Camping Anyone?

During my month's hiatus, the Kids Unplugged family headed to Lake George with a bunch of friends (my husband counted that we had a dozen kids all told throughout the week) for some camping. Our group had four sites near one another and the kids spent their days running between the sites, firing up spider dogs on the campfire, canoeing and swimming in the lake, drawing at the picnic tables, reading and listening to stories and exploring the creek that ran behind the sites. They were solidly dirty for five straight days except when they were in the lake and I've never seen a more content group of totally unplugged kids. Five days of cooking like Caroline Ingalls did start to wear on my own nerves a bit, but the site of those kids mucking about in the creek, faces covered with the sticky remnants of last night's s'mores, made it all worth it. That and the company of some pretty great friends.

Same time next year!

A Walk in the Creek

This past Saturday was our much awaited Walk in Wicopee Creek at Fishkill Farms. After all the rain we had leading up to today's hike, I was a bit apprehensive about the condition of the creek, but the conditions were perfect for small humans to traverse the creek bed safely and confidently in search of critters of all sorts.

I have to first off comment on just how fantastic Fishkill Farms is as a venue for nature adventures with children. The topography is so incredibly varied that the possibilities for the types of exploration are endless. Additonally, there are all these little, magical places hidden throughout the farm's almost 300-acres which lend themselves perfectly to children's play. For another example of this check out our summer solstice celebration in the fairy woods.

The kids arrived in their boots at the picnic tables this morning ready to meet the creek and were greeted with a pile of books about streams and ponds and their aquatic wildlife. We had stories about otters and dragonflies and frogs. We had reference books with illustrations of some of the larvae and nymphs which might be living down the hill in the creek we would soon be exploring. We had the lure of small magnifying glasses and seining screens. And we had a rousing read of Frog in the Bog by Karma Wilson and Joan Rankin, to further whet their appetites for critter catching.

We hiked down through the farm, past the vegetable gardens and through some wildflower meadows to a clearing where we could access the creek. "Enter quietly and find your very own spot to sit and just watch the creek for a few minutes," I told them. "Let's see what kinds of creatures might be around here just by sitting and watching." The kids crept along the creek bed with reverence, though fighting the pull of the creek to sit still proved a bit too challenging. They waded quietly along the creek's edge looking into the clear water before coming to me for their screens. Parents quickly joined the kids, shedding socks and shoes and taking to the cool water of the creek on this steamy summer morning.

At first, the kids didn't know what they were catching, but the first sights of damselfly larvae and water sliders skittering around our little containers of creek water on the shore filled them with wonder and excitement. I must admit that the grown-ups spent a little more time examining the findings than did the kids, however, who were very content to capture as many creatures as time allowed. We had tadpoles and tiny wiggling worms and squiggly nymphs of various sorts and tried our best to identify them with the resources at hand. They did enjoy looking at the creatures magnified through the lenses, and the littlest explorers wanted to spend time with the eye droppers we used to transfer the critters into viewing vessels.

When it was time to clean up, it took us a bit of time to pull the kids away from the creek, and dry them semi-sufficiently for the hike back up to the farm. We took our time on the way back up, admiring the wildflowers and the ladybugs hiding among the Queen Anne's Lace. When we got back, we took some time to share a bit about our adventures and to learn song called Water Bugs that played in my head for the next three days!

Like last time, we lingered over picnic lunches on the terrace and several families stayed to pick the farm's remaining blueberries as well as the sugar-sweet plums which dropped easily from the heavily laden branches of the orchard's plum trees.

Another sweet morning on the farm.

Which Came First?

I can think of many fun things to do outdoors, but collecting eggs from hen houses with a bunch of kids has to be up there on the list. In fact, I don't know if I've ever gathered eggs from the hen house myself, so I guess I have to admit that my own excitement made our morning at Fishkill Farms today that much more fun.

We had a lot planned this morning for our Adventures with Chickens and Eggs, and the kids got started right away making thumbprint chickens replete with feathers and beaks at the picnic tables while we waited for everyone to arrive and get settled. We were soon greeted by our friend Walker, one of the farmers at Fishkill, who was going to spend some time with us today as we learned a little bit about chickens and their incredible, edible, produce. Walker got the parents chuckling right away with his silly riddle about roosters laying eggs (it took me a minute to catch that one!) and the kids were quickly caught up in his infectious humor and good spirits. Walker told the kids that their job was to help gather the eggs today, that they could pet the chickens if they could catch them, and that they could toss them some corn for a treat.

We then headed down the hill toward the chicken coops and with the help of the parents, lifted the kids over the fence and into chicken land. They were delighted! The farm chickens were everywhere clucking and running to and fro around the kids' legs. We had a wire basket to collect the eggs and while there were a few casualties (it's hard to convey to the little ones that one must place the eggs ino the basket rather than dropping them in from 2 feet above) we gathered an admirable number of fresh eggs. The kids then had the chance to wash their eggs with Walker in one of the farm's work areas before making a little basket in which to carry it home.

After our visit with the birds, we gathered on the shady orchard hillside for a rousing game of "chicken, chicken, fox (or weasel, or raccoon, or owl)" after a discussion about the birds' predators to the tune of duck, duck, goose. We played a little chicken tag and learned the song, Los Pollitos Dicen or Baby Chicks are Singing, a traditional Latin American children's song, in Spanish and English. Finally, we learned that the shells of chickens' eggs are very strong when we stacked a large pile of books atop several inverted eggshells to see how many the dome-shaped shells could hold before crumbling. The big thrill was when they finally broke!
Many families stayed at the farm after the program to enjoy fresh omlettes and produce (like peas!) from the farmer's market, to enjoy the gorgeous views of the surrounding orchard, and to spend some time picking farm's beautifully ripe blueberries.

As always, a great time for all.