Winter Camp is Coming!

Wild Winter Wonderland Discovery Camp

Snow days in nature-no way! In store is snow-play, as we frolic through our frozen world to figure out the facts and fiction of how nature survives in winter. Daily snack provided. Please bring lunch in a reusable container.

Ages 5-8

Tuesday, February 19 -Thursday, February 21

9:30 AM – 3:30 PM

Non-Members: $100 per child

Late pick-up: 3:45 – 5:00 PM at $5 per half hour, per day

Arrangements must be made at the time of pre-registration

Tifft

Pre-registration required. Please call 896-5200, ext. 201. Registration Deadline:  February 12

Check out some of our favorite winter camp moments from 2012! 

Taking a lovely snowshoe stroll

Spotting Tifft's wildlife

Playing outside in the snow

Constructing snowflakes

Herp, Herp, Hoorah! 2012 Camp Review

Herp, Herp, Hoorah! Campers' Families-

Hoorah for Herps! Our largest group of campers for the summer helped end our summer camps for 2012 with a lot of energy and excitement. Here's a recap of our 3 days together.

Day 1: Introduction to Tifft and Herps

• An adventure hike to explore the grasslands, forest and marsh areas of the preserve started our day off. We saw lots of frogs and turtles in the marsh, as well as birds and deer, but not any snakes.
• After a picnic lunch and some free time, we played "Herp or Not", as we discussed what makes a herp a herp.
• Pairs worked on puzzles of different herps to learn a little more about them (the puzzles had facts & myths on them, which we reviewed upon puzzle completion)
• For snack, we made turtles out of cream cheese, Ritz crackers, thin pretzel sticks & raisins. The kids were very creative in making their own turtles.
• After snack, we read Turtle Crossing by Rick Chrustowski together and learned a lot about the life of a turtle as it grows up from an egg to an adult.
• We finished the day by turning some small petri dishes into turtles. The campers got to design the shells either by mosaic, drawing or a combination of both. This bunch again showed their creativity with this activity.

Day 2: Amphibians

• We ran out of time on Tuesday to observe George, our box turtle, so I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to do that before the end of the week. George was a little timid, but the campers got to touch his shell and see some of the cool adaptations he has.
• Out to the marsh to make some more observations of amphibians. We saw lots of frogs again, as well as a young snapping turtle crawling around in the marsh mud. 
• On our way back to the cabin, we went up the mounds and played "capture the prey", which is similar to 'red light, green light'...camper tried to sneak up on me (a mouse) as they (snakes) came down the mounds. If they were spotted, they had return to the end of the line.
• After lunch, Miss Kimberly led them through a frog catching fly craft. The campers made some really great patterns on their frogs. 
• Story time today included If Frogs Made Weather by Marion Dane Bauer and some poems from Toad By the Road by Joanne Ryder. 
• After snack, each camper 'became' a frog, and they learned about different calls of frogs. We then played "frogs on the  move", where groups of frogs moved across the 'pond' collecting eggs. They could only move if their species call was heard. 
• We ended the day by breaking out the playdoh and working through frog metamorphosis: egg, tadpole, growing legs, up to adult frog.

Day 3: Snakes

• Painting project started our day: we used pieces of citrus fruit trays to make snakes. The campers got to make whatever pattern/colors they wanted.
• Before our hike, we set up an experiment to check temperatures of different colored snakes. 
• Another hike in search of snakes found us one water snake in the marsh, and some cool birds (including egrets and a green heron)
• We checked on our snakes after lunch and discussed the hard life of being an ectothermic (cold-blooded) animal.
• In the afternoon, Miss Kimberly treated us to a visit with her two snakes: Guinness, a black rat snake, and Sausage, a ball python (with a missing tail).
• We read Slither & Crawl by Jim Arnosky, which talked about different types of reptiles.
• Today snake snacks were a big hit. Campers used a banana and rolled them in cinnamon/sugar to give them some color. They then could add sunflower seed scales and a fruit leather strip tongue before eating them.
• Sophia showed her salamander to the campers, and then we headed outside to run off some of the sugar from snack. Some of the campers ended their time by working on a beaded snake project.

