April 11
On our last day, we became full-on nature explorers—chasing the wild wind and searching for the elusive beaver (we found his home, at least!). We foraged clover, mullein, and grass to give our lemonade a wild twist. Some of the wildlings settled into painting, others got buried in the sand, and a few lounged in hammocks, soaking up the wind’s song and the peace and stillness of mind that nature so effortlessly brings.
Previous Weeks
What a sweet group! After meeting each other and having a lively discussion about what animals do in winter, we bundled together under a large tarp to experience just how warm a den can be.
During our adventure walk, we were lucky enough to spot three coyotes across the river! The kids excitedly shouted to warn a man walking nearby with his small dog, as the coyotes were less than 20 feet away. Unfortunately, he didn’t hear us, so we simply wished him and his dog well on the rest of their walk.
This encounter naturally led us to a discussion about coyote behavior, how to handle wildlife encounters, and what to do in such situations. As we continued, we followed large bird tracks almost all the way to our favorite spot for observing coyotes.
From there, we dove into full-body play, encouraging the kids to follow their natural curiosities and explore the world in their own way.
We wrapped up the day by making snow ice cream, listening to Nikayla share a story about chickadees and evergreens in winter, and creating pinecone bird feeders to help the birds through the rest of the season. 😊
It was a beautiful day ahead, and the kids were eager to get going! With the sounds of geese honking in the background, we settled in for a day filled with adventure—tackling a rope obstacle course, relaxing in hammocks, getting creative in the mud kitchen, playing in the sand, and painting.
Traveling to the mini forest with our forest friends to engage in 100% self-directed play! These wildlings wasted no time diving right in.
I spoke about this very day at a conference the following weekend, sharing how children engaged in self-directed play are biologically designed to educate themselves through play. At one moment, a couple of girls were snacking while trying to figure out why the moon was in the sky in the middle of the day. Meanwhile, some kids were problem-solving, discussing, and delegating as they worked together to build dens and a playground for their forest friends. Others, wearing capes, were immersed in fantasy play—the highest form of cognitive thinking children engage in! A few more were testing their physical limits and assessing risk as they balanced on a log at different speeds.
One wildling even discovered a used cocoon and excitedly shared it with everyone!
To stay warm, we kept moving all the way to the big hill! There, these wildlings worked their bodies hard—climbing up high, sliding down, and repeating the cycle again and again.
We settled in with hot chocolate, snacks, hammocks, and a rope swing before ending the day with an adventure walk. Along the way, some of us even discovered a goose kill site, where we collected feathers to make quills soon!
Looking for wild edibles in winter isn’t always easy, but these kids were determined! We ended up making a foraged tea using mullein, grass, cambium, wormwood, and spruce.
Unfortunately, a fire ban was put in place in the middle of February 👎, but we fired up our propane pit to heat the tea and make donuts!
We ended the day learning about sugar pine trees, which produce the largest pinecones in the world—and we even passed around one of those massive sugar pinecones!
We started the day by reading winter legends from Siberia and North America!
Then we became nature scribes, making our own quills from found goose feathers and ink from blackberries. From there, everyone branched out to follow their own interests—whether it was making bows and arrows, swinging in hammocks, decorating their quills, or sawing dead branches.
We wrapped up the day by talking about and passing around a full fossil shell I recently found at Jensen’s Reservoir!
We picked galls from goldenrod plants and wildcrafted them into necklaces! These little wonders are actually homes made from the saliva of a tiny fly—nature is wild!
We ended the day using our senses to take in the world around us and read stories together.
