Back to school with the upper elementary children
is always a great bonding time. What a great way for our 5th and 6th
year children to welcome and embrace their new family members, the 4th
year and ‘new to the school’ children. We go to Camp Eberhart in Three Rivers,
Michigan, at the beginning of every school year. The children spend two days
and one night in Leighton Lodge on beautiful Corey Lake. There is much
excitement on the bus when we leave from the school. All of the children must
carry their own bedding and backpacks onto the bus. This year was an exceptional
year! The children had it down to a science. I don’t think any sleeping bags
fell apart as the children squeezed onto the bus.
There are always many activities and classes run by counselors who come from all over the world to work at Camp Eberhart. One class, “Birds of a Feather”, allowed the children to be detectives and discover what some birds eat as a regular diet. By dissecting sterilized owl vomit, the children put together skeletons and match them to pictures that explained what the delicious diet had been. After some ‘yuck’ moments, everyone thought this was really cool! They also played a game where they used kitchen tongs as beaks and tried to catch ‘fish’ as they swam or rather rolled by their feet. Standing on one foot, symbolizing a crane, made it very funny and challenging.
‘Edible Plants’ landed the children by the lake and into the woods for samplings of vegetation that Native Americans and colonists had eaten. Poisonous ones were also sought out for a history lesson. Did you know that Abraham Lincoln’s mother died from ‘milk sickness’? Her milk cow had eaten one of these deadly plants in the field, and when Mrs. Lincoln drank some milk, she became ill and passed away. The children also made tea from some of the plants.
‘Group Dynamics’ presented a timed, problem solving game that kept being played over and over again for a better finishing time as the children planned together new strategies.
Rock climbing was a thrill for all. A large
stationary wall was used as well as a moving wall. Needless to say, more
children excelled on the stationary wall. A few brave souls did tackle the
moving wall with some success.
The waterfront held many activities that the
children could travel to in groups at their leisure. Tubing, swimming, jumping
off Coop’s Tower, and archery were enjoyed on both days. Archery brought out
the best in everyone. Believe me, it’s harder than it looks! Keeping the arrow
on the bow and making it to the target can be challenging. Canoeing was also on
the water front. Everyone partnered up, and after a training lesson, off the
children went with a counselor following in
another canoe.
A camp fire with stories and songs, smores, and a
night walk without flashlights was a perfect ending for our first day at camp.
Then, the real fun began! Spending the night in Leighton Lodge is always a
thrill! You will have to ask an upper elementary student for the details!
The bus going to camp was a noisy experience with
very excited children, eager to have fun. Coming back home at the end of the
second day was a much quieter experience. After the fun of camp, sleep came
very easily to many. We left for camp to bond with our new friends, as well as
to re-establish old friendships, and came home with our upper elementary family
ready for the new school year.
