April 23
Exploring was the name of the game today, and they did just that after spotting 15 birds’ nests on our walk! We then went down into the river bottom to collect our seashells (a.k.a. river snail shells!), then off to a very awesome fort tree that these kids named “The Tree of Life!” They quickly settled into every nook and cranny of the tree and made it their very own! We finished off the day with a peaceful (and very windy) walk back and learned about what makes the crazy wind that has been our constant all day!
May 7
Today started with a scavenger hunt and a search for goldenrod galls. The kids used them to make necklaces while learning about how they were traditionally used in Indigenous crafts.
After that, most of the group made their way to the water. The kids spent a lot of the day catching fish for the mud kitchen and working hard on a self-driven project, building a mud path across the river. It didn’t quite get finished 🙂 but there was lots of teamwork, problem-solving, and persistence throughout the process.
A muddy, creative, and busy day all around.
Previous Weeks
These weathered wildlings are getting more weather-resilient every week! Some worked to start up our campfire, where we stayed warm and cooked up tornado potatoes and hot chocolate! A big part of the day was spent with many working together to figure out a shelter setup, lots of teamwork and determination, like almost 45 minutes of determination! The mud kitchen was busy with fruit pie creations, and they discovered a new favorite slide area that kept them moving and laughing for a long time! We even attempted to make popcorn the brew way… and failed hard, as you’ll see in the extremely burned photo!
Today was a fun mix of play, creativity, and learning in the forest. These wildlings dove into building tarp shelters. Potion-making was in full swing, with lots of imagination and laughter, and the mud kitchen “lemonade” shop they set up was a busy spot for trading and storytelling. Using bamboo, they built water channels and experimented with how to get the flow just right. We ended the day gathered together to learn about the bee life cycle, then celebrated by singing Happy Birthday! It was a joyful day full of creativity, teamwork, and outdoor fun!
Spring has definitely been running the show this year. Our wildlings have been fully immersed in everything it’s thrown their way, testing both their bodies and their minds, and they’ve been absolute troopers through the constant blizzards.
They took on a special challenge with excitement, caring for their very own egg with the hope that it would transform into a chocolate egg if treated well. After naming and dyeing their eggs, they jumped into egg races and continued the fun with more creations.
Despite the cold and chaos of the season, their enthusiasm made it a truly unforgettable day!
After opening circle, we headed out on a winter mission, part explorer, part snack collector. Along the way, we gathered silver berries, spruce needles, and cottonwood buds for tea, plus anything that looked even remotely like good fire-starting material. We also kept our eyes peeled for animal tracks to see what animals are roaming around this time of year.
Back at the fire pit, teamwork kicked in as we built a fire, warmed up, and made some well-earned tea, then took to the hill for some sledding.
We shared stories about migrating birds and made bird feeders to welcome them back home. Even the cold had a lesson for us today, mostly that fingers and toes are not optional.
One of my favourite moments was closer to the end, when the sun finally made a debut and these wildlings started to thaw out. They quickly turned into chemists over at the fire and mud kitchen, mixing up all sorts of concoctions!
