Camping is one of the popular activities among kids. Kids can enjoy the experience of camping with parents or their friends in various forms such as summer camps, wildlife camps, and riverside camps. Wildlife camps present an amazing experience for kids with a mix of fun and adventure while exploring the wild scenes away from the hustle and bustle of daily city life. Wildlife camps are an interesting variation of the typical summer camp activities for students. Wildlife camps can help children spend some quality time with their friends and family while exploring nature and also learning the value of preserving our precious wildlife.
This article lists some fun and interesting activities children can be engaged with while enjoying their wildlife camp experience.
Scavenger hunt
Most kids would have gone on a scavenger hunt in school or their residential areas, but a scavenger hunt in the wild can be a bounty of surprises. Let the kids be free to explore the safe woods and task them to find elements of wildlife such as a caterpillar, a butterfly, a novel plant leaf, a wild flower, or any other amazing object they could find. Gather back in a couple of hours and let them explain what they have gathered. Let them tell a story about each of their prized possessions and how they managed to acquire those precious gems.
Craft activities
Kids love working on art and craft. This time, let them create something with a twist, by using the items from the wild. Let them go foraging for items that they want to use to create something amazing. Encourage them to use all-natural elements in their art such as leaves, twigs, natural colours from leaves and flowers, barks of the trees, etc. This will kindle a new kind of creativity and resourcefulness in the kids while they have some unforgettable fun creating something from nothing.
Photography scout
Let the kids free in the woods with their cameras and task them to spot all the amazing creatures and natural spots they come across and take a picture. Not only will they be exposed to amazing new creatures and sceneries, but capturing them in their cameras will be a thing for lifelong memories. Kids will use all their energies and attention to detail to spot such photo-worthy spots and creatures. These photographs can later be converted into memorable albums for the ages.
Trekking
Trekking through the unknown path that leads through the wild woods could be another one of many exciting summer camp activities for primary students. Exploring the unknown un-treaded pathways through the woods can lead them to surprising experiences and explorations. The sense of exploration and discovering a beautiful pond, sighting an amazing bird, or coming across a vantage point with a beautiful view could fill kids with an immense sense of excitement and achievement.
Know what you see.
Encourage the kids to try and find out more about the nature they see around them or while trekking. Kids can spot new birds, animals, trees, plants and other creatures which they might have never seen before, or only in pictures or on television. Encourage kids to find out more about them, from whatever sources available. There are various mobile applications which help you identify trees and birds. You might also want to download and carry such apps to address the kids’ curiosity about the amazing things they see.
Sounds you hear
Nature is not just about seeing, but also about the sounds. Ask the kids to close their eyes and listen carefully to all the sounds they hear in the wild. Let them guess what each of those sounds is about. These could be the chirping of the birds, squeaking of bats, buzzing of the bees, meowing of the cats, barking of the dogs, clucking of the chickens, etc. This activity will push them to enhance their hearing senses and explore the wild scenes in a whole new dimension.
Bonfire
Night-time is when you would want to gather around a bonfire and spend some quality time with the kids. Away from the many distractions of daily life, away from their smartphones, this is the quality time families can spend talking, telling stories, singing, telling jokes, or playing some special bonfire games. Food can be served in the beautiful setting of nature dimly lit up by the warmth of the bonfire. An ideal and cosy activity for families to enjoy quality time.
Cook your food
As the popular saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. It cannot get more ‘wildlife’ than cooking your food. Even better if you could cook your food from the ingredients gathered from the wild nature around your camping site. Using simple fire, or a barbeque if convenient could be an exciting activity in the wildlife. Kids can forage for eatable items such as fruits and berries from the wild and contribute to the process. This activity could be an amazing mix of learning and excitement for the kids.
Stargazing
Once the kids start feeling dizzy after a sumptuous dinner, lying down and stargazing can be a magical activity before they doze off for the night. Parents can take this opportunity to tell them stories or simply talk about the stars, the sky, the moon, our universe, and the science behind all of it. A simple activity of making the kids count the stars or spot any special feature about the sky could create avenues for interesting conversations. Kids interested in wildlife will find these titbits very exciting and it will pique their curiosity. Be ready for a lot of probing questions.
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