Hey Everyone,

Field Trip! And what a fun one we had.

Have you ever played golf? Or thrown a Frisbee?  Well, we combined the two target games for a day of Disc Golf at Duntroon Highlands Nordic Centre.   They have a newly developed disc golf course on their fabulous 100 acre site.  For more information and your chance to play on your own, check out the Disc Course Association here.

At Highlands Nordic, our hike out to the course took us in all sorts of different directions each day– rolling down hills, climbing through tunnels, searching for what seemed like an unlimited amount of golf balls, sneaking up on cats and squirrels, crunching our way through fallen leaves in the forest, and even patiently catching frogs in puddles!

Did someone say salamanders?? On our unhurried hike, it didn’t take us long to (respectfully!) uncover hundreds of Eastern Red Backed salamanders.   They ranged in sizes and speed – we even found some teeny-weenie baby ones! On two of our days, we were lucky enough to spot a yellow Spotted Salamander as well! Our younger students (and some older students too – water creatures are such a draw for our learners!) dove into a pond study as well, where we uncovered lots of crayfish, water striders and mayfly larvae.

When we arrived at the disc course we learned some basic skills, general guidelines and play etiquette, and then had a blast taking aim at our baskets.  Students progressed quite quickly in these skills and were great supporters and mentors for one another! It was a lot of fun to try something new together.

As they do, most of our days varied quite a bit.  The Highlands Nordic centre is a magical place, and there is just so much to do.  Some groups went on determined golf ball hunts in the forest, while others played extra disc golf; others collected eggs from the hens and visited the turkeys and pig, while others got a first-hand lesson on turtles; and some students built shelters and played forest games like camouflage or sardines.  On Friday, we even stopped on the way back along the Bruce Trail for a hike to check out Frank’s Lime Kiln off of County Rd 91 and shared a handful of storytelling sessions from our students.

After returning the school from our field trip, all sorts of fun happened during some unstructured time.   On Tuesday we headed out to our sit spots for some building time. On Wednesday we had an epic marble/pipe construction with loose parts and a wild Ring Toss tournament in the rain… until the lightning came, directing us to a safer location where we began a long-term story and design activity.  On Thursday we did teambuilding activities and games, and then headed off to an area on-site dubbed “The Fort,” named for its impeccable fortress! It is surrounded by burrs, poison ivy and stinging nettle… with only a couple safe paths in for the knowledgeable and brave!  And Friday we enjoyed some slack-lining after our adventurous hike.

Congrats to the students whose estimations were the closest in our Golf Ball Jar and won a prize! This week we had many students work hard to earn their story-telling bead!

Next Week:
We learn all about Plants!  We hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Cheers,

Kim, Tamara and Matt

More Pics:

Tuesday

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Wednesday

Thursday

Friday