The first week of camp hosts preschoolers for Fairy Houses & Gnome Homes and It's Not Easy Being Green. See some camp highlights below!

Camp staff Emilie shares some favorite memories:

Campers started off their week by meeting the fairy queen Anastasia, Gnome Norm, and Green Gus. Theses forest friends helped us restore fairy homes, protect the gnome garden, and realize that being green isn't so bad after all. 

The campers worked together to rebuild fairy houses in the forest. It was great to see their imaginations run wild as they scavneged
for building materials and thought hard about what the fairies would want their village to look like. On Thursday, we made the trek back to the village and were excited to see that the faires had returned to Audubon and left us a special surprise. The fairies had left us notes thanking us for helping to re-build their homes!

We took a break from our Green theme and made the trek to a muddy and fun afternoon at Beaver Pond. While there we built beaver dams and found some cool critters, like tadpoles and leeches. We crossed the "troll bridge" and could only pass by telling some hilarious jokes. Good thing we had our rain gear... splashing around in the mud was the best part of the day. Some of us got stuck in the mud and needed help from some friends to pull us out. 

Camp staff Lily shares some favorite memories:

Oren lost his first tooth on the first day of camp. That's good luck!

Brit lost his first tooth at Beaver Pond. It was about time!

We had a blast practicing our safe jumping skills off the stone ledge in the garden. The campers were able to jump on their own if they wanted, or get help from counselors.

Some started off scared and nervous, but eventually found their courage to jump on their own. We were very impressed by their bravery and imaginations!

Camp staff Kitt shares some favorite memories:

We have lots of siblings in this week's camp. We're all impressed by how they stick by each other through mud, rain, and sunshine. They love to be partners in games and help each other out at snack time!

When we hiked to Beaver Pond on Wednesday and while we were mucking around, many leaches were attracted to the edge of the pond from the disturbance we were making. The kids all wanted to grab them and show them to others. I was pleased at their fearlessness and bravery!

We had two kids loose their first tooth this week which is always an exciting experience. Many younger campers were VERY interested.

I was impressed by how high the kids can jump and how brave they are. We talked about taking safe risks and how to make sure we're having fun and taking care of each other at the same time.

When I was a child, I loved making dams in the mud. When we visited Beaver Pond on Wednesday, I really enjoyed watching the campers make their own version of mud dams and rivers! 

Other fun memories from this week of camp: