Nature Canada

Outreach: Hintonburg and Pinecrest Camp

Outing: Pinecrest Camp and Hintonburg Camp

When: Tuesday 30 July 2013 and Wednesday 31 July 2013

Where: Pinecrest Park and Hintonburg Park

Activities: Nature Scavenger Hunt, bird feeder crafts, and games

Hintonburg 4

 

Birds are a diverse group, with vibrant colours and unique songs and calls. Even common neighborhood birds, like robins and crows, present opportunities to observe diverse plumage and animal behaviors. Expanding beyond the Lac Deschênes and Ottawa River IBA, we focused on nature in the proximate urban environment with the Pinecrest and Hintonburg camps.  For instance, we examined the difficulties of bird migration through a bird migration obstacle course and witnessed great teamwork as some of the older children helped the younger ones get through the course, much like mobbing birds.

 

Using a bird feeder craft we educated the campers about the importance of helping local birds, particularly during the winter months, to find food. Having a hanging feeder at home would also help the campers to identify local birds. While waiting for the birdfeeders to dry, we played an educational game about population rise and decline called Oh Deer with the Pinecrest Campers. With the Hintonburg campers we played a “bird life” game, where the bird team attempted to return all food to their nest without being caught by the predators, in similar fashion to capture-the-flag.

With the Pinecrest group, we finished with a Nature Scavenger Hunt, allowing the children to get up-close and personal with the nature in the park around them. The children definitely learned a few new things about the animal species in their area.

At the end of the mornings we brought all of the children together for a final conclusion and discussion. We talked about what we learned and how hard it was to be a bird before passing out Nature Canada pins and knighting each child as a Guardian of Nature.

Special thanks to People Power Press for producing our buttons for us! Check it out here

This blog was written by Alicia Cuzner and Stephanie Wilson. Alicia and Stephanie are summer interns at Nature Canada focusing on the Lac Deschenes Ottawa River Important Bird Area. They are both university graduates with a specialty in Geography. They are currently enrolled in the Queen’s Concurrent Education Program, and will be certified teachers in April 2014.

 

Guardians of Nature Access Portal – For Guardians of Nature and their families

Are you a Guardian of Nature?

Do you have the link to the private Guardian of Nature Access Portal – the family friendly site?

This site has free activities, resources, information, and logs about our outreaches! If you would like the link, please email Alicia and Stephanie at info@naturecanada.ca

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