Hello families!
My name's Jenn and I'm the Garden Camp Director. I had the pleasure of meeting many of you this morning during drop-off and this afternoon during pick-up, as well as the joy of spending my day with all of your campers. I had the ability to rotate between all groups and observe a little bit of everything that was going on in the Garden. Every day this week there will be a blog post discussing some of the things that your campers were able to do at camp today.
This week our campers will spend their time learning all about the Amazing Adaptations that some of our plants in the Garden have. Our two big weekly goals for this theme include learning how changes in weather and climate effect plants, animals, and people, and also how learning how humans can support environmental health.
It's only fair that on this hot Monday our theme for the day was Seeking Sun! Garden Campers were able to explore the garden and dive into just what it means to have adaptations related to how much or how little sunlight a plant receives.
Campers will get to spend a little bit of every day with our Gardening and Ecology Content Specialist, AJ. Today with AJ they took some time talking about the depth of different roots. We learned that shallow roots collect rain and morning dew easily, while some roots dig deep into the ground to try and stay cool. We also spent a lot of time in the Succulent Garden! Did you know that succulents store moisture in their leaves to keep them from being sunburned? AJ walked our campers around to show them a few plants in our own garden which have sunburned tips! We also learned that succulents only produce one flower when it becomes time to flower because they're trying to conserve their resources!
Campers will also get to spend some time every day with Spencer, our Art and Wellness Content Specialist. Today Spencer and the kids made sun tea lemonade which included mint from our own garden, lemon, and honey. Delicious! This tasty drink definitely hit the spot on such a hot and sunny day. With Spencer they also read The Bluest of Blues by Anna Atkins in preparation for making sunprints tomorrow. The book is about a botanist from the 1800s who discovered the process of sunprinting, almost like photography!
All day long the sun kept us warm so we made sure to always reapply sunscreen and stop for many water breaks. When we weren't trekking across the Garden, we kept to the shade as much as we could!
Today's snacks: pretzels and apples or oranges
Questions For My Camper:
We would love for you to continue engaging with your camper now that the day has ended and preparing them for their time in the Garden tomorrow. Here are some questions that you could ask them to get the conversation started!
-What did you learn about in the succulent garden today? What are some ways that you are like a plant?
-What was your favorite activity you did with your group? Why was that your favorite?
-Did you try the sun tea lemonade? What did it taste like? How did it feel to drink something that you helped make?
Tomorrow we'll keep exploring together while continuing to think about all the Amazing Adaptations that we can find in the Garden. We had a great day with your campers and are excited for our first full week of Garden Camp!
See you tomorrow!
Jenn Tapler
she/her
Garden Camp Director
Office: 415-661-1316 x404
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