ENC Nature Camp Orientation Topics
The following are discussed with Campers on the first day of camp!
Daily Schedule
We will start camp each morning at (differs by group) right in this very spot – we call this spot our HOME BASE. Around 10:15 we will have snack, and sometime around 12 we will have lunch. You will go home at (differs by group). The activities we do at camp each day will change, but this schedule will stay the same.
Bathrooms
There are bathrooms inside our building and outside our building. Try your best to go right before camp starts, and when we bring you to the bathrooms for a bathroom break – even if your body doesn’t feel like it has to go. Once we’re out on the trails, we use a buddy system to go to our bathrooms – groups of 3. Please only use one small squirt of soap to wash your hands – a little goes a long way!
Health & Safety
We are a team this week and need to keep each other safe. We will need to keep our masks on for most of the time that you are at Nature Camp. This is one way that we can keep our germs to ourselves. Another way is by keeping distance with bear and octopus arms. When we are able to spread out for certain games and activities, I will let you know that we can take a ‘mask break’.
Nature Play Guidelines
Sticks are not weapons. If you see a cool looking stick that you really want to pick up, you can do that as long as it is smaller/shorter than your arm. The second that stick becomes a weapon, you lose the privilege of holding it. Nature also needs to stay in nature. We will get to touch so many cool rocks, sticks, leaves, and even animals at the ENC – but at the end of the day it cannot come home with you. The crawfish that live in our pond are living creatures – let’s respect them by not fishing for them or poking them with sticks. Your camp teacher will let you know when it’s ok to go off trail.
Staying Hydrated
It can get hot here! Please bring a reusable water bottle to camp EVERY day and always drink from it at snack and lunch, and in between. We have a refilling station here and a water fountain for you to use. Drinking lots of water keeps your body happy!
Clothes/Shoes
Please always wear appropriate clothes for the weather – that means no heavy sweaters when it is 90 degrees out. It is important for you to always wear closed-toe shoes too. Our trails are covered in dirt, rocks, and sticks – and open shoes like flip-flops won’t protect your feet.
Food
Please remind your parents to always pack you a healthy snack and lunch. We don’t like to waste food around here – so if you are full and don’t want to eat the rest of your lunch, don’t throw it away. Leave it in your lunch box to take home or save for later. Things like apple cores, banana peels, and watermelon rinds can be composted! Ask your camp teacher to take you by the compost pile after lunch if you have something you’d like to compost. Any wrappers/trash that came in your lunch will need to go home with you so please don’t throw them away, just put them back in your lunch box.
If You Get Lost…
Don’t panic. The ENC is a small place and it is pretty hard to get lost. If you look up and find that you’ve gotten away from your group, all you have to do is STOP, LOOK, and LISTEN until you find another camp group. The camp teacher from that group will use their fancy radio to locate your group.
Lost & Found
Camp is an exciting place and everyone misplaces their belongings from time to time. Do your best to hang on to your stuff, but if you lose something tell your camp teacher. He or she can help you look for it. We collect ‘lost & found’ items in a big basket by the front check-in tables.
LITs
LITs are Leaders In Training, and they are here to help your camp teachers with anything and everything. Sometimes that could mean taking a few campers up to the bathroom, other times that might mean helping you do an activity. We respect everyone at Nature Adventure Camp, and that includes our wonderful LITs! Our LIT this week is ______.
Toys/Electronics
We will be doing so many fun things at the ENC that we simply won’t have time to take out or play with your cool toys from home. Please don’t bring them to camp, because it would really be a bummer if your toy got broken or lost at camp and we wouldn’t want that to happen. You WILL have an opportunity to share something on Wednesday, which is show & tell day.
Be Kind
Our motto at Nature Adventure Camp is ‘Be kind to everyone and everything’! Look around you – should we be kind to our fellow campers? Our camp teachers? Our LITs? What about the animals and plants that live here? What about yourself? That’s right – it’s important to be kind to all here at the ENC.
Nature Ninjas
One of the best parts of coming to Nature Adventure Camp is seeing wildlife out in nature. Do you think we will see many squirrels, birds, and lizards if we yell and shout and run quickly down the trails? If we can be good ‘nature ninjas’ by being quiet and sneaky on the trails, we’ll have a much better chance of seeing those cool animals. Let’s all practice whispering and tip-toeing while out on the trails today.
Camp Traditions
On Mondays we get to… (nature names, camp agreement, camp cheer, etc.). Tuesdays are dress up days – tomorrow you will dress up as _________. Wednesdays are show & tell days. Thursday is ‘Thank You Thursday’, and you might get a special treat if you are doing a great job of being a nature camper. And then there’s Camp Fire Fridays! Let us know if you have an idea for a brand new camp tradition.