Kids Camp!: Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness

Kids Camp!: Activities for the Backyard or Wilderness — page 1
A NOTE TO GROWN UP CAMPERS Remember your childhood climbing over rocks searching for birds nests and puzzling over animal tracks in the mud Remember the daydreams of find ing gold as you dug in the dirt and searching for wolf packs or giant bears as you hiked through brushy woods Many of us have those memories because we had the time and opportunity to wander in the natural world Today's children have little if any contact with nature let alone the wild Jaded badgered by advertisers locked safely in their homes children are being shortchanged And understandably children aren't always free to explore nature it's seldom around the corner Many children have become the recipients of a synthesized natural experience They observe nature via books and videos without dipping a toe in an icy brook or smelling wildflowers They wear rain forest T shirts but have never enjoyed plucking shiny peb bles from a stream crawling after a bulbous toad or picking and eating wild berries Children need nature they need to touch it hear it and taste it They need the simple experiences playing in piles of freshly cut grass feet in soft mud a caterpillar wiggling down a finger These things are