Blessing of Leaves!I don't know a greater happiness, to be surrounded by natural beauty and the sounds and smiles of active, pure spirited children and their families. We had a perfect Autumn morning. Wang Laoshi began our outing with a story about an Ant and Caterpillar friendship, and why you might find a leaf with three holes...As we walked into a still lush forest, we began looking for pretty leaves. The floor was damp, and though there were leaves to be found, the pretty yellows and reds never quite jumped out at us, UNTIL we entered a meadow area with a lone maple tree decked above and below with fiery red leaves. This tree practically grabbed us, as we ran over to see the leaves. Sunny Laoshi led us to make our own leaf roses, quaintly tied with string and to hand over to our aunties and mamas. As we prepared to continue back to our craft area, Katie Laoshi couldn't resist sharing the joy of creating a leaf storm that passed over us quickly and to send us on our way. Upon returning, families created a souvenir with leaf printings.
Wacky Creations from Stuff we usually throw away!What can you do with all those toilet paper rolls? Make Walle!! What about that strange spongy packaging? Make Sponge Bob! And how about all those plastic bottles? What about weird and fantastic bottle people and robots? And how about egg cartons? Make a dragon puppet! See all our creations from our last day of summer 2012 together.
Guiyang Campers Participate in the World Water Monitoring Challenge 2012!Campers from the Two Lakes One Reservoir Foundation annual camp also participated in the World Water Monitoring Challenge (WWMC) of 2012, where they joined youth from around the world to test the quality of their local water resources. NatureWize provided the water test kits, donated by WWMC. The parameters included air and water temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH and turbidity. They will add their data to the world spreadsheet for a global snapshot of the world's water quality.
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Communing with Forest Critters: October |
Bug Romp!We started in the fresh morning of Forest Park. As a curious monkey watched close by, we started off with a MiniBeast game--6 legged, 8 legged, many legged beast races! We soon were off to the forest and grassland in search of the wild and friendly bug life of the forest. There we found grasshoppers, stag beetles, numerous moths and butterflies, fairy aphids, busy ants, and a myriad of other cool bugs. Just when we felt the forest was opening up with all its
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Urban Nature: Rooftop GardensFor our Garden Day w had three major activities. In the morning we had a special opportunity to visit a flourishing garden on the rooftop of our friend Mr. Luo, where he shared with us his secrets for organic pesticides and making compost. We then traveled to the local Bird & Flower Market to buy garden supplies among the other festive garden enthusiasts of the city. Finally, we found ourselves on a fresh and open rooftop where several families helped us create a brand new garden! That garden, by the way, now has beans growing a meter high!
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Earth Day Trash Eaters!Armed with a bag and a pair of chopsticks, NatureWize families spread out to pick up trash. Who says a day in the park can't also be turned into a service to our community and our environment? Good job families!
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April 7, Easter EventThe weather forecast for the day said there may be a little rain. But as we headed out to the park, though the day was a little grey, the air was fresh, and clear. We set up our tables for Easter egg coloring, and the families began arriving. Most of the kids are used to our gatherings now, and they comfortably settled in to egg painting and roaming around our lush green surroundings. The boys found their favorite climbing trees, and carefully selected their playing sticks. After most eggs were satisfyingly hued, we gently led the groups out onto the stone pathways and walked by rough, moss donned limestone boulders, through pines that relayed messages from the wind through their paper soft bark. Families gathered interesting forest debris along the way. Once back at our stone picnic tables, many of the families created wonderful displays of their forest treasures in new designs for hanging at home. Families casually dispersed, setting up comfortable spots among the cherry blossoms for our picnic. Finally,the moment all children had been waiting for, the time for the egg hunt arrived. This year the eggs were hidden in the forest underbrush of pine needles and leaves, inside the crooks and crannies of the boulders, and placed in the limbs of the trees. After all the eggs had been found, some children returned to hide and find again the eggs themselves. All in all, it was a fresh and very joyful day! And just as we were headed out of the park, the soft spring rain began to fall, returning again to her work of feeding the growth of the forest.
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March 11, 2012 Arbor Day EventWe started out huddled inside the Yu Zhang Shu Yuan, waiting for all of our friends to arrive. Outside it was wet, and muddy. The concrete slabs first seemed practical for our first activity, guiding the kids to prepare cherry seeds for planting. Luckily for us, we had to move back to the mud for some digging fun! Our next activity was to walk to our "adopting-a-tree" location in the peach orchards. We had to take the long way on the road, due to the mud. This gave us ample time to take in the countryside, though some kiddos needed parental help to fly over some of those extended mud patches. Finally, we arrived in the orchards, where families spread out to "meet their adopted tree". Parents and children, blindfolded, acquainted themselves with all the other fantastically unique smells and feels of their adopted tree. Some families left behind a token on the tree, or buried a treasure nearby for returning to. After some climbing around, and discovery of other games with sticks and rocks, we headed back to fill our hungry stomachs.
Martial Arts World, March 11Our friends at Martial Arts World joined us for our March 11 activity to share with the children and their parents age-old Chinese methods of harmonizing the body with natural forces.
February 11, 2012It was another cold winter day, but that didn't stop us. Once arriving we gathered the young ones to a picnic table where they found bird seed. We then gave them an apple to munch on, and then to roll in the seed. They then set the apples all around to feed the birds. One tree was particularly lucky with apples! After a bird imagery exercise, "The day in the life of the bird", we walked through the park, keeping our ears tuned for our bird friends. The park was still quiet with winter, but a few friends came around. We ended our day with rosy cheeks, and a cup of hot cocoa, which is when the biggest smiles came out!
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Photos by Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton.
Photos by Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton.
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January 7, 2012Our Kickoff for 2012 was a success! More than 18 families came out to embrace the beauty and strength of Winter. It was cold and it was wet. But donning mittens and snow hats, we warmed ourselves with brisk walks and stick games and camaraderie. Cheeks all rosy, we created color and geometric art out of forest debris.
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