Survival Camp

The first of four weeks of Survival Camp started this week at Natures Classroom in the typical summer heat and humidity of West Central Florida. The weather did not wilt our "mandatory enthusiasm" (to coin a phrase from a scout in my troop) and the kids (exiting 4th grade to exiting 7th) are having a blast!

My campers arrive at 8am and leave at 3pm for four very full and fun days. On the first day we built shelters in the woods, played some team building games, and, among many other things, made our own "survival bracelets" out of 550 paracord. 

Some made their own hiking sticks, brooms, swings, and other camp gadgets.  We call this kind of play "nature engineering" and it's great for their creativity.  

Many of the kids told me they slept up to 11 hours the night after our first day!  Their exhaustion is evident. We were at the orienteering course and one team was struggling. We got to the point where the marker should be and they looked at each other, shruggling their shoulders as I tried not to giggle. One said "It's like we are right on top of it!" and they were...the marker was at their feet and they had not even seen it, as it was level with the ground. All of us howled with laughter at this!

Their team names this week are hysterical.  They came up with;

 - Nature Havocs

 - Neon Cats

 - Bandana Bandits

 - Aqua Ponies

They are competing for points and the final prize at the end of the week. 

We had a great hike deep into the woods to places our regular 6th grade classes don't usually get to go during the school year; places we call "Camelot" and "The Gorgeous Tree".  One young lady saw a beautiful grassy area and said it was the perfect place for a wedding; very "whimsical". 

We also played a some games from the Project Wild Curriculum. One is called Otter Steals Fish, where the Great Blue Heron has to protect its fish from very hungry otters.  It's hysterical to watch the otters finally figure out that they can work as a team to be successful. One said "Ok, the 3 of us will be a distraction...(until one got tagged out mid sentence)...Ok, the 2 of us will be a distraction".   Who was distracting who?!

Another game we play, "Nutty Squirrel", has squirrel parents guiding their little blind babies (a blind-folded partner) to the nut (squishy ball) which they throw at others to get them out.  Sometimes the parent gets knocked out of the game and the blind baby is on his own.  They usually die, but I laughed when one student in response to the description of the game said of his "baby" in mock mommy tone; "oh, they grow up so fast!"

These kids ARE growing up fast and I hope their experience at Nature's Classroom will be one that they will always remember.  Out of my 18 campers, 7 attended this same camp with me last year.  I am so happy to see so many returning faces and am amazed at how much they have grown and matured in the last year. I see so many of them volunteering and teaching their fellow campers.  They are awesome!