Nature Camp - Birds, Bugs and Blossoms

Monday - We will learn about some common items in nature that were used by our ancestors to make everyday items. We will paint a picture using the chlorophyll from plant stems and leaves.

Materials:

•	A whole bunch of fresh green leaves and stems from trees and plants. 
•	A piece of sturdy paper or white cardboard, at least 12” x 12”  (Plus a scrap piece of paper for practicing) 
•	Something to cover our work surface to keep it clean  

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Tuesday - We'll learn about different types of flowers and the importance of flowers - both to the plants they come from and to our food chain. We will make a piece of nature art from flowers and other items we have collected (in advance) from our yards or neighborhoods. If you live where the items might be in short supply, it is OK to use purchased items, but please don’t spend much.

Materials:

•	Collect several natural items. There are no rules here, as long as the items can be found in nature. We will be creative when we         make our pieces. Examples: tree bark, leaves, flowers, seashells, tiny pinecones, weed stems with fluffy tops, feathers, dandelion fuzz, flower buds, pea-sized gravel, snakeskin, pine needles, lichen, dried berries, acorns, etc.
•	Glue – white glue or gorilla glue … anything strong enough to hold the materials your learner has collected
•	Corrugated cardboard – A piece at least 12” x 12” (white is optimal, but kraft is just fine) 
•	Something to cover our work surface to keep it clean  

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Wednesday - Today's emphasis will be on pollination. We'll discuss the most important pollinators in our food chain, and the dangers they currently face. We will build a model to demonstrate pollination.

Materials:

•	Dish with about 1/8 cup of flour, corn starch, corn flower, powdered cocoa … any non-toxic powdery substance that will stick to and color a paper towel
•	Two flowers (silk or plastic,) in a contrasting color to your powdery substance above
•	Paper towel
•	Tape (small amount)
•	Bowl of rice, piece of Styrofoam, or anything that will hold the flower stems upright when inserted
•	Something to cover our work surface to keep it clean

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Thursday - In today's camp we will get down and dirty as we play in mud to make wildflower seed bombs. As we do so, we'll learn about native vs. invasive species, and how each of us can help rehabilitate our own little corner of the earth.

Materials:

•	Very small amount of wildflower seeds (like 1 tsp.) One packet from a dollar store is plenty (If you can’t find them or don’t have time to go get them, we can “pretend” with poppy seeds, sesame seeds, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, or anything else you might have in your spice collection that is approximately the size of a seed)
•	Mud (or soil and water to make mud) – a consistency that will mold into a ball and hold together. We’ll need about 1 cup total
•	A few totally dried leaves or plant stems – they need to be dry enough that we can easily crumble them with our hands into tiny bits.
•	Something to cover our work surface to keep it clean
•	Damp paper towels to clean our hands when finished
•	Vinyl gloves, if your child is squeamish about getting their hands dirty

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Friday - We'll end this week's nature camp talking about the birds in our area. We will discuss a few birds that have gone extinct, and how we can work hard so that it doesn't happen again. Our last hands-on activity will be making a bird feeder we can hang in our yard or neighborhood.

Materials:

•	Large or medium sized pine cone
•	A length of string or yarn about two feet long
•	Nut butter (about 1 cup)
•	Non-sharp knife or small rubber spatula to spread the nut butter
•	Shallow dish of bird seed, large enough to roll the pine cone in
•	Something to cover our work surface to keep it clean
•	Damp paper towels to clean our hands when finished

** NOTE – If you cannot easily get a pine cone, please contact me and I will come up with an alternate bird feeder for your learner