Week Two: Finding our Groove

This week was hot and steamy, but the kids kept cool in the pool and running around our shaded woods. The kids who were new last week have quickly settled in and seem relaxed and happy already. It's so heartwarming to see even the littlest campers walk confidently up the stone steps and into their classrooms each morning. As a community, we are all finding our groove.

Things are getting groovy in the music room, too! The campers started working with Jonathan, our longtime music station master. Many kids are honing their ukulele skills, and some of the older kids are learning to play guitar. And everyone gets a chance to sing and play the drums. Working in tandem with Jonathan is Mary Esther, our drama and Science & Nature station master. She and the kids are exploring the ways that the trees communicate with each other and with the world around them, an area of natural science that's just beginning to come to light.

The ideas that emerge from the kids' explorations in Science and Nature will form the basis of our annual camp-end play, a collaboration between Mary Esther, Jonathan, and of course the kids. You may hear some familiar songs at home (with a funky, fungus-y new twist) as the kids begin learning them at camp. We can't wait to see what else we'll discover this summer about the World Wood Web.

We finished up our pottery creations with Eileen in the art room, and can't wait to see how they turn out once they are fired in the kiln. In Jewelry with Brittny, the kids are making bracelets and earrings for themselves or maybe a lucky family member. All kinds of wooden creations are coming out of the wood shop, and the kids are making beautiful fabric pillows and dolls in sewing. Group D's excursion this week was to Harriman State Park's Lake Tiorati, where the kids splashed and played in the sun- and even got to see a five-lined skink, one of the few lizards native to New York State.

Water play was a big hit this week with our smallest campers. Some of the little ones like to swim in the pool and some aren't quite ready, but Ellen and Tanisha make sure they stay cool in the sprinkler or by making muddy castles in the sandbox.

To see more of what we've been up to this week, check out the gallery below.