Coastal Alabama 

What a gorgeous day in the woods! The morning started out brisk, but warmed up to a fun afternoon with crafts, fire and testing our edges with a challenge called "Meet a Tree". Participants are led to a tree blindfolded. After they have some time to get to know their tree, they are led back to camp. They remove the blindfold and then have to go back and find their specific tree! Some thought it was so much fun, they wanted to try again after finding their first tree! Ms. Brit

What a beautiful, warm, overcast fall day! We took full advantage of the weather with pond explorations, making clay creations and meeting some fun animal allies! Clay mud makes great facepaint! Plant Concentration game helps us learn how to look at the details of all the plants around us. Participants get 15 seconds to look at the design Ms. Britt created and then can work by themselves or with a partner to re-create it on their own. There are so many leaves that look simila

We had so much fun enjoying this unseasonably warm weather at the end of November! It was so warm, there were even mosquitos buzzing around! The leaves are falling and the woods are full of a beautiful rainbow of colors! This week we explored our sense of hearing through some fun games that challenged ALL of our senses. This often takes the form of using blindfolds. Humans are such visual creatures that by wearing a blindfold, we are forced to explore our less-dominant senses

Opening Circle At today's opening circle we shared about a person in our lives that we are thankful for. Some shared about friends, some about family members, and it was very sweet to hear about who is important to everyone, and the reasons why. Sound Map After snack we worked as a group to create a sound map. First, we all closed our eyes and listened for every sound that we could hear, remembering which direction each sound came from. Next we drew our circle in the middle o

Natural Pigment Introduction Today at opening circle, after sharing gratitudes, we talked about how the art of painting first came around, and what materials were first used in its inception. Ancient cave paintings can still be found today, and the native people who created them are thought to have used natural pigments from the land in order to create them. We talked about what types of things could make good paints where we live - berries, flowers, mud - and then set off in

Opening Circle We started our Opening Circle this morning with a new song that mimics the calls song birds use with one another to check in while they're foraging for food. This was a fun introduction to a bird language discussion that would continue throughout the day. Ms. Kathryn then led us through a sense meditation where we noticed the smallest things that we could possibly hear and smell. After sharing gratitudes, and while having snack, Ms. Britt told the "Firekeepers"

Opening Circle After sharing gratitudes this morning, and while eating snack, we heard a rustling in the trees. Who could it be? Maybe Squirrel? While stretching our awareness to see what else we could hear, Ava spotted movement from a different direction. "It's a turtle!" she exclaimed! We all gathered around turtle, and through careful observation, learned how to differentiate between male and female turtles. We determined this one was male based on the slight concave area

We had so much fun on our first day! We agreed on how we are going to treat each other and all living beings. We played fun games that taught us about being in the woods with out even realizing we were learning! We picked our nature names (or did the nature name pick us?) and listened to some exciting stories. While we waited for our friends to arrive, we played a couple rounds of Raccoon Steals Donut. This Nature Connect classic encourages teamwork and awareness - and it's s