Earth Explorers Camp: Day 4

The 4th day of fun here at MSU Tollgate Farms for our Earth Explorers!

Earth Explorers Camp: Day 4

 

IMG_4545Cinnamon Tortillas & Zoodles

Just from the title, you can tell we had some interesting dishes that we made today! Starting with the Cinnamon Tortillas, we fried tortilla wedges and then coated them in cinnamon and sugar to eat with applesauce. What a mouth-watering treat! The zoodles (zucchini noodles) were so much fun to make, the campers got to turn a whole squash and zucchini into thin twirls, then we coated it in a tasty sauce. This weekend, we will make a full blog post just for all the recipes this week, so look out for that!

Ducks!IMG_4532

Where? Safe in their pen, as always. Ducks are a bit more messy than chickens, so we don't pick them up as much as we do chickens, nevertheless it is always fun to feed and interact with the ducks. Our Educational Leaders are very good at making our campers think a lot about the differences between different our duck and chickens, from their physical features to the different kinds of eggs.

IMG_4527Flowers

Today was a special treat, as the campers got to go into our gardens! The campers were introduced to all the different kinds of flowers which grow here at Tollgate, and not just in our public gardens, including sunflowers, carnations, daisies, and so on! each camper got to pick a flower to take home. 

Plaster of ParisIMG_4535

This is a fun forest activity where the campers dig a hole in the ground, fill it with all different kinds of sticks and leaves, then we pour plaster into the hole and leave to dry, and it creates a mold! This way the campers can take a look at what live in the earth as well as fun patterns of leaves.

IMG_4552Forest Bathing

Another fun forest activity that our campers did today is called 'Forest Bathing' which is a kind of meditative practice of just being aware of your surroundings, and letting go of stress. A lot of our Educational Leaders will call this "using fox feet and owl eyes" because of how softly a fox walks, and how far owl eyes can see. From the sound of the leaves, to the crunching of the sticks 

ErosionIMG_4541

How to you explain erosion? With good examples of course! All our campers learned the importance of planting trees and other plants that have long roots, and how that affects the ecosystem that we live in, as well as around the world. Some campers gave examples of glaciers, or the how the ocean waves crash against the rocks on the sea.

 

 

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