Author:
Liubov Tolstova
Short summary:
This summer we had a pleasure to host one more Curious Camp for children in July with the team of our international volunteers! Here is a quick overview of how it was:
Klimaforschungslabor in Sonnenpark
We were based in Sonnenpark, at the climate laboratory, but most of our activities took place outside.
We were lucky with the weather, so the kids had the possibility to spend almost all of the days outdoors, exploring the nature around!
ronja the robber's daughter
The whole camp was connected with the story of “Ronja the Robber's daughter”, which was represented in one of our quests around Sonnenpark.
During the after-lunch break we also read the chapters from that book with the kids, so they could get more familiar with the story.
You can take a quest based on Ronja the Robber's daughter story anytime on your own by following the link below:
each day - a whole new world to discover
Each day was connected with a certain topic:
Monday was mostly about plants, Tuesday - about mammals, Wednesday - birds, Thursday - fish, and Friday - insects! We tried to cover every topic with theoretical, creative and practical activities, so the kids could explore it from different sides and get even more inspired.
Every day started with a morning circle, where we gathered together for sharing and discussion of our favorite species based on the daily topic. Cactuses, jelly fishes, pandas and caterpillars were among everyone's favourites :)
And then, we sang a song together, accompanied by the ukulele!
“Banana boat”, “The Lion sleeps tonight”, “Three little birds”, “Fünf kleine Fische” and “Die Biene Maja” - each song was associated with the daily topic 🤗
activities and games
During the day we played a lot of funny and active games outdoors. Among them were “Find my tree” where the kids had to identify different trees after being guided to them blindfolded; "Water trails" where they had to split in teams and guide each other bringing a water cans to the team bucket as fast as possible; a quest in the Hammerpark where they had a series of fun activities in different locations; or a Treasure hunt for Kamis – the tree spirits hidden below the ancient trees all around Sonnenpark.
swimming & fish observation
We also went swimming and fishing in Traisen river, where we spent a few hours catching and letting out the fish and other underwater creatures, combining it with having fun in the water on a sunny day.
Same we did in Feldmühle, where we went birdwatching and also spent some time around the local pond, discovering different type of wildlife .
nature journaling
We kept our observations in the Nature Journal, where every kid added up their own drawings or colored sheets of different species in the end of each day, including those we saw or talked about during the camp.
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haus für natur
On the rainy Thursday we went to the biggest nature museum in St. Pölten – Haus für Natur – where we observed the whole range of species we discussed earlier, and learned even more about their life and behavior.
It was such an immersive experience, so we spent there almost the whole day, exploring all different parts of our planet's ecosystem!
Apart from our adventures in all of those places, we also spent a lot of memorable time in Sonnenpark, learning more about the trees and environment, collecting apples and cherry plums, identifying different insects and catching butterflies.
plastic pirates
We also tried to take care about the place, so on one of the days we organized “The Plastic Pirates” activity, where we tried to pick up all the little pieces of trash around the park.
Despite the cloudy and wet weather, the kids were happy and curious to find and collect as much as they can!
art & creativity
Based on the topic of the day we also did a lot of creative activities:
We created colorful leaf stamps for which we had to collect all different types of leaves on the day of “plants”.
We colored the stones with the acrylic paint and created funny “stone bugs” on the “insects” day, and on the day of “birds” we handcrafted beautiful dreamcatchers with the feathers we found on our birdwatching walk.
On the last day of our camp we baked a real Strudel from the fruits we collected together in Sonnenpark! It was very tasty and super fun to do it together! What a perfect way to celebrate this wonderful week!
We are grateful for the time we spent together this year, and already looking forward to host another Curious Camp next summer, probably with some new and interesting collaborations! Subscribe to our newsletter by the link below to stay updated:
