First Day of Summer Camp at Woodside National Historic Site

The EaB Forest and Nature School Camp Children’s voices mingled with birdsongs and the sounds of raindrops as we explored the woods. The children were excited to discover Banana Slugs, Snails, Butterflies, and amazing sprawling Wild Grape Vines at the Forest on the Hill.

A group marveled at the work of Woodpeckers discussing how “the birds turned the tree into an apartment building”. Someone remembered the woodpecker we spotted a few weeks ago. Listening to the children immersed in the beauty of Nature inspired us adults to look deeper, notice important details we would perhaps miss.

Éva spotted two Blue Jay feathers on the ground, the children turned the feathers around observing the patterns of blue and black lines. The children noticed that while one side had two colours, the other side only had one colour. The explorers were ready for a long discussion:

“It might be black on the bottom, that way it is hard to see the Blue Jay flying at night”.- was the first theory.

“Or maybe they ran out of blue paint.”- someone suggested with a giggle:) We looked at the feathers through the lenses of magnifying glasses noticing the phenomenal structures of the feathers.

“It looks like there are tiny feathers on each strand, WOW!”- the Children observed.

The children expressed their creativity through two and three dimensional art projects using a variety of art media. A group created enormous representations of fungi they observed in the Forest and in the mushroom nature guides.

Cities, farms, maps and castles emerged in the two and three dimensional projects. Surrounded by creativity, divergent thinking, creative expression inspired by Nature created a sense of well-being for the group.

A group of children created journals using paper, scissors and string. A group expanded their divergent thinking by creating “pillow cases” using paper and string.

I wonder what will capture our imagination and sense of curiosity next Wednesday?

É.M.