Time flies by when we're having fun! I learned some new things again this year about herps and I hope the campers did too.
Below is a slideshow with photos from our adventures! To see the captions, roll cursor over bottom of frame and click on the white balloon.




Thank you so much for your support of Tifft and giving your nature explorers a chance to learn some new stuff with us!
Enjoy what's left of the summer & hope to see you again soon.
Best,
Miss Caryn

Nature Rangers 2012 Camp Review

What a week we Nature Rangers had!

16 campers ventured into a week-long adventure, exploring TASKS (Teamwork, Action, Skills, Knowledge and Sharing) and earning their Nature Ranger Badge.

Here's an overview of our week of TASKS.

Day 1:

• of course we started out our time with a great hike around the preserve, while introducing the importance of observation as a Nature Ranger
• we also played an observation game later in the day
• played Arrows, which was an observation game and a mind game too. The first round campers had to point and say the direction that the arrow (held by me) was pointing. To make it interesting, the other rounds we did opposites. They had to point the opposite way and say the direction, or say the opposite direction while pointing the correct direction. This was a little more difficult for them but they had a lot of fun.
• we learned a lot about the sun today too (besides that it made us hot and sweaty)
• we made sun dials
• teams worked together on a sun scavenger hunt
• we used solar-activated fabric to make a print to attach to a bandanna later
• we learned about a solar oven & our snack was cookies baked in it (yum!)

Day 2:

• Wetland and Water was a big theme today. 
• Big adventure  was out to the wetland to learn about the water quality and life that lives underwater. Due to the lack of rain, sun and little snowfall from the winter, our marsh was pretty dried up along the edge, but we still found some interesting animal life and learned that the water is pretty clean. Mr. Bob, one of our volunteers, worked with the campers to test pH, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, nitrate and ammonium levels in the water. We also used our dipnets to find macroinvertebrates such as dragonfly, damselfly and mayfly nymphs, snails, and backswimmers, as well as a few fish and one crayfish exoskeleton. 
• after lunch, the campers learned more about the marsh and its importance through a game called Wetland Metaphors, and also dissected some pieces of two marsh plants, cattail and purple loosestrike, as they learned about invasive species and the adaptations that make them successful.
• Direction/Map/Compass was the other focus today.
• As a group, we went on a scavenger hunt of Tifft, which served as an introduction to directions and how to read a map. 
• We then did a compass reading activity, which was a bit challenging but the campers seemed to get the basic idea. 

Day 3: TREE DAY

• We started the day with "We All Need Trees", where each camper was given an item and had to determine if the item had anything to do with trees. Each item, which ranged from maple syrup to a rayon skirt to cork and paper, was actually made by some part of a tree. 
• We also set up an experiment using a plastic bag to cover leaves on part of a tree and sealed it up to see what happened. Campers thought it was going to blow up like a balloon.  Thursday, we discovered that it had inflated a bit, but that it was also filled with water that had been transpired by the leaves. It was a good discussion of other important benefits from trees.
• Today was our big action day. We worked with Mr. Andrew to help out Tifft's forest. Campers learned earlier in the week that Tifft wasn't always a nature preserve and looked much different when the Native Americans used this land as a hunting grounds. The forest has also changed since Tifft became a preserve and Mr. Andrew told campers about the forest project that's been happening over the last 3 years (over 1500 trees have been planted). To help these new trees have a good chance to survive and to also get rid of some invasive plants (Japanese knotweed and European buckthorn), the campers worked on spreading wood chips around the bases of the saplings planted along Rabbit Run East. They also pulled out some newly growing knotweed and buckthorn, and even watered the tree saplings, which needed it with the lack of rain this summer.
• After lunch we ventured back out and learned about some survival skills and the Rule of 3 (ask your campers if they remember that one!). After a brief discussion, the campers worked together to create a survival shelter out of items found in the forest. Due to time, the shelter wasn't completely finished, but they had fun crawling into it anyway & were sad when we took it apart, which was the last step in the shelter process.
• Snack was a skill-lesson, as the campers learned about building a proper fire with edible items. We made an A-Frame fire, learning about tinder, kindling and fuel, as well as proper fire building etiquette. The favorite part, of course, was being able to eat the fire. 
• Our last activity of the day was called Birds and Worms, where campers became birds and had to collect pipe cleaner 'worms' that were scattered on the ground. The game required teamwork and also touched on camouflage and why some animals have bright colors versus drab colors. 

