Where: Mass Audubon Headquarters, Lincoln | Who: A Vermont ex-pat, lifelong skier, musician, photographer, motorcycle enthusiast, budding native plant gardener, and pun master | Favorite part of the job: Working with wonderful colleagues to make nature accessible to everyone
It’s hard to believe Session 4 is almost over! We are soaking up as much of summer as we can with lots of Gaga ball, swimming, paddling, arts & crafts, nature walks, and Chill Zone time as we can here at Wildwood.
Campers have been making a lot of things: friends, works of art, and a big splash, to name a few! Check out a few photo highlights below and then head over to the SmugMug album to see more summer fun from Session 4.
Session 4 has been filled with activities, adventures, and lots of smiles. On Friday, we got the much-anticipated “all clear” to take our masks off and see even more of those camper smiles we love so much!
Mornings are spent in our Nature Groups, where campers spend time ponding and looking for aquatic wildlife, playing nature-themed games to demonstrate ecological systems like abundance and scarcity or food webs, and learning all about Things With Wings. One group even had teams building their own bird nests, which were judged based on sturdiness, protectiveness, and “swag”.
Afternoon Discovery Groups (DGs) bring lots of options for fun activities like archery and Ultimate Frisbee at the activity field, and games like Knockout on the basketball court and Nukem on the volleyball court.
And of course, there’s the ropes course, where campers can take Mary Schmich’s advice and “Do one thing every day that scares you.” It’s always fun to see apprehensive faces change to laughter and big smiles when kids take the leap from the zipline platform and challenge their fears head-on. In one funny moment, the zipline instructor asked “Is the line clear?”, but for once the answer was “No!” There was a Wood Thrush chilling on the zipline, so we had to wait a minute for it to fly away!
Head over to SmugMug to see an album with some photo highlights from session four. Two-week campers should be returning from their overnight trip soon, and we can’t wait to hear some stories from their adventure!
Welcome, welcome, welcome, Session 4! We’re so excited you’re here. Monday was a busy day as campers adjusted to their new routine and completed their swim checks at the waterfront.
Our first afternoon of Discovery Groups included volleyball, archery, ropes course challenges, playing with Oobleck, table games, and making Shrinky Dinks in Arts & Crafts.
During Open Activity Time (OATs as we like to call it), the line for the Camp Store stretched to the end of the fence as campers swarmed in for their shirts, swag, tchotchkes, and, of course, Crystal Light packs.
Meanwhile, other campers couldn’t wait to get swimming and rushed down to the waterfront with their swimsuits and towels, ready to make a splash. “Imagine NOT jumping right into the water on the first day of camp!” said one camper as he executed a near-perfect cannonball.
We’re off to a great start and can’t wait for even more camp fun this week! Check out a few highlights below and view the full photo album on SmugMug.
“Look! It’s got a waterslide!” said the first camper to round the corner of the shower house and see the epic Camp Carnival setup on the games field yesterday afternoon. And what a perfect way to wrap up a great session!
The campers had an absolute blast doing lap after lap on the waterslide, dual slip-n-slide, and Bootcamp Challenge climbing element: don’t let the water-splattered grimaces in some of the photos fool you—these campers were grinning from ear to ear and dashing back to the end of the line to go again!
Party music blasted over the speakers as campers bounced around between volleyball, inflatable tic-tac-toe, the temporary tattoo station, and various field games. But, of course, the longest line was for the Sno Kone machine!
So, parents and families, we did our absolute best to help our dear campers burn off some energy before your arrival for pickup today, which will be a bittersweet farewell for sure. Here’s one last look at Session 3 and then it’s on to the final overnight camp session of 2021 on Sunday! Where is the summer going???
Yesterday’s Beach Party was such a blast! DJ Cheryl was dropping the hottest summertime jams all afternoon and leading the ensuing dance parties while campers swam, paddling, played volleyball and badminton on the beach, went ponding for lake creatures, and played table games on the shore.
One camper was a little reluctant to take the big jump into the water, so she asked Cheryl for some support: “I’ll jump in if you do it with me!” Sometimes all you need is a little help from your friends 🙂
And the surprise hit of the session has been—believe it or not—Rock-Paper-Scissors on the dock! The “loser” has to jump into the water, a welcome consolation prize on a hot summer day!
The first week of session 3 has been great—the weather continues to improve and we have been enjoying every moment of it.
We’ve learned about the ecology of Hubbard Pond by kayak and along the shoreline with our dipnets. We’ve done tons of swimming and paddling around the pond, and played LOTS of Gaga. We’ve tackled all kinds of challenges at the ropes course, facing our fears and pushing our comfort zones. And we’ve made Oobleck, animal masks, and reverse tie-dye in arts and crafts. Be sure to check out the photos of Carson Unit doing a “big reveal” of their amazing tie-dye works of art from earlier in the week!
The second week of Session 2 has been a little rainy, but we have a great time no matter what the weather is doing at Wildwood. This week we made “tape resist art” at the Arts & Crafts pavilion, took the plunge on the zipline, played LOTS of Gaga Ball in the new Gaga pit, sharpened our archery skills, and so much more.
See a few highlights below and more photos in the SmugMug album!
What a fantastic week we’ve had for the start of session 2! We took advantage of the good weather earlier in the week to spend lots of time on, in, and around the water, exploring the ecology of Hubbard Pond and making a big splash in the Fun Zone.
Some campers made bird nests out of natural materials during a “Things With Wings” Nature Group (NG) led by the amazing Alex Dohan from Mass Audubon’s Education team, while others made wall art with sticks and string at the Arts & Crafts building during Discovery Groups (DGs).
And a few brave campers even took on the Burma Bridge at the Ropes Course during afternoon DGs! Below are a few highlights, but you can see more of all the fun we’ve been having in the full slideshow here.
We’ll be saying a bittersweet goodbye to the one-week campers this weekend and looking forward to even more fun with the two-week campers next week!
The rain may have driven us inside the last couple of days, but that just means we get to play lots of board games and Magic cards, act out funny skits and improv games, and make lots of friendship bracelets.
And we’re still riding high from Wednesday’s big excitement: Zip Line! It’s always so fun to see campers challenge themselves, flex their bravery muscles, and take that big leap off the platform. It’s not uncommon to see faces change from apprehension and even a little fear to big smiles, exhilaration, and pride.
Join us in summer 2020 for a physically distanced family getaway at Wildwood! Wildwood is turning our camp into a campground for camp families from July 10–October 15. We will provide families with a space to sleep and relax while being physically distanced from others.
You can choose from any of the following lodging options:
We will assign one family only to each unit. Each unit has a firepit, wood, sink, toilets, picnic table, trash & recycle cans. Families bring their own bedding, personal items, food, and all cooking/cleaning gear.
The waterfront is open from 10:00 am–noon and 2:00–5:00 pm and is included in the nightly rate. Waterfront activities include canoeing, kayaking, paddle boarding & swimming. If possible, families are encouraged to bring their own lifejackets.
The shower house is a shared space. We will assign families a time block to shower and will clean and sanitize the shower house between families.
Check-in is from 1:00–5:00 pm and check-out is no later than 11:00 am. We ask families to move out of the unit by 11:00 am in order to avoid being charged for an extra night, but they are allowed to continue to enjoy our property after check-out.