Winter Camp Update: Monday 12/20

Welcome Farm Camp Families!

The day started off chilly, but we warmed up quickly with a game of blob tag. After settling into our outdoor classroom, we reviewed our agreements on how to treat each other and the farm. We then took a long walk all around the farm, through trails in the juniper brakes that some of these students helped clear in previous classes, and stopped by the old German house build by the original homesteaders over 200 years ago. We also discovered super cool nature “treasures” along the way like raccoon bones, maybe? coyote scat, and a massive red harvester ant colony. 

After snack time, we played a game of “Monarchs & Viceroys” which introduces the concept of biomimicry in nature. They then heard the story of “How Groundhog’s Garden Grew,” which is a wonderful children’s book about starting an organic garden. After reviewing our farm rules, we set out on a salad walk, tasting freshly harvested carrots, cilantro, Swiss chard and red lettuce. All agreed that these were the best carrots they’ve ever tried. One child noted that the Swiss chard tasted salty, but was still quite tasty.  We finished the farm walk with a visit to the chickens to feed the birds and collect eggs.

By request of the “old timers” we spent time in the dry creek bed - the ideal place for hide and seek tag. This group LOVES to run and play!

After lunch, we crafted Christmas trees from gathered sticks, yarn, juniper berries and maybe a little bit of Michaels-style glitz. Wrapping the trees with yarn was a challenge for several of the kids, but they all succeeded with beautiful results. As a Waldorf teacher, I can’t encourage fiber arts enough for children - its so good for developing focus, hand-eye coordination, confidence, and patience! 

If you ask your kids, though, they’ll tell you that the best part of the day was playing in the giant leaf pile!

Phaedra and I are looking forward to another epic day tomorrow. I expect they’ll sleep well tonight. 

Warmly, 

Ms. Bridget