Tresca Weinstein, Author at Flying Deer Nature Center

Tree Id and Fire-Making

The bright blue skies this week felt like a harbinger of the growing daylight and all the gifts of winter yet to come. Snow changes everything. The pond is now an ice rink. The tiny, unremarkable hill to the office is the epicenter of frenzied sledders. Our campsite is a mine of glittering ice jewels and crystals. While the adjustment to the winter takes our bodies and minds a bit, once we lean into it, there is so much to experience that is only possible with the transformation of snow.

Welcome, Winter!

All fall we were waiting for colder temperatures, and now we are in it. The deep winter days are filled with snow, flocks of birds staying warm together, tracks to follow, and the amazing resilience of the human body. Like the birds, we stay warm together by moving a lot. All of our daily routines take a lot longer to complete, but that is the nature of winter after all—a little slowing down!

a sweet Semester’s End

We have made so many memories this semester! Thank you so much to all our young students and parents for being a part of this growing vision!

This semester was full of exciting projects. The Roly Polies learned how to make black walnut dye, how to make burn bowls and spoons, how to use a strap drill and flint and steel, and so much more! They each found a safe space in the forest for sit spots and created a garland to adorn and honor the tree they felt called to, brought gifts to the medicine tree, and carefully tended to the land around camp.

Arrows and Feathers

Free play last week inspired our turkey theme this week. We put on our best feathers and made connections with tools and skills that can help us track down animals.

We crafted arrows on Tuesday by warming dogwood branches over a fire and bending the parts that were curvy to straighten them out. We learned that keeping the sticks moving right over the flames is best. After sharpening the tips, we were ready to head to our archery range.

First SNow

What a wonderful change in landscape this week! The snow certainly surprised us all and provided so much fun to explore. After only a couple of days, most of it melted, but it allowed us to see ice, slush, hard slush, and the very famous face print snow—soft enough to stick your face in it and hard enough to hold its shape! So fun!

Tuesday provided us with many tracks to spot along the trails. We spent some time using a track guide and found deer and cottontail rabbit tracks near the nest campsite. We also explored the pond as we noticed it had already frozen over. We tested its strength by throwing sticks and rocks and it didn’t break. We could tell it was not safe for humans yet by looking at the edges which were still liquid. Of course, sledding was a must, both in the field and at Grandmother Maple.

Ant Tag and Hot Chagalate in the Forest

We enjoyed many kinds of activities and many kinds of weather today in Saturday Explorers! We began our day in the big field by sharing a word of gratitude and yelling it into the sky together, then stretched our bodies and did a few summersaults. We then stretched our minds with a riddle: What falls but never breaks, what covers but is not solid, what can you hide behind that is invisible? (The answer at the bottom of the page!).

Fire-Making and Skill-Building

Another beautiful day on the land at FOREST today! The Arctic Wolves started their day off with a fun fire challenge. Counselors had to start a fire blindfolded with only verbal assistance from non-blindfolded instructors. Amazingly, they were able to do it with just one match!

Then the kids broke into small groups to practice their fire skills. There was some success and some lessons learned along the way. They showed great teamwork, too!

Eagles and mosquitos, Cougars and Coyotes

Another frosty morning to chill our bones and get us winter ready! We made our way up to the frosted forest. As we hiked, we played “Camouflage!” The Cobblers have to scatter and hide in the forest before the eagle counts down to zero. They scramble to completely disappear from sight, round after round, hiding closer and closer to the eagle.

While a fire was lit, we sat down for snack and prepared for our flint and steel challenge! Student were broken up into four groups, and each had a chance to practice their flint and steel skills and get a fire together. Fires were lit with only a little bit of coaching and many successes.

A PACKED day in the forest

We were greeted today by clear skies, warm sunshine, and quite a few migrating hawks. To start off our Wild Ways morning, we shared a bit of gratitude with a partner and created a movement or pose to represent what we were grateful for and shared it with the group. Next, we practiced some positivity with the Yes Game, using only “yes” to encourage a student to complete different tasks. Before heading to camp, we warmed our bodies with a game of skink tag, in which students try to protect their bandana “tail” as well as steal tails of others.

Our Garden Grows

We’ve been really blessed by the weather on Thursdays this fall! Yet another beautiful autumn day today. Thank you for letting your child have the opportunity to spend it outside! We had fun with them today.

Our FOREST day started with some running tag games to get everybody moving. The children played Camouflague, learning and practicing different elements of camouflaguing like breaking up form, dead space, and sink and fade. They then played several rounds hiding themselves along the trail and instructors Black Walnut and Raccoon tried to find them. Many were not able to be spotted! The group also prepared a fire for lighting just before lunch, and Scout Sticks was played. Some students are catching on to this awareness game!