Lets go take a hike!
For our final day of Venture Outdoors Camp we went for a hike in Frick Park.
We hiked approximately three miles on wooded trails and ended at the playground.
Our hike leader, Iris, taught us about lots of different plants along the way. We learned how to identify poison ivy, and the difference between white and red oaks.
The white oak trees have rounded lobes on their leaves, and the red oak trees have pointed lobes. There were lots of maple trees, and we learned the difference between oak and maple too. She also pointed out wood sorrel, a common plant that’s great on salads. Blackberries were spotted along the trail as well, but they weren’t quite ripe.
We also found pieces of a snake skin along the trail, possibly from a black rat snake, and learned about why snakes shed their skin. As a snake grows, it needs to shed its skin because it doesn’t stretch the way our skin does as we grow.
Iris also had us all play a game along the trail. Each hiker had to find something along the hike that matched an article of clothing they were wearing. Those wearing green were in luck!
They found a lot of really cool things during the hike! It was a beautiful day for a hike in Frick Park and the kids had a blast!
- Maraina
nice
ReplyDeleteThis brought memories of my childhood when I was camping with my family. We had a blast identifying every leaves, plants, nuts and berries we see along the way. Snake skins are a wonder to us, then and it made us more aware of how nature can be so different and fascinating. Those trips made me an avid camper today and I now teach a lot of kids when I go camping with them. Taking care of nature and honing skills to make it safer and fun to be outside counts a lot. I make sure I teach "my kids" basic compass and map reading. Here's a great site that explains all: http://backpackingmastery.com/skills/map-reading.html
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this amazing blog xx
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