Coyote Howl!

Melissa Blake, August 14, 2015

As children arrived this morning, they were invited to join one of several activities already in progress. When our group was complete, we gathered in our opening circle for drumming, singing, dancing, and a game of Animal Charades.

We each then found our backpack, the group gave a coyote howl, and we transitioned to walking quietly down the trail to our base camp by the creek. There, many forms of spontaneous play broke out. There were creek-walkers and worm-catchers, log-balancers, hiders, seekers, and “house” players. Children moved in and out of games and activities until snack time. During snack, we heard a cautionary tale about how ticks learned to kiss (bite).

Afterwards, several more-focused activities were offered: soapstone carving, wild tea harvesting, firewood gathering, and creek play with clay painting. The group divided up according to interest, and if anyone failed to be engaged by what was going on an instructor sought to engage him or her. The whole group came back together for lunch around a fire, complete with wild (kid-harvested) tea.

When all lunches were packed up we gathered for our Closing Circle, singing songs of celebration and gratitude.

A final coyote howl signaled the end of another great day!