Nubi Kids Cohousing Camp
Kids trooped across the common, laden with backpacks and sunhats, ready for another day at Nubi Kids Camp. It was the first week of August, and my sister Catherine and I were running a camp for the kids who live with us at Nubanusit Neighborhood and Farm Cohousing. We went down to Nubanusit Brook one day, and, using nets my sister and I made, caught water critters and learned about assessing water quality (see link below for more info) from Dori, a Nubi Neighbor and teacher-naturalist. You would be surprised at all the wonders that lie below the surface!
Playing and collecting critters at Nubi Brook
Some days we would be out in the forest, building fairy houses and collecting precious items, others we would play circle games on the common, or paint and draw. Often you could look out your window and see seven small children marching out to the hayfield to play, or painting rocks on the common house porch. At 10:00 each day we had snack, on a blue blanket, spread out on whatever ground we happened to be on that day. We would eat our snacks and tell stories, and often the kids would end up laughing hysterically, or running around the blanket. Lila, an eight year old, is constantly doing cartwheels, on the porch, in the playroom, in the hayfield, on the walkway. A common phrase at camp was “Lila, no cartwheels in the Common House!” I would also often find Clara, a four year old, on my back or climbing up my legs, asking “please can we do a flip?” Xan, Lila’s brother and Clara’s same age would come to camp each day as a different animal. Sometimes crawling, sometimes jumping, and then whispering in my ear that today he was a damselfly, or a lizard.
My sister and I decided to run the camp when a neighbor who has two children gave us the idea. We planned each day on our own, and kept the kids in line, often using techniques our own mother used on us to prevent disagreements. We bought the materials for little green Nature Books, as we called them, so the children could tape interesting artifacts in them, draw, or write about their days. I believe that the kids really enjoyed the camp, and so did my sister and I. We learned a lot about caring for young children and had fun working together to figure out our days. Each day new surprises greeted us, from a bumped head, to a little too much cookie dough, we made our way through the two weeks laughing, smiling, running and having fun all around our wonderful home.
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For more information on monitoring aquatic health using native critters (macroinvetbrates, check out http://des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/biomonitoring/inverts.htm).
