On Tuesday morning, hearing we were going to head into the woods to build a shelter made the children screech with excitement! After playing a game of Blind Ninja, we headed up to camp to make a fire and eat a snack. Afterwards we headed into the woods to find a space to build a shelter—with one major challenge, to enter the woods blindfolded!
The children lined up with adults in front, behind, and on the side of them to help guide them safely. On our way we nearly bumped into a doe feasting in the forest. The children took off their blindfolds to observe the deer, only to realize it was the exact location where they wanted to build their debris shelter!
After collecting sticks and creating the frame of their shelter, it was time for lunch. Wow! It takes a lot of work and time to create a shelter!
Wednesday we filled the air with scents of bread baking over the open fire. As we got ready for Forest Thanksgiving, we spent the day giving gratitude to everything special in our lives. We added calendula and feverfew to the dough, and baked the bread to share with our group on Thursday with our stone soup, our Forest Thanksgiving feast.
While the bread baked, the children colored gratitude leaves. Once they colored and cut out their leaf, we wrote what they are grateful for on the leaves to hang on our Gratitude Tree. The bread and ornaments both came out beautiful!
On Thursday, the children arrived buzzing with excitement, and bringing veggies to share for Stone Soup! After morning circle, we wandered up to the site to start a fire. After a little bit of free time, we invited the children to cut veggies, tend to the fire, make gratitude ornaments, and play a game called Meet a Tree.
With soup cooking over the open fire, we called the children together for lunch to share a meal of Stone Soup. We had a special guest, Krissy, a Tuscarora teacher and storyteller, come to join us to share stories of Thanksgiving and gratitude. The soup was delicious and fun to share all together around a fire.
May you have a beautiful, relaxing week and a very happy Thanksgiving!
With gratitude,
Foxfire, White Pine, White Pine, River Otter, Black Birch (Jodi, Raei, Ocean, Chris, and Sarah)
November 21, 2023