The hooting of a barred owl being echoed by crow calls could be heard as the morning mist was clearing. Our days together in the forest and fields are starting to blend together into a beautiful routine and are sprinkled with exciting and unforgettable memories.
This week, the children’s play found its way through a magical portal into the world of the sleeping giants as well as finding cozy dens to live in. There was much movement around a fallen tree that acted as different vehicles and spaceships for our adventures.
The children are deepening their friendships and collaborations. Working together persistently through two fire challenges this week brought the groups closer together! The children learned the elements a fire needs to live: air, fuel (wood), and heat (humans to start one!), as well as the life cycle of a fire. In order to create a fire, the baby has to eat different-sized food (in this case, sticks of course) and the tipi structure has to be built in that order.
The first challenge for the Woolly Bears: We asked them to build the tipi in the fire pit without any adult hands, except for one counselor, who was blindfolded and couldn’t talk! They succeeded in finding all the different-sized sticks and created a structure … that did not light! Although unsuccessful, the children learned they needed more baby food and, to give them credit, the wood was very damp from all the rain and so the conditions were very challenging.
This set the group up for more teamwork and enthusiasm to do it better on Wednesday. This time around, the challenge was to make a fire that would be strong enough to burn through a rope suspended over it. With another blindfolded counselor and the help of a match, many cheers reverberated in the forest as the rope burned through!
We also went on a measuring activity to find a tree that was the same width as our waists. We tried many different-sized tree trunks before excitedly finding our own trees, just our size. We also found out that Grandmother Maple is large, but the waists of all the Woolly Bears combined is actually wider.
Our last day together this week found us exploring a new place near our campsite that we have named Fairy Island. It feels very protected by bushes and a small stream runs through it. There are magical little grass mounds that the children use as seats while playing instruments. We sang many songs and are hoping to use this place for more play!
—Julie and Julia