Day 4 kicked off with a discussion about water absorption by performing an experiment with “growing” sea creatures and “Orbeez”. The scientific explanation behind this magic is that Orbeez are super absorbent polymer beads made of acrylic acid, sodium hydroxide and water, to which color pigmentation is added to give more variety of nuances. It is the water molecules that make Orbeez grow. After putting the Orbeez, sea creatures, and water in the small pool to observe throughout the day, we moved to the big tipi.
Miss Sherry read the kids “Lola, The Bracelet of Courage” by Sarah Cullen and Carmen Ellis, which was about a mermaid named Lola finding out she didn’t have to be scared of new situations or being alone. She learned various methods of coping with her anxiety from different sea creatures along the way. During the story the campers each made a “bracelet of courage”, to be able to wear on their first day back to school. After the story was over, Miss Sherry asked if anyone was scared to start school, and what it was that worried them. Several campers said they were nervous, and a few also said they were excited. Miss Sherry said if any of them got worried when they went back, they could look at their bracelet and know it would be okay, because they were strong and they didn’t need to be scared.
After the story, the kids were given a small amount of free time before breaking into stations. Today’s stations included making clay beads with Alice, making shrinky-dink brag tags with Miss Abbie, and playing in the bounce house.
We had a late morning snack of fresh pineapple and granola bars. Yum!
We were given a bit more free time, and then we gathered in the big tipi to hear another story.