One Week of Plants with Children

Before I realized that the State of Ohio is one of the most over regulated states in the country. I attempted to start Camp Raven Summer Day Camp. Here is the one week of camp I managed to run before I discovered that having ten children at your house with out a three thousand dollar fire alarm system and two separate bathrooms that each meet EPA standards are required; one for boys and one for girls.


Even though your camp takes place entirely outside and is canceled in rainy weather.

Day One of Plant Week

We had a beginning circle and I sang “Our Sacred Ground We Walk Upon.” Then I told the Abenaki Nation story of how stories came from Grandfather Rock.

We learned map reading skills and compass use skills. I am happy to report that we managed to get lost the first day. This priceless experience cannot be undervalued. Feelings of fear and despair —the children were hopelessly lost. They didn’’t panic, although I saw some nervous looks. (Of course, I knew where we were—sheesh!)

We had to change our path to avoid poison ivy.

Poison ivy on the bike path.
Here is the poison ivy that we found on the bike path; notice the mitten-shaped leaves. We drew the poison ivy plant and ate lunch. I told them the Choctaw story of “How Poison Came to the Creatures of the Swamp,” which involves poison ivy.
We took a shortcut through to the water works, then played a few fun games with the fruit of a walnut tree.



Cure for Poison Ivy

Here is the cure for poison ivy that we found down by the river. We all promptly applied it to our arms and legs, although too much time might have passed for it to work.
Olivia volunteered to touch a stinging nettle, an experience she claims she will avoid for all time from now on. She used jewelweed to stop the stinging. (It took longer then she liked because there was a stinger in her thumb—ouch!)
Other plants discussed:
Pokeweed – Poison ID
Raspberries
Chicory
Cedar
Various domestic garden vegetables
We ended the day with a song, “Mother Earth Carry Me.”

Peace

Eric Wolf

To all—don’’t forget those hot baths with soapy water! Kill those chiggers!

P.S.: We made a magical map of camp. To get a copy of the map in PDF format, click here.
P.P.S.: Questions for your child:

Easy – What is the cure for poison ivy?
Hard – What did Native Americans make out of poison ivy?

Day Two of Plant Week

Today we focused on awareness of plants. Rested from our adventure of yesterday, we had a circle and told the story of NoahÂ’s Ark because we were learning about rainbows for our camper rainbow.

We drew a picture of the comfrey plant. This medicinal plant is not to be eaten or drunk as a tea, but in an herb pack, it can be used to heal skin conditions and bruises.

We spent time at our campsite, found sit spots in the woods, and spent time exploring them. One camper found the plant that grows the burrs we have seen on the dogs. We told the story of Jumping Mouse, which we had all heard before but loved dearly, and discussed the story at length.

We learned about the hackberry tree, whose wood is good for cheap furniture and boxes.

Burdock in front of my house.


We drew a picture of the burdock plant and spent time examining the leaves closely, learning how the plant changes throughout its life. We learned the basic mechanics of how to see the energy fields of plants and identify them by their energy fields. There was some success at this.


We built a maze of string in heavy brush and then walked through it blindfolded to practice walking through plant growth in the dark. We practiced our songs, and one of our campers practiced writing down every word he/she (which is it?) could think of (with some spelling prompting).

Other plants discussed today:
Catnip
Pokeweed
Honeysuckle
Black garlic mustard (first year)
Various domestic herbs
Hackberry tree
Box elder tree
Peace
Eric Wolf

P.S.: We made a magical map of camp. To get a copy of the map in PDF format, click here.
P.P.S.: Ask your camper these questions:
Easy – What is the name of the large-leafed plant that lies low to the ground and that the Chinese love to cook with?
Easy – What is the plant that stings you, but is tasty when cooked?
Hard – What is comfrey used for medicinally, and why is it so dangerous to eat?

Day Three of Plant Week

Lovely day! It rained all day—I loved it! No thunder, so we could wander wherever we pleased.
First, we spent some time discussing the weather and what we liked and disliked about rain. We went down and had a sit for about twenty minutes with the rain falling. It was very dreamy. We saw a chipmunk for the first time in the vale.

We picked some catnip; I refused to identify it, saying it might be from the mint family.



“Which mint is it?” I asked. We came back to the dry house and drew the catnip, but unfortunately, there was no cat around to test it on.


I think that the spot we sat in had chiggers, so I hope you all took showers and baths. One of the children spotted a chigger crawling on my bag


Then we went on a rain walk through the vale and spent time building a dam in the stream, although our dam building wasn’t as successful as you might think. We walked for over an hour, wandering here and there, playing games with spider webs and other things. Didn’t find any newts, though—I think there aren’t very many here because of pollution.
In the afternoon, we studied trees and practiced identifying hackberry and box elder.


