What a wonderful day to spend out on the land, enjoying the wind and sunshine.
During drop-off, Josh demonstrated flint-knapping, which involves striking a hard rock against some chert, effectively breaking off pieces that have a nice sharp edge, which some kids then used to carve pumpkins with. After everyone got there, we gathered up and did a warm-up song and exercise. Then we played a short game and shared some gratitude.
After morning circle, we said goodbye to the woolly bears and went to the field to play a game of Blob Tag, which got everyone warmed up and ready for a short hike to our debris shelter building site. Once we got there, we had a quick snack and some story telling from Josh and orientation to debris huts, including reminders about inclusivity and teamwork.
After snack, everyone split into two groups and we got started. Both of the groups had to build a debris hut and make a scarecrow. To build a debris hut, first you start with a ridge pole and prop it up on two Y sticks. Then you lay sticks along the ridge pole (called ribs), and pile a whole bunch of leaves on top. When it was almost done, we broke for lunch and had a little free time.
After lunch, everyone put finishing touches on their huts and scarecrows, and a judge came around and ranked everyone with categories like ”most waterproof,” ”best scarecrow,” and ”best team chant.” Once the judging was done, we put the scarecrows inside the debris huts (to see if they would stay dry) packed everything up, and headed to the field to play nutty squirrels.
After a few rounds of that, we wrapped up the day with a blindfold run, and had a small circle, sharing something each of us had learned.