Photo Safari!

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This week our Mountain Kids learned and practiced everything photography! We learned how our human eyes relate to cameras, how cameras work, different composition techniques to capture the most interesting photos, and even had the opportunity to take home a print of our favorite shot!

Esha Chiocchio (CIT Zubin’s mom, and a professional photographer) came in to talk to us about composition and shared lots of fun exercises with us.

We explored a different photo challenge each day, sought objects for photo scavenger hunts, zoomed WAY in on bull frogs and goats, and took beautiful photos out on the many hikes we conquered!

Of course, sprinkled in to each day, was a number of active games to tie all of the skills we learned together. These campers were so impressive and are some of the best photographers Mountain Kids has seen all summer!

Three Day Backpacking to Wheeler Peak!

We climbed Wheeled Peak on our three-backpacking trip to find out what we were made of. It turns out we are made of tears and laughter, dancing and determination, strength and acts of kindness.

It was a long, tough climb to 13,170 feet (5 miles one way) to the highest point in New Mexico. When the going got tough for one camper in our party, we called a group meeting to talk about how we could support one another to get there. One friend stepped forward to carry their shared backpack. We gave another permission to play his music so he could dance us up the mountain, which was cheering for all. The friendship and camaraderie of a third helped both of them to feel supported and able to carry on.

I stayed in the back with the slower campers. We took lots of breaks, enjoyed the scenery, the rainbow of wildflowers, and saw a whole family of big horned sheep. The going was hard but steady. After multiple (disappointing) ‘false summits’, we finally made it to Wheeler Peak, the top of New Mexico!

This kind of experience can’t be measured in feet and miles however, but sweat, tears, and gumption.

The memories made, the friendships gained, and the confidence that comes with overcoming hardship to achieve the seemingly impossible is what will stick with these kids as they move back into their daily lives.

I am so proud of all the Mountain (climbing) Kids! for working hard and supporting each other to reach this incredible goal. – Katie

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What an impressive week! Our courageous campers hiked, ran, skipped, and occasionally danced their way to the top of Wheeler Peak, the highest point in New Mexico, after a serious amount of preparation. Their physical capabilities and positive mental attitudes were truly impressive. We rounded the week off with some kayaking at Santa Cruz Lake. Nothing beats gliding around on cool, calm water after spending the week aiming to summit the next grand peak! – Max

Wonders of Water!

Wonders of Water week turned out to be a huge, wet success! Our campers triumphantly discovered a natural water source at each destination and enthusiastically learned a new fact or skill everyday. We explored the water cycle, how to conserve, and how to properly filter water!

In between lessons, our campers sought out interesting looking minerals on river beds, and came across a handful of native, water living creatures.

I think we all have an absolutely enormous appreciation for water, especially here at home in Santa Fe. Keep on rain-dancing everyone, bring on the rain!

Amazing Animals! June 20-23, 2016

The Amazing Animals week was a hit! The Hummingbirds and the Owls eagerly participated in a variety of animal-themed activities. Tracing animal tracks, playing animal charades, and handling different skulls and pelts made for a full week of learning! There was one animal that stood out more than any other, however, and it received a mixed reception: the tent caterpillar. Yes, this fuzzy, creature can be seen by the thousands, chomping away at aspen leaves at Big Tesuque. Whether the children chose to save them from floating down the creek, or opted to organize an anti-tent caterpillar campaign in favor of the Aspens, it cannot be questioned that the critters proved fascinating.. The Hummers and Owls ended their week at the Norski playing hide and seek, and building forts from fallen branches. The kids learned to efficiently get ready to go, and we made it back just in time for a deluge, huddled in the van. A big thank you goes out to all the parents who tolerated the rain and quickly picked up their kids! We hope that they will come back to Mountain Kids for more fun and excitement!

Adventures of the Hummingbirds and Owls:

Grass crowns!

Pelts!

Skulls!

Pelts!

Skulls!

Amazing Animals! June 22-25, 2015 — Hummingbirds (5-6 year olds)

Looking at skulls, pelts, and tracks, the Hummingbirds learned about the amazing animals of New Mexico. On Monday and Tuesday, the heatwave pushed to the shade of trees, while we got to look at real animal pelts! Wednesday was beaver day, where we dressed up a counselor and brave volunteer as beavers to learn about the many adaptations beavers have that help them survive. Then we headed to the Beaver Ponds, where we learned more about how beavers impact the environment around them. Thursday was a special treat, when we got to visit the Española Wildlife Center, a place that takes in injured animals and rehabilitates them before re-releasing them to the wild. We got to see a number of birds, including a Red-tailed Hawk, Burrowing Owl, Osprey, chatty Magpie, Turkey Vulture and a hybrid Goshawk-Peregrine Falcon. Several of the kids got a treat when a handler took their Bald Eagle out of its cage, and were able to see it spread its wings. Once we finished at the Wildlife Center, we ran to Shidoni for a quick dip in the river to cool down before heading home.

