Our Woolly Bears began the week giving the red squirrel who fell from a tree last week a proper send-off. We arrived to our campsite Tuesday and immediately checked the spot where the little creature lay. The Woolly Bears met the death of this animal with acceptance and love. After snack, we set to work finding an appropriate spot for the gravesite. Once the body was laid in the ground, the children gathered nuts, pinecones, and other comforts to help with the journey to the other side. Nature is the perfect teacher for difficult and sad moments such as these. Meeting such a moment with honesty and reverence allows children to express and process complicated feelings. It is incredible what children can accept and understand when we don’t shy away from these teachable moments and embrace the opportunities they provide.
This week, we introduced simple trap-making to the children. We had a blast making our traps and experimenting with ideas for catching animals. Some of our Woolly Bears were not happy with the idea of trapping animals so they opted to make a bunny shelter instead! We left carrots smeared with peanut butter to lure the critters. Throughout the week we checked on the traps to see if we’d had any luck. On Wednesday, the children discovered feathers and gem stones scattered in the traps! We speculated that this was probably the work of the Zimperumpazoo – a mythical creature who plays pranks on humans who are not being too careful with their trash in the woods. On Thursday the children discovered stuffed animals in their traps and shelters. They were delighted to find that another prank had been played on them.
Wednesday, we took a walk to the woods where Grandmother Maple dwells to play a large running game called “Chipmunks versus Owl.” The chipmunks have to move a large pile of their “food”—pinecones—from one area of the playing field to their home without being seen by the owl. This involves sneaking and hiding along the way between food pile and home. Everyone kept noticing the differences in our landscape as we felt the icy ground crunch under our feet. There was much finding and examining of ice crystals and chunks from the earth and stream surrounding us.
On Thursday, the land provided even more of a frosty world to explore. We arrived to find the grass and surrounding plants covered in white frost. The children were given magnifying glasses and went off with them to the far end of the field looking at everything along the way. We instructors watched from afar as they boldly ventured off on their own, feeling proud of this group who have become a close little wolf pack over the several weeks we’ve been meeting. Their comfort and confidence on the land and with each other has grown and blossomed into a beautiful relationship. As we enter into our last week together, the feelings are bittersweet indeed …