June 6
We can’t believe it was the last day, 10 weeks went WAY to fast!
Today we found a treasure map! Building our map reading skills, we followed X’s that took us to many of our favourite places, finding different tools along the way (fishing string, hook, cotton balls, lighter, cordage…). At each stop we had to say multiple ways the found item could be used during a survival situation to continue and receive their next X. The coveted treasure? s’mores ingredients!
We soon settled in at our favourite place along the creek to cool down, catch minnows, roast up our s’mores over the little stove, put together our survival kits, and go on a foraging walk to collect edibles for our wild lemonade (you should get you wildlings to take you on a foraging walk of the area! They basically took me on a foraging walk at this point!)
We ended the day giving thanks to the forest and said goodbye with tree hugs.
We are going to miss these guys and all their super love of games, and incredible ability to be inclusive and play together! We couldn’t have asked for a better group of wildlings. Honestly can I keep them? They are all our favourites :).
Thanks for everything wild families
Previous Weeks
After traveling to the dam we settled in, found fishing sticks, strung them and relaxed by the edge catching some peace, along with garbage, tangles, and memories :). A few wildlings became invested in crushing some local Lethbridge red shale to make a primitive paint. We spent the last part of the day exploring the edges of the dam and heading back a bit early so we could fit in some of these guys favourite games!
We had our most favourite herbalist Becky Murry join us today! We walked to collect medicine and edibles for our tea. While some went to shelter under the tarp, others came to pick newly sprouted cat tails in the hail!
We came back to assemble our medicinal bottles, start boiling our tea, and processing our cattails for sautéing.
We spent our remaining time in and out of the rain, making blueberry and chocolate bannock bread, constructing water runs with bamboo, and playing MANY games!
This group never fails to dive head first into many discussions and group games! We went on a foraging walk collecting leaves and flowers needed for drying out and using next week, we ate willow catkins and collected dandelions. Arriving at a safe location from the wind (we had a tree branch fall today from the wind earlier in the day) we got right to setting up a tarp to give us relief from the wind, it struggled under the wind pressure, but turned out to be a lot of fun because it was acting so crazy! We explored the shallow creek area, collecting cattails and water, experimenting with them. We whipped up tempura batter and cooked up our dandelions for a snack. Then finished the day playing camouflage, listening to the legend of the dandelion and doing one of our most favourite things, group story building! Someone starts the story introducing the main character, setting, and intro into the story line and usually introduces the problem the main character is faced with. Then we go around the group adding to the story by alternating between fortunately and unfortunately. It always ends in fits of giggles!
We took to the extremely water heavy creek to keep us cool, our bodies are not yet summer time regulated! With the sun beating down on the cold water was a welcomed treat! These wildlings experimented with the waters currents, finding ways to cross the waters and making mud fortifications. They discussed, problem solve, delegated, and pushed through to see their plans work (it was awesome). We watched all the water spiders running along the surface, looked for frogs, and relaxed in the hammocks.
We ended the day with a visit from our friendly neighbourhood bear! Going over bear safety…how to safety walk in the woods in a effort to not have a bear encounter or how not to spook a bear, and then went over what to do in multiple different types of bear encounters.
(I’m sorry! We forgot to take many pictures!)
What a perfect day! Hail, sun, hail, rain, sun, hail, rain, sun… I mean we couldn’t have made up this forecast if we tried! These wildlings really showed what resilience in unforgiving weather looks like! With the eccentric weather as our companion we got right to collecting fire nests and starting fires, chopping vegetables to make our soup, making banana boats and enjoying hot chocolate… all the while learning how to keep fire going in the weather. We played games, explored, watched a herd of 14 deer using our “fox feet” and huddled in the rain and hail around the fire to tell stories while keeping warm!
Even with a chill in the air, the water and cliffs called like a beacon to these wildlings. They spent time constructing mud, fishing with nets, finding inventful ways to cross the creek, drawing in the hammock, and soaking up nature. Sometimes the best approach is slowing right down and today proved just that.
We embraced the chill and wind with an exploratory walk, looking for signs of animals. Talking about how knowing an animal’s habits can help you in survival. We came across scat and learned how we can smell and dissect to learn more about the animal. We found lots of tracks that we made casts out of! As we traveled, we collected winter/first spring edibles to make into a wild tea. We settled in playing games, making paints, exploring with the mud kitchen. We ended the day learning about how to get hypothermia, how to spot it, and then how to treat it in a remote setting. These wildlings were full of big belly laughs as they wrapped each other up and then proceeded to carry their victims over to the hill and roll them down it!
Fire day! We started the day foraging for a homemade “birds nest”, searching for things in nature that are easy to ignite with a spark! Using ferro rods these wildings each persevered till they started a fire of their own!
We placed our bread on the fire to cook and took turns shaking our cream to make butter for it!
They each set off to do what call to them most, whether it was continuously stating fires, making charcoal paints, playing on the slack-line and hammocks, or exploring the creek.
We went over knife and saw safety and settled into make spoons, learning to control your knife a little more. Then using a primitive/survival method to burn the hollow into it.
We ended the day telling stories and playing games!
The first day is all about connection, connection with the land and spaces we will spend our time in. But mostly we focus on building a good connection amongst the wildlings and each other, finding similarities, sharing laughs and building stories together. Making a space that all feel comfortable to grow.
We discussed risk and listening to our bodies, then allowed our feet to guide our path letting the children explore the land in a way that excited them! We traveled around finding interesting things including lots of bones, crawfish skeletons, and river shells!
We ended the day gathered around our finds, reading books, cleaning bones, and playing games!
