One week of the September holidays flew by quickly and our campers had great fun at our virtual camps. One camp was focused on encouraging children to be more eco-conscious while the other taught children basic survival and navigation skills. Some of our campers even joined in both camps! Needless to say, all of us really enjoyed the sessions bonding over the screen while staying safe at home.
While our last camp was all about going around the world virtually, September camps were focused on lifeskills and inculcating an awareness for environmental issues as well as sensibility when out and about. Here are some of the camp highlights!
Love Our Earth Camp: Inculcating Eco-consciousness
Climate change and sustainability are hot button topics these days. It is critical to be aware of our roles and how we can make a difference for the future of our planet. Hence, starting young with knowledge about upcycling, noticing nature around us, reducing waste raises our eco-consciousness. Appreciating our earth does not often come intuitively. By noticing the beauty of our earth can we understand why we need to sustain it for future generations.
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We began the camp exploring our natural environment and then were introduced to the most common foliage and wildlife living in our midst. Grace, a Marine Biologist by training from Creative Kidz took us “outdoors” with her engaging videos and commentary, to observe the wild flowers of our city and the little critters that are often invisible to us. The children also learnt the names of common birds found in Singapore and affectionately named one of it “Oreo”. Can you guess which yellow bird they named?
Hands-on Upcycling and Composting
After learning more about our natural environment, the campers went craftcycling with children’s author Sophia Huang. Sophia, an advocate for DIY toys using recyclables, introduced the campers to the world of making their own kaleidoscope using toilet rolls, fabric and other ornaments. Less plastic, less waste, plus a big boost to creativity for our little upcyclers!
The zero-waste mission continued with other activities such as growing micro-greens by Kidz Treehouse and learning to compost facilitated by City Sprouts. To reinforce the lessons, stories, songs, alarming statistics of Singapore’s waste generation were introduced.
“hope the virtual camp continues!” – Parent of Camper
The Music Scientist brought home the lesson about our liveable planet and how planet Earth is in the goldilocks zone. It makes Earth the only habitable planet, and that it would be challenging if our planet was so well-cared for. The children also participated in experiments that taught them about the impact of UV rays and ways to protect ourselves from them. Hands-on experiments are concrete ways to take home lessons effectively.
The camp helped equip the little eco-warriors to do their part for the environment and we hope the lessons can empower them to make better decisions that have a positive impact for the greater good.
Does your child know what to do when he or she is lost? How about if you are lost in the wild? Our campers were introduced to the must-dos both in an urban setting and in the wild when they lose their way. While this is not quite an “outwit, outplay, outlast” situation, important elements such as staying calm, having spatial awareness, finding the right food and water source is important.
First, we got our campers to get acquainted with animal habitats and the intricacy of the nests of various wildlife. This was followed by a lesson conducted by Nature Explorers School on shelter-building and basic survival skills in the wild. The children were thrilled to be in their “shelter” built out of ordinary household items, a few also built an A frame out of satay sticks or ice cream sticks to form a temporary structure.
“I love all my teachers” – Camper
Apart from shelter-building, the campers also learnt how to get equip outdoors. We introduced camping equipment from Adventure 21 which guaranteed a comfortable stay in the wild. One important thing the campers learnt was to pack items that were functional and not too heavy.
Better Trails also reinforced the lessons with more details on how to “leave no trace” when outdoors. This means not leaving anything behind and cleaning up our footprint as our belongings left behind can become problems to the wildlife in the environment. After the “Leave No Trace” briefing, the children received “Leave no trace” certificates accredited by Centre for Outdoor Ethics. They also enjoyed a virtual trip to Pulau Ubin where they came up close with toilets of the past, houses with zinc roofs and campsites.
Getting Wild about Nature
Navigating the wild can be a rich experience, what adds to the adventure is the appreciation of flora and fauna such as different plants, insects, birds or even mammals. Creativekidz taught the children the importance of noting down their observations and the fundamentals of journaling. The campers really enjoyed drawing different leaf shapes, patterns, flowers, fruits, insects and birds including their favourite “oreo”.
Survivor camp then concluded with a brief lesson on steps to take when lost in an urban landscape followed by an introduction to orienteering by Osportz. Campers were quizzed on their takeaways on mapping and also did their own maps. This helped to get them ready for the actual orienteering outing on Saturday.
“I enjoyed the fun games.” – Camper
We sure hope our campers learnt ways to overcome problems whether it’s in an urban landscape or in the wild. Their newly-acquired navigation skills will be helpful in many scenarios and definitely helps in nurturing confident and resilient survivors.
Upcoming Little Day Out Camps and Outings
Happy memories are always part of meaningful school holidays! We have more exciting holiday plans in store for October and the year end holidays. If you missed out in July and September camps, fret not! Be the first to be alerted of our camps here.
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Future Little Day Out Camps
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