms and Movement
We had such a fun surprise when we arrived at pickup this week! There is a new sign at the entrance to the Preserve and among the list of guidelines, it says "No Campfires" and then in small print "Except for Nature Connect Class"! The kids were so thrilled! We only work with fire in a specific location that is not located on the land trust and in a specific way. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive this morning, some of us decided to play one of our new favorite game
Fireflies Spring 2018: Week 9 - Fairy Houses!
Our small group today was excited to build small structures for our fairy gnome friends! Opening circle began in the gazebo meeting area, where we built our first structures. We used pine cones, bark, and pine straw to create interesting structures. Some of our materials didn't want to be left behind! As we wandered into the park, we continued building structures. And on the way out, we saw if the particularly blustery day had knocked any of them over! We discovered that most
Herons 2017-2018: Week 18- Fires and Forts!
Because the day stared off cold, we worked together to create a small fire in the fire pan, although we did not need it for the whole day! Today we worked on our fort building skills, and even made a flag pole for the cedar area that we explored! After working out our fort building muscles, we ventured to the sand pit and resisted some of our favorite games! We played around with our different versions of "Fire in the Forest" with animals from different continents and environ
Bobcats and Tadpoles Spring 2018 - Week 9- Botany and Shelter Building
We had a small group today, and we had a great time enjoying the chilly weather! We started the day off with a warm fire and a new book - Shantey's Quest by Thomas Elpel. This beautifully illustrated book is an excellent introduction to plant identification using the Patterns Method. We are still working on processing the acorns we harvested last fall, and made good progress today! They did have a tendency to jump out of the mortar and Malena had a lot of fun trying to guess
Gray Squirrels 2017-2018: Week 18- Adventures in Botany
After such focused compass and mapping work (which was still fun!) it was nice to have a relaxing day to explore our imaginations and play games. It was quite chilly so a fire was the first order of the day. We've been learning how to safely use tools, so anyone who wanted to try could practice using the hacksaw on some of the now-seasoned cedar branches and trunks that were harvested last fall to thin the forest. We all worked together to build the fire and then took turns w
Fireflies Spring 2018: Week 8 - Mapping Challenge, Boat Races and Stick Games
Its amazing how much fun and exploration we can pack into two hours at the after school program! This week we used all of the mapping skills we have been playing with to create scavenger hunts! We split up into two groups and led each other on a wander through the park. We used compass bearings, riddles, songlines and pictures to guide each other. It was amazing how much we have learned in just three weeks! We still had some time after designing and following the scavenger h
