This summer Wild Child has branched out to Kespukwitk (South Shore of Mi’kma’ki) in a few new locations! We ran 2 week-long camps at Owlwood Farm in Conquerall Mills- a beautiful mossy, old growth forest with a beautiful homestead including gardens, horses, a cow, and so much to explore. Sadly, each of the week-long programs had to be cut short due to a heat wave during the first week, and a lack of staff due to COVID during the second week. The kids and staff were so excited for each new day but the circumstances of climate chaos and the pandemic shortened our weeks 🙁 Thankfully, most of these kids will be joining us at the after school program starting in September in Broad Cove so we are so excited to continue our play there!

Each group was small, which was amazing because we got to know everyone so well and every child’s ideas were played out within the group. The first week, the stream in the forest still had a little bit of water in it so the mud kitchen was a huge hit! There was a lot of frog catching, swing building, and creating of fairy houses. We were so happy to have Jackson, our junior leader, come out to help for the week to teach the kids bushcraft skills and play with us.

It was so hot each day so we made sure to end it by swimming (with lifejackets!) and wading in the dug pond. This was so fun! Towards the end of our week, we introduced whittling and tool use to the kids. This was very popular with our group! We also did a little more exploring to the beautiful river through the hemlock stand at the bottom of the hill. We got to play in the stream to cool down at the end of the day and eat blueberries on the way!

One thing is for sure, we made the most of our shortened week and we are looking forward to all the new adventures this location has to offer!