Week three: Build a nature trail
Kids won’t be exploring all those meandering camp trails this year. But they can create their own instead.
Life skill: Exploration
Step 1: Collect the information.
—Have kids walk around yard, making a list of animals they find. (Check out this article about doing a backyard safari.) Some ideas:
• Look up to find squirrels and birds.
• Peek under rocks to find snails.
• Peer into the flowers and bushes to find butterflies and bumblebees.
• Check in between blades of grass and on branches for ladybugs, stick insects, and other tiny critters.
• Sweep the dirt to find roly-pollies.
• Remind kids to use their senses to listen for birds or sniff out flowers that might attract insects.
—Have kids add details to their list. For instance:
• What was the animal doing?
• Where was it?
• How many were there?
Step 2: Map out the trail.
—Pick out the best “wildlife habitats” on the list, the places in the yard where the most interesting action is happening. (Kids might want to start small, with four or five habitats.)
—Decide the order of how you’d want these habitats to appear on the nature trail, including the start and end point.
—Sketch your yard on paper, noting trees, bushes, furniture, garden hoses, doghouse, swing sets, etc.
—Mark the entrance and habitats on the map with a symbol like a star or heart—stickers work great! (Here’s an article on kid-friendly map-making.)
—Write down the name of your trail at the entrance, and give each habitat a fun name, like Ladybug Lookout.
—Connect the entrance and habitats with a colored pencil.
Step 3: Mark the trail
—Create signs for the entrance and each habitat.
—Use tips and questions from the Camp Logo activity to name the trail and design the entrance sign. (Be sure to include your camp logo on the entrance!)
—Let kids get creative for the habitat signs, but consider including:
• The habitat name
• A drawing or photo of the animal one might observe in the habitat
• Details about what to look for
• Fun facts about the animal
—Glue the sign to an equal-size piece of cardboard, posterboard, or cardstock.
—Slide each sign into a clear, resealable plastic bag so that the top of the sign is at the bottom, then seal it.
• Tape or staple the sign to a wooden garden stake. (Or get creative with other “stakes”: old rulers, taped-together straws, etc.)
• Stick the signs into the ground near each habitat.
Have kids lead family campers on the new nature trail. Uber-explorers can expand the trail into your neighborhood sidewalks. (Just make sure to get people’s permission if, say, a sidewalk tree is part of their property.)
