starting next week, i’ll be working at a summer camp in the sierras for about three weeks. I’ll have a group of about 5 to 7 kids. i have a lot of free time with them with woods all around us, a little brook with fish, mauntains and tons of wildlife.
anyhow, i was pretty unprepared and unorganized last year when i worked at the same camp and decided that the next year i would bring a bunch of cool feralizing activities and things to do. i’m not completely sure what age group i’ll get this year, but it could be anywhere between 8 to 12 year olds. they’ll definitely be all boys though. i’ll probably have a co-counselor working with me but for the most part, i’m in charge of the activities we’ll be doing each day.
i’d be stoked if anyone had suggestions. inexpensive crafts, activities, books, or games are all great. i’d really like to take advantage of the time i’ll have with these kids, but i’m still a novice when it comes to primitive skills so any suggestions and ideas would be much appreciated. thanks.
sharing nature with children I & II and sharing the joy of nature by joseph cornell are full of great awareness activities.
also, talking fireflies, shrinking the moon by edward duensing is quite good.
i would be glad to send you some stuff, but i’m not sure it’ll get there if the camp starts in 3 days.
if you’re still interested:
primalparent@hotmail.com
here’s his website, there might be some activities online…
hi primal parent.
yeah, i doubt anything would get here in time. i really appreciate it though.
the sharing nature foundation site is pretty neat. i printed out some of the activities and will be sure to use them and i’ll check out those books as well. thank you.
Good website, Primalparent, thanks! “Tom Brown’s Guide to Nature and Survival for Children” is good, too. Well, for next year, I guess… :-.
Someone posted here about making a debris hut with kids:
http://www.rewild.info/conversations/index.php?topic=569.0
Good luck and have fun!
This is a really good thread idea thread idea. I’m going to be a junior counselor for a camp this summer, unfortunately, I’m not going to have much access to nature, and what I can access, well, I’ll just say that I’ll be in Egypt :). Does anyone have any ideas for things I could do more maybe rewilding hearts and minds or stuff that I can do in a field or inside? The kids would be 11 years old, about.
Keepers of the Night - Caduto and Bruchac
Earthways - Petrash
Native American Crafts Workshop - Bernstein
Traditional Native American Crafts and Activities - Braman
Sharing Nature with Children 1 & 2 - Cornell
Sharing the Joy of Nature - Cornell
Talking to Fireflies, Shrinking the Moon - Duensing
Kamana for Kids - Repoley
The Young Naturalist - Repoley
Keeping a Nature Journal - Leslie
Ecoart! - Carlson
Good Earth Art - Kohl
Earth Child 2000 - Sheehan
Keepers of the Earth - Caduto