At the very end of last month, Head Start brought out every teacher, teacher’s assistant, and member of the family advocate team to the farm. We were delighted to have them for three hours in the beautiful fall sunshine! The purpose of this outing was to allow everyone to remember the farm (or meet it for the first time), learn expectations for their upcoming field trips, and, most importantly, enjoy a wonderful day in nature.
We began our day in the Pine Cathedral where we briefly went over our plans and expectations for our upcoming fall field trips. We didn’t have everyone sit for long though – we were soon in three groups meeting the animals and taking a hike around the property. Each group ended their walk at the pond.
Here, we handed out little nature journals and art supplies and send everyone to sit around the pond and document the world around them. Some folks chose to spend this time weaving pond grasses, recreating our weeping willow trees with water colors, or writing a few lines of prose. Others soaked in the sun and appreciated time with their friends.
After we all had thoroughly enjoyed the ponds (and spotted some beavers!), we did a bit of forest bathing as we strolled through arboretum. We tapped into our five senses under the dawn redwood trees, looked for things in motion through the magnolias, and fell in love with the trees around us as we made our way to our final destination: the fire ring.
Here, Jeff had prepared a roaring fire for us to sit around and make s’mores. The teachers chatted away on Jeff’s newly crafted log benches and enjoyed their sticky treat. We concluded our day here, but we know that the peace and wonder of the day carried with each of us as we left. In fact, I heard a report later that one person didn’t know how empty their self-care bucket had been until they felt it filling up while at the pond.
We were oh-so delighted to have everyone out to the farm. Here’s to making a tradition of this grown-up field trip!
