'Tis the Season

Now that winter has arrived you might find you and your family spending more time inside playing the Wii or backing cookies. Scholastic has put together a fun and exciting list of winter activities that you and your children can do even when snowflakes are flying. Lets learn from and enjoy this wonderful season.

•Create a sundial. Find a long stick and set it in the snow. Try to tell the time throughout the day by where the stick's shadow is cast. (At high noon there will be no shadow.)

•Start a nature sketchbook. Buy an inexpensive artist's sketch pad or book and begin a winter nature diary. Each time you take a walk, observe something up close in nature. Draw the item, then write down descriptive details and date the entry. Continue you observations and entries throughout the year as seasons and locations change. This is especially fun if you visit the same area year after year — you can compare your observations over time.

•Identify trees during a walk in the winter woods. Observe the shape and bundling of evergreen needles and patterns on bark. Borrow a naturalist's guide from the library to help make your identifications.

•Go on a berry hunt. Pick berries with leaves attached and try to identify them (but don't eat them!). Use a naturalist's guide or check the Web before or after your search to find clues.

•Observe the night sky. Before your trip, research the constellations and planets that may be visible on a cold clear night at the latitude and longitude where you are staying. Practice picking them out in the heavens by first tracing the constellations on paper. Then, when you are away, it will be easier to find them. Your Sky is just one site where you can map your sky.

•Search for animal tracks. The best time is early morning when snow is pristine — you'll find the tracks of nocturnal animals. Draw and label what you see. Visit www.bear-tracker.com before you leave for your trip, and download pictures of tracks for black bear, porcupine, beaver, red fox, gray squirrel, moose, skunk, brush rabbit, deer mouse and black-tailed deer. You can also learn about their winter habitats at the site.

•Keep an eye open for skat, too. Droppings are another way to look for signs of animal life.

•Collect pine cones from different types of evergreens. Take them home as mementos of your trip.

•Take bird-watching breaks. Record your findings in your sketchbook. When you get home, do some research (using the Internet or an Audubon guide) to find out what types of food these birds forage for in winter.

•Listen and look for owls just before dark. In the daytime, keep your eyes open for "owl pellets" during your walks. Owls spit up these small, oval-shaped balls that may contain bits of undigested bone and fur.

•Hunt for icicles. See who can find the biggest.

•Explore lichen. To identify and learn more about various kinds, check out http://www.angelfire.com/ma/pondart/lichenpage4.html.

•Search for deer fields on foot, while showshoeing, or when you are in your car. Deers like to collect in meadows that are sheltered by trees.

•Blow bubbles outdoors in the cold. Do they freeze? Visit Bubblesphere for a host of information.

•Play snow "basket"-ball. Scoop out a large bowl-shaped area in the snow and make a ton of snowballs, then see who can land the most into the basket.

•Try snowball catch for variation.

• Team up for snow hockey or golf. Use a broom for hockey, or bring along a toy club for golf.

•Have fun with outdoor tic-tac-toe. Use a long stick to draw the grid and the Xs and Os. Or color snowballs (use a spray bottle filled with watered-down food coloring) and throw them into the grid to play - red against blue, for example, instead of X vs. O.

•Go snow bowling. Line up inverted pails of snow, then try to knock them down with snowballs.

•Build a snowman, of course. Use stones, branches and berries to decorate (and a carrot for his nose!).

Ways to be Involved

This past week Sanborn Western Camps hosted the American Camp Association Rocky Mountain Section Fall Conference. The Conference had many educational breakout sessions that strengthened the experience camps deliver to campers. Some sessions focused on how to teach leadership, social skills, and how to find/retain quality staff to support the lessons taught at camp. Camp is a place that children learn life skills that help them thrive in and out of the classroom. Camp provides the opportunity for children to reconnect with nature. The children and Nature movement is sweeping across the country and we must help in supporting it. Here are some quick and easy ways that the ACA has identified that will help raise the importance of getting children out of doors.

1. Join NatureRocks – a national campaign created to inspire and empower parents to take their families to play, explore, and enjoy quality time in nature for happier and smarter children. www.naturerocks.org

2. Join the National “No Child Left Inside” Coalition and follow what is happing with the piece of legislation. www.cbf.org/Page.aspx?pid=687

3. Provide opportunities for children to engage the natural world in meaningful ways.

4. Encourage youth to be good stewards of the environment. Teach Leave No Trace (LNT) principles and environmental ethics. Foster environmentally friendly behaviors.

5. Take advantage of “teachable moments” with children. Explore and focus on natural elements. Look at the stars, the clouds. Facilitate in children the sense of wonder and awe.

