Our morning circle in Little Field was surrounded by new things to notice with our senses, from bird calls to new blossoms on shrubs that had survived the frost, to the sound of the creek slightly softer than last week. We sang our Good Morning Song to it all, moved our bodies around on the wet grass like so many animals (cat/salamander/snake/frog), whispered our gratitude into our hands and flung it into the sky, and played two raucous rounds of Fire in the Forest—both led by students—before heading to camp for snack time.
After snack, our four students who, after next week’s final day, will be graduating from Forest Kindergarten, went with River Otter to finally start and tend a fire at their solo fire sites, which they’ve been preparing and practicing for in increments over several weeks. When we all got to hear about their experience upon their return, we heard that it was challenging, that they all experienced just how FAST a small fire can burn down and how constantly it needs to be given new twigs in order to keep burning AND keep staying small; how they all had their fires burn down to coals AND “restart” with twigs and breath blown; and how they all tended their fires successfully for AN HOUR! For humans of any age, and so particularly for this age, tending their own fire is a real rite-of-passage, and we’re very proud of them!
The Roly Polys who remained in camp initially planned to take only “a bit” of time to prepare a beautiful bench for our graduates to return to, from which to share their experiences; then we were going to wander off towards Grandmother Maple and play our own game and have our own challenge. As it happens, everyone became so engrossed in beautifying the space that we completely lost track of time, and no student asked what time it was or when we could leave—or even seemed to remember that we were going to do something else!
We found a bunch of evergreen boughs that had been pruned already, and stripped the needle-bearing branches off and piled them onto a bench by the fire to make it cozy; one student immediately set out to add bright green leaves and flowers in great mounds to both sides as brackets; two more spontaneously began creating a beautiful space nearby “for them to put their water bottles”; one more was our highly-productive Florist, grabbing flower after flower to add to our entryway.
The Woolly Bears had perfect timing and came to join us before our graduates returned. We all went straight into sit spots, where we were when our graduates arrived and found their own places to sit quietly for several minutes before we all gathered into the fire ring and sang our graduates through to their bench of honor with the Fire Song. They told us about their experiences, and then we all ate lunch!
After that, it was play time through and through. We trekked over near Grandmother Maple to investigate a reputed platform with a view of the swamp that had been built at another camp site (the rumor proved true!), and hung out there until it was time to head home for the day.
—Matthew and the Roly Polys team
May 19, 2023