April 23
Exploring was the name of the game today, and these kids fully embraced it! After spotting 12 bird nests on our walk, we headed down into the river bottom to collect “seashells” [a.k.a. river snail shells!]. The kids were completely enchanted, and honestly, you would have needed a crowbar to pry them away after a solid hour of searching and collecting!
From there, we made our way to an incredible fort tree, where the kids instantly claimed every nook and cranny as their own. Despite the constant, intense wind, they stayed fully immersed in adventure, creativity, and exploration all day long.
May 7
Today, we had plans to make bows and arrows, which surprisingly got benched pretty quickly as the river proved far more enticing! While a few kids spent some relaxing time in the hammocks and around the fort area in deep conversation, most of the group made their way straight to the river and never looked back, exploring the water, building, playing, and working together on all kinds of self-directed projects and games, mainly trying to make a dam out of mud!
We finished off the day by learning about how traditional Indigenous groups used galls to make jewellery, and the kids made some of their own necklaces as well. We also spent some time observing part of a beehive we found, which sparked lots of curiosity and questions!
Previous Weeks
Our in-house fire concoction crew went straight to the flames the moment they arrived!! 🔥 They dove right into their tins and foraged finds, cooking up all kinds of mystery plates and tending the fire like pros all day!! (I’m brainstorming with the title “the tin pan alchemists” …)🙃
We made tornado potatoes and hot chocolate over the fire, put a hammock to the ultimate test 🫣🤣 (the hammock survived, the rope snapped, landing them all swiftly on their buns 🙂 ). They spent a ton of time racing up and down the hill, then many worked together to perfect a group slackline sway!!
We wrapped it all up with a never-ending lineup at the “Forest Plank Express,” easily a crowd favorite!!
And through all the excitement, one wildling slept soundly the entire day, all cozy and tucked in a blanket and tarp ☺️
Today was a fun mix of play and creativity in the finally warm forest! These wildlings built shelters and mixed imaginative potions, and the mud kitchen “lemonade” shop they set up was a busy spot for trading and storytelling! Using bamboo, they created water channels and tested the flow. They also transformed into superheroes and bravely tested their flying abilities off the dock. We wrapped up the day by learning about the bee life cycle and using our senses to listen, hear, and see nature better!
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 were absolute troopers through the constant blizzards, regardless of whether they made it the whole day or not!
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 pretty 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.
Funny moment of the day! I gave these wildlings some cinnamon sticks for their tea, which quickly turned into a full taste-test experiment. Not a little lick either, full-on chewing like they’d just discovered nature’s chewing gum. 🤣
