Forest School

Play is essential to kids' learning and development. If you stop to think about it, every young mammal on the planet learns through play. 

This week we spent a few days learning in the woods with very limited electronics (only a tablet for reading).

Our PE coach supervised the kids as they worked on improving their balance.

Then she took us on a hike to a beautiful overlook.

While we were there, J noticed the sand just below the top layer was darker and warmer than the surface sand.

K experimented with rocks and learned sandstone breaks easily.

A1 found a wedge shaped rock and learned he could easily chop and dig in the earth using this simple machine.

A1 and A2 also spent time drawing with sticks.

A2 used a rock as a seat

A1 discovered a curved piece of wood makes a great balance toy.

On the way back to camp, we spotted a bee collecting nectar from Russian Thistle. Our Outdoor Trail Guide (aka Dad), let us know it was an invasive species to the area; the thistle, not the bee. 

We also spotted wild rose and groves of Aspen in the area.

And a plane flying low- surveying the land maybe?

Back at camp, the kids explored the area. 

K found large pinecones

A1 found trees to climb

That evening we all settled in and played board games while it rained, and even hailed a little. The younger kids enjoy playing Out Foxed, while the older two like playing The Farming Game.

The next morning, we explored  some more. We found a wooden corral that is probably still in use. We did see cows on our first hike that walked along the trail in front of us.

Along came IT guy- you might recognize him from his picture in our Welcome to the Center for Creative Learning post. He came along and gave the youngest three kids rides back to camp.

J and I continued on to see some pretty cool rock formations.

While the other three were getting motorcycle rides throughout the week, they saw lots of wildlife that I will let them tell about.

A1- I saw a rare squirrel and some deer. Also, I saw a chain of cows all lined up.

K- I saw a cow elk, it was a female. There was one more thing I saw, a pack (herd) of deer running.

A2-I saw a reindeer and a squirrel.

In the afternoon, we set off on another hiking adventure.

Not even the sketchiest part of the road.

But the road led somewhere beautiful.

K found a red ant hill

Our trail guide found petrified wood

The rock formation on the right looks like a stone evergreen tree

Found a little arch

Water ripples

Some parts were steep. Good thing you get good traction on slick rock (ironic, I know)

It's not a old dead tree branch, it's a ladder.

The boys had a lot of fun looking for the rock cairns that marked the trail.

They ran so far ahead, they had time to take a little "nap" while waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

While on our hike, K noticed two different types of cactus. He is really good and noticing things others might not. 

Prickly pear

Barrel cactus

We even found one growing in the cryptobiotic soil crust, which is a healthy place for it to be. Cryptobiotic soil is created by living bacteria. If you see it while hiking in a desert, avoid walking on it. This living soil helps the ground retain moisture and prevents wind and water erosion in arid places. This soil also helps local plants by converting nitrogen into a usable form for the plants. 

We then arrived at this beautiful canyon. There are some pretty cool things to see here, if you know what you are looking for.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to go down into the canyon as it was starting to get late. Time to head back.

Coach got more than she bargained for. She couldn't get back up the ladder part and had to be hoisted.  She hates to be hoisted.

She made it!

We actually had a longer hike back up a steep road to our truck, than the actual hike. We were told the road was unpassable to anything larger than a RZR. We realized after we hiked down it, we could have drove, but then we would have missed a life altering moment where A1 learned he was capable of amazing things.  

While hiking up the road, we waited while 2 jeeps and a side by side passed us. Well, A1 decided they were going too slow and ran after then. Not only did he run after then, he was faster than them on a particularly rocky section. He continued to chase them until he was well out of sight.

See him?

Here, how about I zoom in for you.

There

Our boy, who is afraid to be alone, who always complained hikes are too long and too hard, ran up a steep road that the rest of us were struggling to make it up. It was a proud mama moment, and also humbling to be out hiked in both stamina and speed by one so young. He loved that he was so far ahead. And yes, when we finally reached the truck, he was there waiting.

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The final day of camp we wrote stories in the morning while waiting for the outside to warm up. The kids were less than impressed with my bedtime stories on the trip. First, I told about a man who went head first while caving in a tight spot, got stuck, and didn't make it. It was supposed to be a lesson on safety, but they didn't like the sad ending.

So I told them a modified story of the three pigs, where the brick house was destroyed in an earthquake, the stick house caught fire, and the straw house blew away in a tornado. It was supposed to be a lesson on being prepared, but it was underappreciated.

After that, I pulled out a book that was supposed to have good happy stories in it. The first chapter the main character gets attacked and almost killed by a wolf.  So much for avoiding a story about a big bad wolf.

Three strikes, I was out. They demanded we listen to more Kid Normal. A funny book about a normal boy who accidentally gets enrolled in a school for kids with super powers.

And that led us into our final morning of camp, where the kids decided they could write better stories than I could tell. More on those in an upcoming post.

Once it was warm, the two youngest had art in the dirt.

And then PE. Ladder Ball.

They all took turns transforming the hammock into a carnival ride.

I got to spend some time in it, too, while the kids were off hunting pinecones with their bows. They had a lot of fun pretending the pinecones were monsters and defending the camp from invasion.

My goal was to read a book, but instead I spent most of the time watching the dog watching a gray squirrel. She wanted to chase it so bad, but I told her to leave it. Like a good dog she stayed by me even though every part of her wanted to run. Squirrel! 

Before we left, A1 conquered another one of his fears and rode our little CRF 50 motorcycle around the camp.

It was a great trip and a wonderful learning experience.