April Vacation Camp

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Here's the photos from our April Vacation Camp. Vacation Camp activities centered around a tree study. The recent winter ice storm left many of the Camp Woodhaven trees damaged. Through this experience, we appreciate the trees we have left at camp. I set out to help the kids learn a little bit more about trees.

Day One: The campers took a hike to identify trees by the bark and dead leaves on the ground. They did bark rubbings of their favorite trees. We saw birch, white oaks, black oaks, red pine, white pine, sassafras, maples, and chestnuts to name a few. Later, we made homemade pretzels and covered them with sugar and ground bark (cinnamon). On our walk, we gathered acorns and fir cones to use later in the week.

Day Two: On this day, we learned about how the tree gets nutrients from the ground. It rained quite a bit on this day. We read tree poems. Then, the campers wrote their own Haiku poems about trees. We glued the poems into the center of their bark rubbings. In the afternoon, we made pancakes with yummy maple syrup.

Day Three: As you can see from our pictures, we framed their poems with the beautiful birch that fell down in the storms. We played lots of dodgeball in the rain and made log houses out of pretzels.

Day Four: The campers studied the seeds of our trees today. We used the seeds (acorns and fir cones) we collected to make little people. They were adorable! We ate apples for a snack to study yet one more type of seed.

Day Five: It was a beautiful day to be outside and study the growth rings of the tree. We counted rings from a tree that had gone down in the storm. Then, we hiked to the oldest tree. To our dismay, the top had been taken out by the storm. We made trumpets with our hands and tooted "Taps" to our fallen friend. We measured the girth of the old tree. With growth at about an inch a year, we estimated the age to be 121 years old!! We each took a turn sawing off a piece of the old tree to use in our campfire. Next, we tried to estimate the height of a very tall tree on the side of the sports field. Using a camper standing underneath the tall tree, we set up a proportion to complete the estimate. From a distance, the tree stood 10 inches tall using a ruler, and our camper was .5 inches tall. The camper was 46 inches tall. Then, we set up the proportion and solved for x, which was the height of the tree in inches. Our tree was 920 inches or about 77 feet tall. Next, we flew kites, but the wind was almost too strong. Next, we had a cookout, and the sun began to shine. In the afternoon, we planted new baby trees from the Arbor foundation. We received a few different varieties that will produce beatiful fall foliage. We look forward to these campers bringing their children back to see the trees they planted one day!