hiking with children Archives

LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!!

April 14, 2014/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

A great day to start off the season with our garden. Cleaning and preparing the luscious soil to give birth to our plants with the help of Mother Sunshine!

Our 3-4 year old groups and parents were ready to lend a hand to clean out our box garden from its sleeping state. They cleared out the branches that will once again hold our bean plants and also tilled the soil. So wonderful to see the kids getting their hands dirty!!!!

Look at Finn’s face of determination as he moves the brancha

As yes then the unearthing of weeds and WORMS. I was so pleased to see these children cooperating and working in harmony as they searched for gold in the form of wiggliness! No one screeched or eeewwwwed when the worms were found. It was more like shrieks of pure joy! Dig in kids, dig in!

=

Ah yes the prize!!!

Now ready to prepare with their heads down and hard at work!

This season this garden box will be shared with the Kindergarten and Grades 1-3 groups. It will be fun to track the development.

When we finished our work in the garden we had the opportunity to run out in the freshly cut wildflower fields. Just what we all needed after toiling in the garden and the long hard winter.

Run!!! Run, Run!!!! I even see some parents out there too.

On that note, I love the parents who are willing to come be outside to be with their kids. Perhaps they realize what a gift they are giving to their children. If not, you need to know I am impressed. It is important for this young generation to learn to love our earth so that they will take care of it for future. ( oh I sound so preachy…. yuck)

So for now get out into a field, run, scream and laugh…. it’ll do your winterized body good!

Peace and hiking,

Sue

GIVE A KID A TREE………

March 20, 2014/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

…… and of course they will climb it!

Today the 4-6th grade group was ready for adventure. My plan was to take them “off trail” to show them where the deer bed down at night. They all agreed they were ready for the journey.

We wandered through the yellow, blue and white trails getting closer to our point of going “off” but it was interrupted by this gigantic tree which had fallen in the woods, “Can we climb it?” they asked. I would never say no to that question. So they set off on their adventure and thank goodness there were no parents there because I could hear their voices in my head, “ooh be careful, no don’t go there…..etc. ” but I let them be (of course hoping that no one would get hurt – I really am a responsible adult!!!) They climbed and climbed and climbed!

It was amazing to see them take chances and succeed. I could see them smile big time as they gave me a high five for completing the climb. It was a lovely sight…. monkey in a tree! Doing what these kids should be doing. Ahhhhh what a relief for all of them.

Here are my monkeys:

So we scrapped the “off trail” deer idea and spent the whole time on this tree. Time passed quickly and it was time to return but it was not as easy as it should have been because many of the kids decided they wanted to take these huge broken branches back with them. Ok, I thought if they want to carry these things why not, we can use them in the garden or some other project (one girl wanted to build a fort). They carried them all the way back! I was so impressed with them… it took a little longer but we made it!!!

They were like the Native Americans of yesteryear…. or the settlers dragging wood for their fires….

It was a great day in the woods. 🙂

Get those kids outside!

Sue

DON’T WORRY CAUSE EVERYTHING’S GONNA BE ALRIGHT

Day two of darkness hiking at Avalon! We set out with our flashlights into the night… really it was only 5:00 when we started. Once again the moon lit the sky … the rainbow rings surrounding it.

Sophia told me that she heard a story that all the snakes will come alive when the moon has that circle around it…… no snakes on this walk!

As we set out, with flashlights at the ready, we crossed the road as usual and headed into the woods. It is amazing how dark it gets with just a few lights to lead the way.

Tonight I had two experiments in my pocket. Simple as can be but fun.

I talked about our vision and our pupils and how in the dark we are basically color blind. We turned out our lights and I took out two markers (pink and green).

I drew a line of each color on their hands and asked them to guess what color they were. Most were close with their guess…. I had blues, reds, greens….. The truth would be revealed when we went back to the barn.

The second experiment involved the good ole winter green lifesavers! We sat on the leaves in a circle and crunched on these rings watching sparks pop in our mouths! It certainly was a lot of laughs.

I think it was the first time any of them had done it!!! Chemistry come to life!

Best part of the evening for me is when they all starting singing Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds”….. Don’t worry about a thing…. cause everything’s gonna be alright.

Those were the only words they knew and they sang it again and again….. I think it was soothing to them as we were on our 35th minute of the hike!

Love these kids!!!!

Here’s the music if you want to play it at home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uPZbIezChI

A Place in the Leaves

October 29, 2013/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

This beautiful photo was taken by Amelie, one of the hikers in the group!

On our hike to today we had a contest to see who could collect the most nuts. I called them my nutty bunch! They have a great deal of energy and it is always a challenge to get them to notice the things around them. I love that they get to run, but exploring can be part of the adventure too! After our hike the kids returned to the barn with their stash of nuts to see who was the winner. Of course we all knew that Matt would be the winner because his pockets were practically hanging down to his knees. But then something happened…. some of the kids decided to add to Matt’s pile…. so I think then they all decided they were winners!! Matt was okay with that and which made me sigh with relief!

Wiggly worm find!

Love my nutty bunch…. it was a fun day!!! xoxox

SKIP TO MY LOU!!!

September 17, 2013/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

Benjamin was so excited to show me how he could skip! So when we started our hike in the wildflower fields he took off in his bright yellow shirt skipping all the way! He skipped and skipped and before you know it there were more skippers or hoppers or runners following him. It was contagious. So much so that I joined in the fun. All that counted at that moment was the kids were free and doing what they wanted. So fun!

Maybe we could have skipping day at work??? Wouldn’t it be funny to watch your co-workers skip to the coffee room. Ha!!!

