Season one of Nature Ninjas, Wonders of Winter, was an absolute blast that started with learning about our new friends through our sharing circle at the beginning of each session with and ended with our tomato seed planting activity with Spring on the horizon. Unfortunately our final session that was meant to happen this week, the family potluck, had to be cancelled due to COVID-19
We had a blast coming up with inventive ways to use our EcoHouse grounds in the winter months including exploring animal tracks around the property (and then creating our own animal track snacks), creating obstacle courses that spanned the entire 2 acres, inviting a guest zumba instructor to lead a ‘Nature Boogie’ dance class and simply finding new pathways through the trees.
This new program, funded through the Ontario Trillium Foundation grant Active People’s stream, is meant to help our team explore ways in which nature appreciation and gardening can lead to a more active lifestyle. Each of the Ninjas were loaned activity tracking bracelets at the start of the after school club to monitor their step count and heart rates. This let us learn which sessions, and more specifically, which activities, got their hearts pumping and kept them moving! We learned quickly how to keep our Ninjas moving and engaged and in the first three sessions alone the average step count went from 1503 steps per ninja to 3186 steps per ninja within the two hours! We loved connecting with this group of kids aged 6-12 from all over the Hamilton area.
At the end of last session each Ninjas planted tomato and lettuce seeds that they were meant to take home and then plant in their own garden. Since the pick up date was the pot luck we are taking care of the seedlings in the solarium and plan to plant these out in our shared garden plot this Spring for future Nature Ninjas to enjoy!
See some photos below about our time at Nature Ninjas: Wonders of Winter!