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Week 7 – July 14-17: Amazing Animals!

The Beaver Ponds is a magical place to make forts, discover special creatures, find ancient fossils and make new friends!

Electra, the Osprey, enjoying her lunch.

What sound does a Turkey Vulture make? Not one you’d expect!

A curious burrowing owl saying hello.

A game of Bat and Moth to start the day out.

Eagles were paired with Owls to study animal skulls. They had to decide, are they predator or prey? What do they eat? How’s their sense of smell or hearing? Then they would share their discoveries with the rest of the group.

Animal pelts are interesting to examine and touch too!

The Espanola Wildlife Center is a great place to see birds that you might not normally see.

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Friday was a fun day of exploring the Santa Fe Ski Basin without any snow. The creek that flows down Easy Street is a great place to cool off.

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The Secret Language of Birds! June 9-12, 2014.

The Secret Language of Birds is a new theme this year, and one which we LOVED! We talked about “what makes a bird and bird” by playing a True and False game with our bodies. Once we arrived at the Beaver ponds, everyone received their own bird behavior checklist and we talked about why birds perform each of the behaviors. We acted out the behaviors and had the campers guess which one we were doing. Before setting off, each buddy pair received a pair of binoculars to use during our hike. It was awesome to witness the kids focus and interest in finding birds and deciding which behavior they were engaged in. We saw lots of birds, some animal tracks, and found fossils as we hiked around the entire pond.

On Tuesday we ventured to Deer Creek after a story about birds and games at Fort Marcy.

The Owls (5-7 year olds), hiked, played, did sit spots and worked in their nature journals.

The Eagles did a big hike all the way to the pools where they had a chance to cool off in the icy cold water!

On Wednesday we talked about the five different voices of birds and the kids had a chance to act out the voices and talk about why birds will use each voice. We compared some of these to human behavior (i.e. juvenile begging!). On the Winsor Trail we had the opportunity to hear the bird language in real life and made educated guesses at what we thought the birds were saying to each other, or to other animals in the forest.

On Thursday we talked about some common birds and played games to learn what they are. Our adventure was to the Wildlife Center where we got to get up close to owls, hawks, eagles and some small mammals including fox and bobcat. It was fascinating to hear the stories about how the animals got there and how we can help keep them in the wild.

Owls Explore Amazing Animals (and more!:) June 2-5, 2014 (5-7 year olds)

Hello Owl Families! If you read and enjoy the BLOG, please let me know…. write a comment, or send me a quick note. Constructive feedback is also appreciated! BTW, any of the images below can be enlarged and viewed as a slideshow by clicking on them. Enjoy! :~) Katie

Monday: Before we took off for the mountains, we played games, we learned names, and made a group contract (rules about how to have fun)! We snacked and buddied, and then loaded up for our adventure at the Big T!

The Owls hiked and paused for lunch and play. We talked about animals of New Mexico and played animal charades and frog detective. We got animal names and got into our roles as we listened to the forest and tried to think like our animal. We had story time and snack time before heading back to the Adventure van and Fort Marcy!

On Tuesday we hiked along the Rio en Medio. Before we set out, we played a game where we learned and practiced various animal gaits. At circle we got to examine the skulls of various forest animals of New Mexico and thought about how certain traits aid their survival. Some kids drew animals using the Ed Emberly books.

On the trail we played “Stalk”, drew in our nature journals, played in the river, explored the forest, had fun, got wet, and found wondrous things!

We learned a song called Bats Eat Bugs on Wednesday. It’s a great reminder that “nothing out there wants to eat you, nothing out there wants to make you it’s meal!” We looked at Animal pelts and paws today and talked about each local animal and some if it’s characteristics.

Our adventure took us to the Ski Basin where we found out how cold that water really was by dunking our heads! It was silly and felt great on this hot summer day! We played the Habitat Web game and learned how everything in the forest is connected and depends on one another for survival. We pressed flowers, found insects, sang songs, and got dirty. A super day!

Thursday: We were busy as little beavers today! We learned about Beaver adaptations and dressed up some unsuspecting children to illustrate them. We hiked along the Little T(esuque Creek) and tried our hand at beavering, a.k.a. dam making. It was hard to make the water stop completely, but we sure slowed it down, and had fun working together in the process. I wonder how beavers need to work together to build their den? We played some (other) team building games and made scrolling animal stories. The End ~ of a(nother) and (FUN!) week.