Starting out in the big field at the park, we sat down together for our opening circle. Coming straight from school, the Explorers were struggling a bit with staying focused, but we worked through it together well enough to have some good conversation around managing risks that we might encounter. After that, a high-paced game of Fox Tails was definitely the thing we needed to burn of some energy!
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| Jack looks for people in a game of Hide |
From there, we headed up into the forest for some exploring. Along the way, as we walked by fallen branches among the alder trees, we talked a bit more about the risks of being in the woods on a windy day. A day or two prior to our outing, the wind had been pretty strong and the evidence was all around us. The Explorers also worked a bit on trail etiquette and keeping the group together while hiking. We also managed to play quite a few games of Hide and the boys' progress was great to see!
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| Heavy-duty construction methods |
Arriving at a small valley that a lot of groups visit, we set up a base camp and had some free exploration time. A number of boys started construction on a fort while others preferred to play more games. Along with Hide, another favorite game was Hungry Hungry Marten! One Explorer plays the "Marten" who guards a tree while everyone else is a "Squirrel" who tries to tag the tree before the marten tags them. We saw some good strategic planning, teamwork, and athletic maneuvers in those games along with a lot of laughter.
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| A hungry marten waits for the squirrels to make their move... |
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| Getting close to sunset, but the boys wanted to keep playing! |
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| What outing would be complete without some silly faces? |
During out closing circle, the Woodland Caribou really impressed their mentors with their focus and respectful listening as everyone took their turn expressing their Attitude of Gratitude. It was great to see how the boys started to get back into the groove as the outing went along and this was a strong finish!
To see the rest of the pictures from our day, click here! Sorry there weren't more this time - too much exploring going on!
