There was an opportunity for children to get ‘Into the Woods’ at Little Red River Park on Thursday.
For the fourth straight year, Saskatoon-based outdoor learning team Wildernook Fresh Air has joined Prince Albert Playground leaders for a day camp that aims to help kids make friends, build confidence and stretch their legs.
Claire Miller the Director of Wildernook Fresh Air Learning explained that the camp is constantly evolving.
“This is going strong and each year we are evolving and responding to feedback we get from kids, play leaders and parents about how to make improvements. And then we’re also responding to environmental changes, so the river is continually in flux, things are changing in the park , there’s a road closure. So we’re always evolving and making little tweaks to make it better,” Miller said.
The road closure made the camp accessible from only one entrance to Little Red.
This year there were 65 children in the camp but there has been as many as 90.
“I think that the concept is evolving. And then I think it depends. I think we started off pretty small the first year was it like 30 or 40 or something like that?. And our year that we had the most was close to a hundred,” Miller said.
“I think that this year some of it depends on when registration opens and some of it depends on the smoke and the heat and that kind of thing.
This year weather conditions were ideal with no smoke or rain and heat lessened by a nice breeze across Little Red.
Into the Woods aims to keep kids active while they learn, and that’s become even more important as video games, cell phones, and TV shows take up more and more time.
Janelle Scott the Playground Director for the City of Prince Albert explained that the partnership benefits both parties.
“It’s a great resource to have and help showcase what Little Red offers and get the expertise from Claire helps make this campus success and get the top-tier teaching we can for the Claire,” Scott said.
Thursday’s camp for children ages 8 to12 featured a variety of activities, but they have one thing in common—hands on learning. Miller says all kids deserve to be outdoors during the summer, and it’s up to adults to help them learn and connect with meaningful activities.
That includes everything from learning how to read a compass, to creating art through willow making and weaving. Both of those learning opportunities are new this year, and Miller says they’re a great way to introduce local youth to the outdoors
Miller is a big fan of Little Red River Park.
“I grew up coming to Little Red in my childhood and it’s so wonderful because I think it was under celebrated,” Miller said.
She explained that most communities do not have a place like Little Red so close.
“It’s nice to see kids come and get attached to it,” Miller said.
She noted improvements made such as garbage cans that can lock and lessen litter.
Stations included the Forest Hangout where children could do crafts and use hammocks, a slack line and a rip line .
“And so that is a little bit of a chance for kids to decompress because some of the other stations have more Instruction, more challenging, more structural,”
In another station Elder Liz Settee, along with a playground leader led the children on a nature walk . On the walk they could learn about native plants through a bingo card.
” All these really neat native plants are growing right along what used to be a road And so And so they’ve got a card and they’re searching for these different native plants and that provides that invite to have a conversation with Liz about it. And then she can share some of her teachings,”
Before the walk, Settee led a smudge and introduced it.
There was another station where the campers could hang tarp shelters as team building. The challenge was that trees are not perfectly spaced.
And finally in the orienteering station campers learned how to use a compass.
“But when you learn how to use a compass you’re learning about degrees, you’re learning about, measuring like the directions, looking for landmarks. So some of those skills are not getting lost. It’s really useful,” Miller said.
“And they feel good because they feel like they’ve got these practical skills,” Miller added.
Scott noted that they also get a sense of accomplishment. Scott added that there was nice crossover from the playgrounds program.
“We encourage lots of the playgrounds to let the kids know about registration. So we have a handful of kids, I would say maybe 25 to 30 per cent would be from playgrounds. From what I’ve recognized,” Scott said.
Busing was provided from three playgrounds with morning pickup and afternoon drop-off and Miller said that aspect helped make it more accessible.
Miller explained that the event provides more of a nature camp experience than a regular day camp experience.
Miller is already planning for next summer. She says the goal is to keep bringing in new experiences so the youth can learn something different every year.
“There are lots of returning families and kids that I look forward to it throughout the year,” Miller said.
