The 4H ‘Wild Child’ day camp was a success this summer, encouraging critical thinking, sharing, and goal setting, while also providing practical applications for practicing leadership, cooperation, and planning skills.
During the school year, one frequent request from students is, “I wish we could go outside.” While the core subjects of math, language arts, science, and social studies are essential for a child’s development, there is much more to learning than sitting in a classroom. Recognizing this, and with the assistance of UT Extension Outdoor Recreation Specialist Ronnie Cowan, the Wild Child day camp was created.
This two-day camp offered students the opportunity to learn various outdoor skills, such as casting a rod, knot tying, seining a pond, identifying fish and amphibians, creating fishing lures, participating in shooting sports, understanding environmental carrying capacity, exploring careers in conservation, and more. Although students acquired practical skills like knot tying, the camp’s primary focus was on developing life skills.
Students had to work together in activities, such as pretending to be frogs surviving in the wilderness, which strengthened their teamwork skills. Creating their own fishing lures encouraged critical thinking, sharing, and goal setting. The camp’s favorite game, “Oh Deer!”, allowed students to practice leadership, cooperation, and planning skills while learning about predator-prey relationships and species carrying capacity in relation to available resources.
In an era when children have less access to the outdoors, UT TSU Extension Marion County is proud to offer fun and educational outdoor programming that allows kids to be kids while learning valuable skills.
The success of this program was made possible by the generous donation from hosts Raulston Woods and Gardens and Tab and Sarah McNabb, who believe that all children should have the opportunity to experience the outdoors.
For updates, confirmed dates, and more information about signing up for next year’s camp, visit the website at marion.tennessee.edu.
Submitted by Dannie Bradford
The Marion Tribune – August 1, 2024
