Session 6, Week 6
Last week all studios had the wonderful opportunity to spend the week in the beautiful outdoors!
For 4 days the Spark Studio took 21 learners ages 5-8 and spent 5+ hours outside each day. No matter the weather. We played. We explored. We read. We ate. We imagined. We called it Forest School. By the end of the fourth day, when it was time to pack up and go back to the school the learners seemed surprised. “What?! We just ate lunch! We just got here!” For them time had flown by. Many parents told me their learner has been asking for more days of Forest School.
Some of my favorite Forest School quotes include: “I want to be a tree when I grow up so I can start from a seed and get bigger and bigger.” “The tree makes seeds and then those go off and grow into more trees and it just keeps going and going, like the water cycle.” “What kind of things do fish eat?” “I think Botanical has something to do with botany.” “Wow! Look how high up we hiked!” “We found a wall with a hole that you can go in!!! You gotta see this!” “We made up a new game.” “These seeds look so funny.” “Look at these bugs that we found!” “Can you give us a running challenge?” “The rollie pollies are having a baby shower.”
Each day of Forest School brought with it a change of weather. We experienced hot, sunny, windy, freezing cold, rain, hail, and everything in between. A few times the Sparks were asking to go back to the school and saying things like, “I don’t know how anyone can stand this weather.” We huddled together and brainstormed a few solutions: People build igloos and snow caves to stay warm in the cold. What could we do that was similar? The Sparks got to work with a canopy and blankets and made a warm cozy shelter to enjoy their lunch in.
All week long learners kept a Nature Journal. They recorded favorite things about the day, special findings, and sometimes journaled about a special part of the day. As we ended each day back at the school, learners shared their reflections with one another. They commented on their highlights and lowlights. Several favorites were all the trails and hiking exploration we did, painting the dried gourds, and playing in the sand.
Fire and DELTA heroes rocked Survival Camp 2025! Whether it was working, learning, helping, or adventuring, heroes were up for the challenge. Not only that, some heroes that had struggled in previous camp years were now among the ones helping others this year. Many heroes faced fears, be it jumping into water, rappelling from great heights, completing a LONG hike, dancing in public, or even eating bugs! All heroes endured some unforgettable wind on Day 1, but did so with resilience and good humor. They equipped themselves with so many important skills: building shelters, trapping food, first aid, animal encounters, thriving in the desert, and even self-defense. But it wasn’t just about surviving; camp this year was full of eating good food, zip lining, fishing, playing games, shooting guns, not a lot of sleeping, building frienships and creating memories.
Survival skills: building shelters, tying knots, desert trivia, building animal traps, self-defense, desert trivia, 1st Aid trivia, and eating bugs!
Team building challenges: Making flags, field games, cooking and cleaning together, synchronized swimming routines, and skit night (origin stories of your monster)
Free play: zip line, shooting range, 9 square, fires, group games
Epic adventures: hikes, bouldering, rapelling
There is so much learning that takes place in our beautiful outdoors. Aside from exploring nature and learning survival skills, heroes connect with one another, connect with nature, develop more patience, more trust, more compassion for one another and learn that whether we are indoors or outdoors…
Forest School and Survival Camp are traditions that are here to stay!