Tuesday Evening at High Trails

What a nice afternoon! The discovery groups were out until 5pm. As they were coming in, the sun was setting. The High Trails staff reported that all their groups were excellent and that the students had a great time.

As everyone was coming into the lodge, the moon was just peeking up over the trees. It was huge! We heard lots of "Oh, cool," "Wow," and "That's awesome" when students looked behind them to see the almost full moon. It was great to hear the stories the students were telling each other at dinner. Even though they did the same discovery group, everyone had a slightly different experience. We enjoyed another delicious meal - spaghetti, sauce, bread, caesar salad, and homemade cake.

Tonight everyone went to the Interbarn, our hands-on science center. Students could go to pond life, the cell, inventions in nature, fun think, the Earth, the freezer, and more. It is always fun to hear the responses to seeing rocks, animals, and nature they haven't seen or experienced before.

Everyone is in their cabins now with their High Trails staff. Everyone will be heading to bed after a quick snack, debrief of the day, and explanation of tomorrow's schedule.

Wednesday Evening at High Trails

Everyone had a great time today! The snow was a fun obstacle to overcome - and more importantly, it was fun to explore in.

The snow died down this afternoon, allowing discovery groups to spend about half the time inside and half the time outside. We heard many excited conversations at each table during dinner as each 6th grader shared the highlights of his or her day with the rest of the cabin.

While we didn't get extra play in the snow this afternoon, students did spend time working on their skits for tomorrow night's evening program. We are planning some exciting recreational activities for tomorrow afternoon.

Everyone enjoyed a good dinner and the Halloween cookies for dessert were a huge hit. The Hoedown and Nature Carnival tonight were high points in many of the students' days.

We can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Autumn Days

There is just something about this time of year that makes autumn my favorite season. It is the changing leaves on the aspen trees and the ones that have scattered to the ground paving the the road in yellow as it winds through the aspen groves. It is the way the air smells when I take the time to inhale, taking in the smell of the sun, the ponderosas, the dry leaves and the crisp fall air. It is seeing the moon light up Pike's Peak, and it is watching the students who come up to camp enjoying just being and playing.

As I wandered around last weekend to watch groups of kids and families enjoying the outdoors for our No Child Left Inside Open House, I made my way across a field of tall dry grasses. I could hear voices of excitement but couldn't see the people laughing through the trees. I kept walking towards the sounds and voices. As I crossed through a line of aspens and pines on the edge of the meadow it was like a curtain was lifted to reveal a magical wonderland, a secret world. Kids were laughing, running, playing, carrying logs and sticks, engaging their parents, inviting them into their world of imagination and creation to build a fort from what they could find around them. I could have stood and watched forever as they added extra rooms, tried to fill in the gaps so that the wind wouldn't blow through, and sat inside pretending it was their home.

Here are a couple of quotes from 6th graders who have been inspired while sitting and just taking in the season that surrounds us now.

"I feel like I see these trees and bushes and rocks everyday in bits. They used to be like small strokes in large paintings. Now they are masterpieces all by themselves."

"Being adventurous makes you want to be more curious."

"The simple life of nature stuns me"

Find time to be simple. What better way to spend fall days than playing, soaking in the suns warmth, allowing yourself to slow down, to find your inner child and sharing it with those who you care about.

How Do Your Children Connect With Nature?

Today I was thinking about the children and nature movement. At camp, we know the benefit of taking children outdoors. There are authors writing books about children and nature. The media have focused a great deal of time promoting children going outside. The government has gotten involved creating bills to reconnect children with nature. Do you know what I found when I did a Google search today of “children and nature” blogs? More than 88 million people were talking about the significance of children and nature.

This is HUGE. It is important to learn about, understand, and discuss. Most of all, it is important to actually go OUTSIDE with your children! It is hard to find the time. We all have busy schedules. But, just think how much fun it was when you were a child to jump in piles of leaves, help your parents rake, or even just play in the yard after school. The payoff of spending a few minutes outside with your children is worth the few minutes it takes you away from cleaning the kitchen, sending one more email, making one quick phone call.

If you’ve been following this blog, you know we had snow last week, then a beautiful day Saturday. The changing weather made me enjoy being outside even more. The aspen leaves are almost completely yellow right now. I challenge everyone to go out and take in what’s around you. Let your children appreciate the beauty and wonder of nature. As the temperatures drop, it is harder to motivate to go outside. It takes effort to bundle up and be sure everyone has mittens and hats. However, if you get in the habit now of spending a little time outside and enjoying nature, it will be easier as the fall becomes winter.

How do your children connect with nature?

The Deluge and Resulting Growth

A fun poem a staff member wrote last year:

Most people break

When you put their lives at stake

But the ones who grow up

Through adversity are great…

 

CRACK! CRACK! BOOM!

