1. Back to School doesn’t have to mean back inside!
It’s that time of year again, swapping in bathing suits for rain jackets and backpacks full of school supplies
instead of camping gear. It’s back to school time! Here at the Conservation Council of New Brunswick our
Learning Outside project, focusses on helping New Brunswick children connect with nature. To do this we
help teachers integrate nature into the teaching of all subjects through the development of outdoor
learning spaces and through teacher training opportunities. Nadine, our Learning Outside project
coordinator is a member of the Great Minds Think Outside team. This team is a collaboration of educators
from a range of organisations and government departments, that provides outdoor training sessions for
teachers and other educators. Last week, I got to attend one of these Great Minds Think Outside
sessions with several other eager and like-minded individuals at the Mactaquac Provincial Park Beaver
Pond.
[caption:The Mactaquac beaver pond-- a great place to take kids to explore the wonders of nature!]
We arrived to the Beaver Pond area ( I have never been before) to the sun shining, birds chirping and
bees buzzing. I definitely recommend visiting this beautiful park, Parks NBhas set up many activities for
kids to explore as well! Once participants arrived, we began the day doing warm-up and high energy
activities, all very useful when you arrive to an outdoor space with several excited students and or
children. My favourite high-energy activity was ‘Wetland Values’, taught to us by Emma, who works with
Nature NB. This activity could be adapted for parents to do with their children or teachers can use this
when teaching about different ecosystems and their importance! What kid doesn’t love a relay?

2. [Caption: Participants flap their “wings” and flail their limbs in during the Wetland Values relay!]
This relay consisted of working as a team to answer question related to wetlands. “Wetlands help to filter
water,” shouted the facilitator. Off I went to grab a strainer from the bucket at the end of the relay. To add
another layer of fun onto this activity, each team came up with an animal that would visit or live in a
wetland. We then had to “act” like this animal throughout the relay. “Wetlands provide food”. Cawing and
flapping my wings, I was on the hunt to grab the food item from the bin. Not only does this activity make
students/children think and learn the importance of wetlands, it also allows them to blow off a little steam,
too. This activity could be adapted to other New Brunswick habitats: Acadian forests, freshwater, marine,
etc.
We continued the morning with team-building and problem-solving activities. After lunch, we had the
opportunity to go critter dipping! Parks NB has all supplies ready for anyone who enters the park and
wants to see what critters they can find. Participants caught an array of critters: tadpoles, frogs, leeches
and our facilitator Ian even found a garter snake!

3. [caption: One of the frogs from critter dipping. “It’s a teenager frog!”, shouted one of the participants.
Notice this frog is not fully developed, with a tail still intact! ]
Next, we met at the entrance to the walking trail for my two favourite activities. We paired up with
someone else and began to create a ‘sundae’ with the forest floor providing our ingredients. For this
activity we were given a cup to gather our materials to make the “sundae”. However, as you may have
guessed, this is no edible sundae - this activity’s true title is ‘whiff sundae’ for a reason. In our teams of
two, we had to come up with a creative name to call our sundae by sniffing it, or “taking a big whiff” as our
coordinators explained to us. This activity is perfect to play after high-energy ones; it takes more serious
contemplation and thoughtful discovery. My partner and I also arranged our items to be aesthetically
pleasing. This activity could be incorporated into an art class or an art project at home, painting your
“whiff sundae”! Names varied from “A Fresh Moment” ( my team’s!) to “David’s Tea Forest Floor Blend”,
smelling very much like it could be steeped into a beautiful tea!

4. [caption: One of the many whiff sundaes, this one was titled “ David’s Tea- Forest Floor Blend”]
One of our final wrap-up, reflective activities was “Micro-Parks”. This is fosters independence, imagination
and responsibility in participants. This activity can be done in groups or individually. We created our park
in a team of four. We were given a small amount of string and 10 toothpicks with tiny flags attached. The
string is used as a boundary and the flags as points of interest. We worked as a team to create a space
for our park and then identify certain things we wanted highlight.. Our park had a rockwall ( a cluster of
mushrooms growing from the side of a decomposing log), ski-mountain (large log, split in several places),
a zipline (a spider’s web) and many other ‘tiny attractions’. This activity can be altered by creating a hike
through your micro-park. Students can sketch it and then write about their hiking route of park attractions!

5. [caption: A Micro-park in the making! The string outlines the micro-park with the small blue flags
identifying points of interest!]

6. Of course all these activities can be adapted to any season, instead of whiff sundaes in the winter, you
could gather scents from the trees and bushes instead of the forest floor, adapt a relay to winter survival
tactics different animals have or change it into a food chain relay! Remember the changing weather does
not mean we have to change our attitude on being outside! Outdoor play has a positive impact on
children’s development leaving children healthier, happier and more aware. So this back to school
season, let’s get back to nature and continue the connection to the outdoors for our children and families.
For more information on activities you can play and learn with children, visit Learning Outside webiste:
http://www.learningoutside.ca/ or contact Nadine at nadine@conservationcouncil.ca. Share your ideas
and great adventures with us on Facebook, Twitter (@cc_nb) and Instagram( @consevationcouncilnb)!
[caption: Participants listen intently as one individual explains their whiff sundae!]