Skipping is an acquired skill. We don’t just skip…. our body has to be ready to skip. Most kids will skip by 5 but don’t fret if your child is not quite there yet! Get our there and skip or perhaps gallop, another acquired skill. Add on horse neighs and you’re really multitasking. Whew!

To see all these children back at Avalon doing what they belong doing is precious. No cell phones, no video games…. just pure organic fun.

Some kids chose to walk and that was just as good. There was more time to look for flowers and bugs. It’s all good!

Reminiscing and Looking Forward

September 10, 2013/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

Today I took a walk at Avalon where I will begin my Fall classes next week. It was nice to visit the trail with my dog Lucy and stroll through the swaying trees. There are so many places that make me smile and I can almost hear the kid’s voices as I walk through different parts of the park.

The quiet and still pond with frogs relaxing on the rocks. Duckweed floating aimlessly through the water. Although I am surrounded with noises from the birds and the trickling of the waterfall, the sounds of laughter and excitement are missing., but secretly I hear them in my head. I smile. All the frogs that the kids caught, kids falling in the pond….. constant activity.

All is quiet……. for now!

We continued on walking toward the wildflower fields to see which flowers were in bloom. I saw a milkweed bug and it made me laugh. The memories of us running around the fields capturing bugs and always holding true to the promise that we would let them go when we were finished exploring. We were hunters and the atmosphere was electric!!!!

Some flowers remain and the the milkweed pods are almost ready to burst.

Finally we made it to the Barn and into the garden. There were still nasturtium blooming. I remember some of the kids tasting the peppery flower that our preschoolers planted. ” Blech! ” “Yum!” “My mother would like that!”

Our trellis for the beans lay like a sleeping baby…. next spring we will begin again!

I am looking forward to meeting new families and welcoming back some of our returning families!

We are going to have a blast and create more memories to share.

Keep on hikin

Sue

FAIRIES, FROGS AND RASPBERRIES

July 26, 2013/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

THE END RESULT OF A GREAT WEEK OF EXPLORING! CAMPERS WHO WERE FULL OF SILLINESS AND RASPBERRIES.

This week we had Emily, Emily, Michael, Lukas and Lorenzo to help with our energetic group of campers. Couldn’t have done without you guys leading the pack and bringing up the tail of the hikers.

It was slow going on the trail because the campers were distracted by all the yummy wild raspberries growing. Eating and walking, eating and walking…. always another bush around the corner. I think they were all fascinated by the free food! I was impressed with their willingness to sample them. One of the campers even went back and collected more with his mom and incorporated them into his healthy yogurt snack the next day…. kudos to that mom!!

We took an extra long hike along the yellow trail in search of the elusive fairy house of Avalon. When we finally got there we realized it was destroyed. Yikes! Who or what could have done this? I will go with a heavy rain that washed it away instead of blaming someone. But because they are great campers who care, they got to work and fixed it up!!

The fairies thank you, guys!

Inspired by the creation in the woods the campers created their own back at the barn… after collecting materials on the trail. Here are some of the amazing outcomes!!!!!

Pond Exploration a team favorite!!!: This week we were able to capture a frog, tadpoles, dragonfly nymphs, water striders, water beetles. Lots of laughs and screeches of excitement when something was caught. I’m sure the parents appreciated that we told the campers it was important to release everything we captured! They would have brought all the creatures home if we allowed it!

As adults it is our responsibility to teach all of the children respect for all things natural. It is not always about teaching scientific facts (which is important) but more about teaching the little humans how to carry on the love of the outdoors into their future lives which will have a real impact on our future as a people and a planet!!

Peaceful travels along the trail…..

Sue

AVALON EXPLORERS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH NATURE!!!

July 18, 2013/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

Week one of camp is complete. Although we were in the midst of one of summer’s famous heat-waves we made the very best of our adventures. All of our Kindergarten through Grade three campers came to camp ready to hike and explore.

And explore we did! First two days were spent collecting bugs. I was so impressed with all of the campers…. I did not hear one eeeewwww or scream as we found and captured milkweed bugs, caterpillars, long horned beetles, worms, honey bees, and more!!

We spent our first day out in the wildflower fields and the second in the woods. Marguerite, of the instructors helped the campers understand that bugs are both good and bad. We had some interesting conversations with these young minds.

Hornets nest (abandoned of course!!)

The next two days we spent at the pond. I loved how all of the campers were so engaged in pond dipping and skimming with nets. We were lucky enough to have three teenage helpers, Wendy, Julia and Luke, each of whom helped the campers dig deep into the pond and see all the creatures up close that they may have only seen in books. Frogs, pond skaters, dragon flies, dragon fly nymph, tapeless, turtles, duckweed and more! I was proud of how adventurous they all were!!!

Duckweed. Floating roots. Penelope said they looked like mini lily pads.

Resident Bull Frog!

Letting go of the tadpole.

Dragon fly nymphs
What else is in there?? Ah my little limnologists!

My hope is that each of the campers will return to Avalon with their families and talk about what they saw and also discover that there is still more to be found.

I was so proud of all of them!

Keep exploring

Miss Sue

GOODBYE FOR NOW

June 17, 2013/in Children and the outdoors /by natasha commander

We ended our last week of all Seedlings classes…. she says with a sigh.

I cannot even begin to describe as a person and an educator all the joy these children brought me this past season of classes. Some of my favorite times were when the kids showed me a thing or two. It confirms my belief that children have the ability to teach patience and thinking outside of the box.

So this summer as you shuffle your children around listen to them, take them outdoors so they can sweat and dig and find things in the garden. Listen to them and don’t worry so much about what “all the other kids ” are doing. It is a reciprocal relationship, we give, they give, we give, they give and so on……. enjoy! Be back with camp blogs in four weeks!!! Suephoto taken by a local Girl Scout

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