 

The lightning screamed

As it shook us in our jeans

Which were wet and soaked through

Like our packs and all our things

 

We hung our heads and dreamed

Of a place that’s warm and green

But the sky was cold and blue

And the sun was all but seen

 

We were wet and we were cold

But determined, we were bold

So we lifted all our chins

While our horses heads hung low

 

“Sissy horses”, I was told

By a child who wasn’t old

And he shot at me a grin

Only grown folks hold

 

The grin made me feel warm

In that fearsome, awesome storm

For the man in me had quit

And my spirit all but torn

 

“Just go home!” it warned

On our backs the hail was thorns

Then I saw my men’s teeth grit

Oh, the leaders in them born

 

In that aspen grove we sat

While the rain drops hissed and spat

But we drank ‘em one by one

And we kindly tipped our hats

 

“Thank you for the pat

Of rain upon our backs

For we cannot love the sun

If we haven’t first felt that

 

We asked Miss Nature, “Please!

Will you put our will at ease

We feel like we are stumps

That are old and long deceased

 

The rain and lightning ceased

So we got up off our knees

And as we all stood up

We were taller than the trees!

 

Most people break

When they put their lives at stake

But the ones who grow up

Through adversity are great

Thoughts on Nature

It has been a busy successful spring at High Trails.  With our outdoor education season wrapping up, plans for the summer are in full swing and we are getting excited for the arrival of staff and campers.  It is easy to look forward to spending time with kids in nature and it is empowering to hear what they have to say about the time they share with their natural surroundings.  Here are some thoughts from students who were here during the past six weeks.  They wrote these on their first day at High Trails in their Special Spots.

"The beauty of nature, the grace that it holds.  The mist in the air, the breeze rufflin' my hair.  The woods so lush, the trees so green, the wolf and coyote with their eyes so keen.  The bear so bold with its glossy sheen the wilderness holds many secrets never seen."

"Life is fast but it suddenly slows down when you're in nature."

"This spot helps me relax my mind, soul, and body."

"Life is better if you open your eyes and see the many different dimensions of the world."

"People need nature more than they think.  If we lose nature, we have nothing."

"I can feel life all around me and the melting of the forest into spring."

"After sitting at my special spot for only a little while I have learned that there is so much more to nature.  Not just trees, rocks, and animals, but small things like the way the sun hits a leaf or the way the wind blows the grass."

"I feel more calm and open to nature than I was before in the city.  People are always so stressed and in a hurry.  In the forest I feel like there is no need to hurry; just relax, because we have all the time in the world.  In the forest you can stumble and get right back up again.  In the forest I feel like people don't care what you look like-they just like you to be yourself and remember the beautiful things around you."

As a youth development professional in the camping world I know the value of being in nature but what better way to help others understand than to share it with them.  The students that have come through this spring now have an intrinsic understanding of the importance of their time spent here.  What more powerful proof is there than a child's written testimony to the value of being in nature  Whether it was 3 days, 4 days, or 5 days, they can now put their experience into words and it will stay with them for years to come.  

Mr. Smith Goes to Camp?

I don’t watch TV much but the other night one of those old-fashioned movie channels was playing “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington” and it caught my attention. I couldn’t believe that I had never seen it before. After all, I’m one of those retro people who watches “It’s a Wonderful Life” every December. I know all the characters, every plot twist, every line and still tear up when Clarence gets his bell.

 

So, I was casually watching Jimmy Stewart when I was electrified by the fact that he was introducing a bill in the Senate to create a summer camp. (OK, to be honest, he was proposing a “Boys’ Camp” but that’s forgivable because the movie was made in 1939—I’m sure that today he would be proposing a “Girls’ Camp” too.) I watched in amazement as he identified the skills and ethics the boys would learn at camp and pitted them against the corruption, greed, and dishonesty in Washington. And then he engaged in his heroic filibuster (really, who besides Jimmy Stewart could make a filibuster heroic?) based on the highest ideals of America.

 

As I thought about it later, I realized that maybe things have not changed so much in the 70 years since Mr. Smith Went to Washington. Summer camp still stands as an antidote to the dysfunction and partisanship of many of our political systems. The goal at camp is to build a community based on respect for everyone, an appreciation of diversity, honesty, and teamwork. The goal at camp is to learn to appreciate the natural world and to interact with nature in ways that leave no trace. The goal at camp is to challenge ourselves together and to achieve great things like climbing mountains or camping in the wilderness. The goal at camp is to help young people to learn the social and emotional skills, which will help them to become happy, ethical adults.

 

Is it possible that if every politician had a camp experience as a youngster, the tone and attitude in Washington would be more functional, civil, bipartisan, and inclusive than it is today?