Day 4:

• Morning activity was fishing. Campers worked well together to help bait hooks with squirmy worm and enjoy the beautiful day by the lake. The group caught about 10 fish, including bluegill, pumpkinseed, yellow perch and green sunfish. We had a few campers catch their first fish ever, and many had 'the one that got away'.
• Another action project was in store as we did a shoreline sweep along Lake Kirsty, collecting enough garbage to fill 1/4 of a blue Buffalo garbage tote. 
• The relaxing morning pent up some energy so the campers played freeze tag to run around and get some exercise. 
• We also played two teamwork games called Insanity and Alligator Alley. 

Day 5:

• Rain threatened to come in on our last day, but stayed away to allow us to be outside. We had another guest, Mr. Walt, who did a nature journaling workshop with the campers. Mr. Walt was a graphic designer before retiring and enjoyed showing his nature drawing tricks with the campers.
• We then walked to the top of the mounds, after getting to see some wild turkey polts (young) with their mom. On our way down the hill, we played a Native American stalking game.
• Another teamwork game called Star Wars after lunch was followed by another round of Alligator Alley, popsicles for snack (the sun did come out and heat things up) and two fish games: Keep the Fish in the Pond (water balloon in a parachute) and Pass the Fish (water balloon).  
• Our last activity was making little fish out of beads.

Campers earned their Nature Ranger badges and also received a Leave No Trace card to remember some of the rules of being respectful to nature.

Below is a slideshow with photos from our adventures! To see the captions, roll cursor over bottom of frame and click on the white balloon.


It was a hot week, but it was lots of fun and it was great to meet some new campers and see returning faces as well. Hopefully you will learn something new from your Nature Ranger and enjoy the rest of the summer.Thank you for your support of Tifft as well.
Best,
Miss Caryn

Field Entomology 2012 Camp Review

Field Entomologist Campers' Families-

July's heat was here to stay for the 3 days of our entomological explorations. 10 brave budding entomologist braved the weather, and nature rewarded them for their endurance and patience.

Below are some highlights of our time together. 

Day 1:

• Field exploration was our first activity out of the gate, as we did a bug scavenger hunt and found 25 different bugs, completing the hunt. We also collected a few butterflies that were later ID'ed (see photo slideshow)
• After lunch/free time, we created a few different bug traps: potato, pitfall and fruit. The campers had to scoop out the insides of two halves of potato and then we headed out to place them, along with pitfall traps, created out of a hole in the ground, then inserting a yogurt cup in the hole and filling cup with a little water. 
• The campers then returned for some rest in the shade, as we mixed up some sugar, honey and water to pour over pieces of water, in hopes of attracting butterflies or other insects. 

Day 2:

• After a brief insect classification discussion, our morning was spent on the mounds/grassland area in search of grasshoppers, spiders and butterflies, oh my! We found a LOT of different species of insects, including: katydid, spider, ladybug, assassin bug, praying mantis, grasshopper, moth, mayfly, damselfly and more. After looking at all our finds, we released all our insect friends.
• Mr. Doug came to visit and discussed an insect project he's worked on, and discussed how scientists are using current technology to identify insect species, as well as insect diseases, through DNA. The campers then got to extract DNA from strawberries.
• The campers then got to use their creativity to construct/draw a new bug. They had to name it {and it couldn't be called Bob :)}, as well as decide what it ate and where it would live. They all came up with creative new bugs and used lots of different craft materials-check out the photo slideshow to see their creations.
• We checked out potato & pitfall traps and after another hot one, we called it a day.

