A Day in Our Youth Programs

Our days (during non-covid times) begin with youth of all ages arriving to be greeted by our awesome nature instructors who have prepared active and focused “trickle-in” activities to engage the youth as they arrive. An active trickle-in might be a lively game of “tail-tag”, and a focused trickle-in might be sparking grass tinder-bundles into flames using a ferro rod (commonly misnamed a flint and steel).

Once all have arrived, we gather everyone together into our morning circle. In the morning circle, we share our gratitude for the things we are feeling grateful for that day, and we sing a song (sometimes educational, sometimes serious, and sometimes silly).

Morning circle is followed by a large group game that is selected to be inclusive of all the variously aged children. This is often a great way for older students to practice being role-models for younger students and to develop awareness of and skill in creating space for our youngest students to succeed in participating in the game.

After the large game, the age groups split apart into their various classes and go to their snack/story spot out in the forest. Story time is focused on highlighting the topic or skill that will be learned about that day. If the main focus will be on learning to respond to hypothermia emergencies, perhaps the story will be about an experience that an instructor had while backpacking in snowy conditions. If we will be processing acorns for flour, perhaps the story will be about acorn woodpeckers.

Snack/Story is followed by one of our core-routines, the sit-spot. Each student gets to find a special spot out on the land where they will develop a long standing relationship with nature based on observing wildlife and the unfolding patterns and details in nature. This is also a time when students get to practice developing internal stillness and calmly watchful awareness. For new and young students, the sit-spot might be no longer than 10-15 minutes. For more experienced students who want to go on a deeper journey with sit-spot, the sit-spot can be expanded upon in many ways. One of our past instructors visited one of his sit-spots at least once a week for 7 years! One of our current students has visited her sit-spot every day for the past 7 months!

The second half of the day, after sit-spot, varies in structure. Sometimes we go on long wanders through many ecosystems. Sometimes we have skills-rotations in which each instructor teaches a skill and the students rotate through the skills stations. Sometimes students bring projects that they have been working on and we have a large project day. Sometimes we do amazing scout games in which students get fully camouflaged with mud, charcoal, and leaves, and then stealthily sneak through the forest to achieve some objective (like claiming chocolate bars that have been placed in a circle around a jabbering group of instructors). Whatever the second half of the day holds, it is always structured around a skill, an activity, or a wander.

The end of the day is marked by another circle. The students share their stories of the day, something that they learned, and what they look forward to for the next week.

While many of the days in our youth programs are like the description above, we also have many days that do not follow this exact pattern. We are not prescriptive on this journey! Full-day wanders and full-day scout games are common. Sometimes we focus for an entire day on one skill or activity. We let student passions and interests influence how our days flow. Sometimes playing in the mud all day is exactly what is needed.