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!
The Monarchs continued their guilds. One group finished their char-cloth and flint striker kits with a little bonus of making slings out of the leftover jeans material. The other group completed their Strap-drills and almost got a first coal! A couple of fun games rounded out their time together.
Later, the Wolves and Monarchs joined up for some shelter-building fun and a friendly competition against the counselors to see whose shelters would stay the driest. The kids broke into small groups and built mini shelters for their stuffed animal “volunteers.” All the animals stayed dry in the shelter while terrible “thunderstorms” raged above. The counselors almost stayed dry, but a few drops got through giving the kids the win!
The older group really enjoyed working with the younger group and counselors said working on their shelter together was smooth and easy since they have done it so many times as campers. I imagine our FOREST students will one day feel the same way!
A couple of surprises showed up while working on the shelters, including a chilly yellow-spotted salamander and a mysterious skeleton …
—Dan, Theresa, Raven, and the counselors, November 10, 2021