One of the Young Naturalists' favorite parts of the day is outdoor playtime, an unstructured recess-style time after lunch. During this time, counselors step back from teaching and campers have a chance to just be outside in whatever way they choose. Some find worms to feed to Speedy the box turtle. Some take it upon themselves to organize a game such as "Ghosts in the Garden". Some collect sticks or seeds or other treasures. And some just wander around in nature. This is one of the most important parts of camp and reflects one of the Hitchcock Center's most fervent missions: to give kids time to just play in nature. We believe that free playtime in nature is crucial to the healthy growth of children in mind, body and spirit. Counselors supervise but do not interfere as campers are left to their own imaginations in the great outdoors every day.
The Nature Explorers have been busy visiting two different farms. On Thursday, Farmer Hans of Bramble Hill Farm gave us a tour of the farm he manages and campers lent a hand while sampling some yummy vegetables. Friday they journeyed to Many Hands Farm, a new farm in Amherst for a tour and to dig in the soil. Farmer Ryan had prepared a HUGE hole in the ground so campers could see the different layers of soil, take temperatures, and even go inside! Ryan lowered kids into the hole to feel the difference of temperature for themselves (it was much cooler than the topsoil!). After a tour of the farmland and crops (and some sampling of green beans and lemon cucumbers!) campers took out their tools and did some digging of their own. By the end of the day they had taken data from three different habitats, so they shared their observations in a discussion at the end of the day.
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