We are already halfway through the summer here at Primitive Pursuits and it is flying by! We have a few specialty camps running this week, including Luna’s Fire and Gender Creative camp. Luna’s Fire is a camp designed for young women who connect with nature and each other through crafts, singing, and unity. Gender Creative camp is a camp designed for youth who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary to devote a week to creative expression.

This week’s theme is amphibians & insects, so campers enjoyed activities that included our small friends.

To escape the heat in the beginning of the week, groups didn’t stay dry. The creek across the street was in use all week for campers to cool off as well as daily games of wet sponge dodgeball. Luna’s Fire kicked off the week by building a large fire to celebrate their time together. The campers practiced their friction fire skills, with one camper even adopting a brand new technique to coax the flames. Archer’s Apprentice started off strong with hitting the range right away, with many campers being seasoned bow handlers. At Cedar Camp, the Yellow Warblers kept busy doing crafts! They harvested cattails from Beaver Pond and started basket weaving.

Adventure Academy group has been all about using their imaginations and creativity. Dressed head to toe in costumes such as butterfly wings, grass wreath halos, and capes, the campers got a mid-week treat: a visit from the Spider Queen. Deep in the forest at Coyote Camp, the campers weaved their own web of twine and summoned our Spider Queen, who played songs for us on her lyre and offered wisdom. At the Pole Barn, Luna’s Fire worked on wet felting, a process to bind wool fibers together to make fabric. The campers worked on separating their wool fibers to begin the process. In the Hemlocks, Growing Wild and Gender Creative camp joined together to look for our amphibian and insect friends! They found the cutest toad under a log that hung out with us for a little bit.

Instructor Sean helping an Archer’s Apprentice camper

Lots of groups were sneaking around the acres practicing their fox-walking and camoflauge on Wednesday afernoon. I was walking through the Hemlocks and just barely noticed Luna’s Fire campers on the ground covered in mud sneaking up on me! They blended right in with the forest floor.

Adventure Academy had a visit from another one of the forest’s mystical beings: the Turtle Chief. The Turtle Chief offered wisdom and advice about being a forest inhabitant. Thursday brought downpours all day, but groups embraced the rain and even did a fire challenge! The camper’s vibrant raincoats looked like little splashes of rainbows all over the forest.

Friday was a busy day all around the acres. In the morning, Archer’s Apprentice camp had the Bow Olympics, where they divided into teams to see who could get the most points by hitting the target. Down the path at Trillium Camp, Growing Wild found a huge spider web which they took turns crawling through to see who could find the quickest path! Luna’s Fire finished up their wet felting projects, with the campers making customized pouches. Friday ended with the Forest Explorers playing a big game of Crow Spirit at Coyote Camp, which is one of my favorite ways to end the week.

Adventure Academy campers

Photo Gallery July 28-Aug 1 – Hallie Allport and Isa Goico