Fantastic Flyers Camp Review 2014

Fun and flight made for a great week as our Fantastic Flyers campers explored the science and nature of things with wings! And the days really flew by (pun intended). Here are some daily highlights from the week! 

• Day 1: Focus for day was Flight. Made a ‘what flies’ scavenger hunt sheet, then used that for our morning exploration hike. After lunch we learned about the scientist Bernoulli and did some experiments that tested his research. We made bamboo dragonflies (which were the inspiration for modern helicopters), discussed seeds and how they move around, made paper seeds, read a book about dandelions and painted a dandelion, colored kites and had a thistle seed race. We also collected 4 monarch caterpillars and tracked them throughout the week (they were all chrysalises at the end). Day 2: Insects-A-Flutter. Sweep netting was our main activity, and we collected some great specimens of insects that fly (& non-flying ones too). We made butterfly wings and antennae headbands, played a game called Quick Frozen Critters and got to see a monarch butterfly right after it emerged from its chrysalis. 
•  Day 3: BirdDay! Some great volunteers Mr. Paul and Mrs. Nancy came to share their birding skills with the campers and although it wasn’t a great birding day, we did get to see a green heron out in the marsh (some of the campers even saw it catch and eat a frog) and learned how to use binoculars. We made our own binoculars later, put together a bird puzzle, released our monarch into the wild, played Birds and Worms and Birdy Says! We ended the day with our field trip across to Buffalo Harbor State Park to fly our fabulous kites! 
• Day 4: More Birds! So much bird stuff that I had to do another day. We read a book called The Magpie’s Nest, and then partnered up to build a bird’s nest out of natural materials. We also let a second monarch go into the wild (it emerged overnight). We also created life cycle wheels after discussing butterfly and ladybug life cycles. We also had a relay race as bees collecting nectar and the grand finale was making edible bird nests (complete with candy eggs).
• Day 5: Morning was spent on a ladybug hike. The campers had lots of energy so it was a pretty long hike and we found lots of cool ladybug larva, caterpillars and even a little young garter snake. We played a bug movement relay game, Bat and Moth (like Marco Polo), created new bugs out of our names written in script on paper and made a bee maze game to take home. 

See below for some photos from our week's activities.

This was a great group of kids and I wish I had more time to spend with them one on one because they have great imaginations and are so smart! It was a pleasure to have fun and learn along with them (they always teach me so much too). 

I am sad to have this be my last blog entry, as my life adventures are now taking me on a new path away from Buffalo and Tifft back to the Chicago area to be closer to my family. Thank you for sharing your kids with us for a time and valuing nature and all the things it has to teach us. I’ve learned a lot of all the campers I’ve worked with over the years and know a couple of them will be working in my position when they grow up. It’s been a pleasure and I wish you all the best.

Miss Caryn