Walking in a larger circle though the woods of the vale, we found a lot of flowers and brought back samples to look up in books or just because we liked them (including snapdragons, skullcaps, wild carrot, white avens, and of course, field thistle). It turns out that the skullcap is threatened in Ohio, so donÂ’t take any if you see it!
Other plants mentioned today:
Burdock
Raspberry
Dandelion
Grapes
Poison hemlock
Pokeweed


Peace
Eric Wolf


P.S.: We made a magical map of camp. To get a copy of the map in PDF format, click here.
P.P.S.: Ask your camper these questions:
Easy – What did you see in your secret spot/sit spot this morning?
Easy – In the story about Grandfather Sun, why does the sun go away?
Hard – What family of herbs all have square stems and are tasty and delicious?

Day Four of Plant Week

A little more of a slow day. It feels like the children are getting full of knowledge and beauty. Spent today close to home. Told a story.

We collected some comfrey to feed the chickens, but they didnÂ’t really care for it. We reviewed our plants this morning and had a nice thirty-minute sit.

What is a sit?

Every day of camp, the children sit in the same spot for a period of time to learn the patterns of the natural world. You can do this too. Take the time to find a place outside and spend twenty- to thirty-minute breaks there to see and learn about the natural world. This experience will inevitably draw you closer to nature.

We talked about what it means to be a good older brother or sister. We did the blindfolded maze again and had a good time.

Ate a tasty lunch.

We made a poultice of comfrey for the dogÂ’s cut. (She ran into a raccoon last night.) The dog wasnÂ’t very happy about the medicine, but some of the comfrey stayed on her and was still on at the end of camp.

Played a game of Connect Four.

Dug up five burdocks—have you ever dug up burdock? It’’s not easy.

We drew the plantain herb, a low-growing weed that you probably have in your yard; your child can find it for you.


We played the game Camouflage for an hour.


Plants mentioned today:
Chicory
Dandelion
White asven
Echinacea
Hackberry
Box elder
Poison ivy
Wild rose

In front of house – pokeweed.


Eric Wolf


P.S.: We made a magical map of camp. To get a copy of the map in PDF format, click here.
P.P.S.: Three questions:
Easy – Plantain heals cuts and wounds, just like what herb that also heals cuts?
Easy – What is it like to dig up a burdock root?
Hard – What is the tree with the rough bark?

Day Five of Plant Week

Last day of plant week! We were so sad, but we were happy to be together. We spent a lot of the day aware of the time—what time is it? How much camp is left?

We had a circle and sang some songs: “The Earth Is Our Mother,” “This Is Not a Chew Toy,” and “Down by the Bay” (it had to be done).

I told the Abenaki story of how maple syrup was watered down (they have the best stories).

We drew echinacea plants, and some nice artwork was produced by those who drew. One of us played with the dog instead.

The art in this group is really amazing, but as a group, they are all very shy about showing it to others.

We ate a snack that was delicious! Then we did a short sit, which became shorter because the dogs found something really cool. They kept barking very insistently, so we went over to investigate. At first we thought it was a small mole or maybe a mouse under a fallen tree; then we realized that it was a possum! Not just any possum, but a really big one. The possum remained still and we tried to get a good view from a respectable distance. It was fascinating to watch how the older the person, the less they saw until it was pointed out to them by a younger person.

Checked out the bark house in the woods.

Collected stinging nettles ever so carefully. This took a long time, and later we realized we had collected too much. This nettle is so rich and tasty that it doesn’t take much to fill you up.

We had a nice discussion about our favorite parts of camp: plants, dogs, walking in the woods, and drawing.

Had lunch.

Visited the maze and the troll homes, for those who missed them.

We made a delicious soup out of some stinging nettles, lamb’s quarters, and burdock root that we had. Ingredients in order of amount: stinging nettle, lamb’s quarters, garlic mustard greens, chicory flowers, clover flowers, salt, and garlic mustard seed.

We played Camouflage in the woods for an hour and tried out harder versions of the old-fashioned game.

Went up and told the story “Turtle Goes South for the Winter.”

Saw all of you and gave out stinging nettle stew. Hope you liked it.

Peace,

Eric Wolf

P.S.: We made a magical map of camp. To get a copy of the map in PDF format, click here.
P.P.S.: Questions:
Easy – What herb makes a tasty soup?
Hard – Even if you have colorful clothing on, how can you hide from danger?
Hard – What is wrong with tasting a plant to make sure it’s safe to eat?