Ecology Day Camp this week was spent outside channeling our inner wild instincts, building on wilderness skills and learning about the earth around us. On Monday, we used sticks, logs, twigs, leaves, rocks, trees and dirt to build our own shelters. Later in the day, we ventured to the brook and used cups to catch salamanders and crayfish, it was awesome!
Tuesday was super hot, but we used the heat and sun to our advantage all day long. The campers' and counselors' favorite activity of the day was making solar ovens out of pizza boxes and plastic wrap to cook some nachos with cheese in the sun. They came out delicious! After lunch, we did some nature yoga in the field and relaxed, then continued to work on our shelters. Later in the afternoon, we learned how to make fires and built several different ones in groups--and discovered that one match per camper is just not nearly enough.
Wednesday started with a wild edible walk, where counselor Kitt led us around different parts of Audubon while he showed us different types of plants that we can eat, and he let us all try them! We also learned some natural remedies, like plants that help with bug bites. Later, we did some onion scent tracking in the sugarbush. We made a game out of it, and by the end everyone was sniffing trees and having a blast searching for wild onions. We spent the afternoon cooling down by the river and working hard on our shelters, again!
Today, we will be scavenging for items to make a wild edible tea from sumac and hemlock. Our friend will be coming to do some nature yoga with us again, something we all love and have so much fun with. We will venture to the river to play around and cool off, and play some games in the field like park ranger and capture the flag to get our energy out. On our last day Friday, it will be hot again so we will definitely spend some of our time at the water spots around Audubon. We will also end the week with the all-time favorite camper game, Life and Death in the Forest, which teaches about species dynamics and life cycles in the forest. What a wild week!