Day 3:

• Some clouds rolled in and gave us some refuge as we spent the morning out at the marsh looking for aquatic insects and other invertebrates. The campers made some great finds with their patience and determination: damselfly nymph, dragonfly nymph, water scorpion, backswimmer, snails (two kinds), giant water bug, mosquito larvae. They also caught crayfish (multiple sizes), tadpoles (multiple sizes), a few different kind of small fish, plus we saw a bunch of species of dragonflies zooming about and enjoyed the calls of bull and green frogs.
•  Another group of kids from Doodlebugs Day Care was here visiting the preserve for a tour and the campers did a super job sharing some of their finds with the children and explaining what they were. Great chance to be student then teacher! After sharing their knowledge, we released our aquatic friends and talked about how these species are indicators of water quality/health. 
• Mr Doug joined us again to discuss some more about DNA and the campers worked to create an edible DNA ladder out of Twizzlers and flavored mini-marshmallows. That was a big hit!
• We had a short discussion on insect life cycles and then the campers got to play a simulation game that allowed them to become monarchs and journey through the trials and triumphs of migration. 
• Nature pictionary, microscope views of the inside of an insect gall, aphids on a leaf, butterfly scales, making a bug vacuum & testing them out, trying some edible bugs (chocolate covered ants and cheese flavored mealworms) and doing a species collection page about one of their favorite finds of camp rounded off our final day.

Below is a slideshow with photos from our adventures! To see the captions, roll cursor over bottom of frame and click on the white balloon.

The world of insects has always fascinated me, but nature always surprises me with new finds and new knowledge, and I learned right along with the campers this week. I'll never have the title of entomologist, but some of these campers might some day. Thank you for letting your nature explorers learn and explore at Tifft this summer and I hope everyone continues to enjoy the summer in western NY.

Sincerely,
Miss Caryn

2012 Mini Beasts Camp Review

Mini Beasts Camper Families-

Summer was in full swing (and heat) for our first week of discovery camp at Tifft, but we still had a blast!

Our focus was on the smaller wildlife of the preserve, aka Mini-Beasts and we learned a lot about the variety and diversity of those arthopods and other animals that call Tifft home.

Here is a recap of our adventures for the 3 days we were together!

Day 1

• We created journals, which we used throughout our time together to keep track of our new knowledge and findings while at camp.We then explored the preserve in search of a variety of bugs. Each camper had a small bag of pictures of bugs, so each time we stopped at a place, we looked for whatever picture they pulled out of their bag. We also collectively kept a list of what we saw. In the end, we found 12 of the 16 bugs we searched for. 
• After some free time after lunch, we hosted cricket races and worm races. In a small kid-sized pool, we placed a target, with the worms or crickets starting in the center, and let them respectively race (one pool had worms, one had crickets). Each of the campers had their own racer, so they could cheer them on. The crickets moved much faster (and sometimes escaped the pools) but everyone had a fun time cheering on the worms and crickets. 
• We then read a book after snack about camouflage, called Where in the Wild by David Schwartz, to discover how insects and other animals adapt to their surroundings. Upon completion, each camper got 4 butterfly shapes to 'camouflage' to the surroundings and we then played a game of 'hide and seek' with the butterflies. 

Day 2

• A long walk to the marsh started day 2, as we ventured to look for aquatic mini-beasts. During our time 'dipnetting', we caught a mosquito larva, damselfly nymph, dragonfly nymph exoskeleton, large crayfish (about 4 inches long!), tadpoles, stickleback (type of fish), backswimmer and some snail shells (minus the snails). This was a great investigation into the life cycles of many insects that live most of their younger lives in water. The campers were amazed that so much life was just under the surface of the water (and I'm always amazed too!)
• Our book was Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman, which explored the spiral patterns in nature, especially snails, and we made a snail craft and had a 'snail race' to end the day. 
• We also talked about butterflies and made a great butterfly using symmetry, outlines of each of the campers' hands and some finger painting. 

Day 3

• Started the day preparing a 'bunch of beetles' from plaster of paris, water and plastic spoons. The campers got to take them home and decorate them.
• Our outdoor investigation was on the mounds/grassland area, where we used sweep nets and caught the following: ladybug, grasshoppers (large 1 1/2-2 1/2 inches & lots of small ones), bee, a couple different spiders, 3 different praying mantises, damselfly, and a few unknown but cool beetles. The highlight was a dragonfly, which we rarely catch and the campers had been trying to get for about a half an hour. Way to go Jacob!
• We played some rounds of "What time is it, Mr/Ms Spider?" before cooling off inside with some patient time watching George, our Gulf Coast Box Turtle. 
• After reading "A Butterfly is Patient" by Dianna Hutts Aston, we had an 'insect life cycle' snack, with Kix as the eggs, a in-shell peanut or carrot as the caterpillar and a butterfly made of fruit leather and a pretzel stick. 
• To end our day, we discussed the Lost Ladybug Project, a citizen science project organized by Cornell University, and constructed a 9-spotted ladybug, which is the focus of the project. The finale was a 'ladybug race' board game. 

Overall, it was a great 3 days of exploration, despite the warmer than normal temperatures and I enjoyed getting to know each of the campers during our time together!

Below is a slideshow of pictures of some of our fun times. To see the captions, just click on the white balloon at the bottom of the frame.

Thank you for supporting Tifft and letting us spend part of the summer with your kids! Continue to foster those nature explorers of yours and have a great rest of the summer!

Sincerely,

Miss Caryn (and Miss Kimberly too!)

WILD About Winter Camp

Camper families-
Well, the winter of 2011-2012 has been a unique one to say the least, but the campers explored and discovered a lot about winter and how animals (and people) learn to live with the season of winter. We made journals to keep track of our observations and what we learned throughout our 3 days together, but here are some highlights:

Day 1:

• our first activity, after getting to know each other a little bit, was to take a hike and do a winter scavenger hunt. We ended up finding everything on our list and got to see some deer really close.
• winter pictionary
• a teambuilding activity called Ice Floe, where the campers had to cross 'an icy river' on ice floes (carpet squares) to 'rescue' a polar bear that was stuck on a 'floe'
• a WSI (Winter Scene Investigation) actvitity. Groups were given a map and legend of a winter 'scene' and had to try to discover what could've happened. The smaller groups then joined into one larger group and re-examined the scene to see if any other clues were cleared up. The groups then looked at a real winter scene photo and, with the use of an animal track guide, did the same investigation.
• winter adaptation sort- this including thinking about what animals do in the winter (hibernate, migrate, etc), what kind of animals do what, and getting to see a bunch of biofacts (mostly animal pelts). We also got to see arctic fox and arctic wolf pelts and ended with a little 'fashion show' with campers dressed like a migrator, hibernator and an animal that says active -check out the pics :)

Day 2 was mostly snow day, although there was none on the ground that day. We did a variety of crafts and activities around snow.

• Snowflake models (toothpicks and marshmellows)
• Borax crystal snowflakes (which had to 'grow' overnight)
• Snowflake puzzles and sleds made out of popsicle sticks
• "snow way to hide" game, in which snow(a white parachute) was used to 'hide' a mouse (camper) from the hungry fox (another camper) looking for a tasty treat
• made cards for and then played winter bingo
• learned more about snowflake scientist, a pioneer in the field in the early 1900's, by reading Snowflake Bentley storybook
• did indoor snowshoeing, snowball toss and snowball relay race

Day3: The snow dance I asked all the kids to do overnight worked, as we had just enough on the ground to do outdoor snow activities like snowshoeing and snow sculptures! What great fun :)

• We set up a variety of experiments to discuss how animals survive winter. These included: using different materials to insulate an 'animal' from freezing (the animal was actually a container of jello that were trying to keep from solidifying); using different size containers filled with water to see which would freeze first; and after reading a book about insects in winter called Bugs and Bugsicles, using 'antifreeze' (salt) in water in different amounts to see the effects of freezing
• played a winter survival rummy game
• played a simulation winter survival needs game where campers had to collect 'food, water, hiding places, shelter and energy' before getting eaten by a fox, frozen by the big freeze or starving from the cold
• making animal track molds with salt dough

The pictures below will really give you an idea of some of the things we did during our 3 days of adventure! To see the captions, move your cursor down to the bottom of the slideshow and click on the white balloon bubble below the photos.

It was a great 3 days of exploring and learning and I know I had fun and learned a lot myself from the campers. It was great to get to know each of them and I thank you for allowing Tifft to let your child's sense of wonder in nature and discovery be part of their winter break this year! The summer has lots more fun in store so I hope you'll consider joining us again!

Hope to see you soon and have a Happy Spring (which is just around the corner)!

Best,

Miss Caryn :)