My daughter had an amazing opportunity through her school this year to attend NatureBridge, an outdoor organization that brings kids for a three day overnight technology-free trip. In our school, 6th graders get the opportunity, and go with only school chaperones, no parents. My oldest did it the previous year, so I knew what a fun, educational opportunity it was. My daughter graciously agreed to write about her experience to share with readers of this blog from her perspective.
A Kids Perspective – by My Daughter
Ever since I heard about the amazing experience known as NatureBridge from my sibling, I dreamed about the day it would finally be my turn. After watching them go off and seeing how much fun they had I’ve been even more ecstatic. Finally I was old enough and my dream was coming true. It all started on a foggy December morning.
My friend and I had been talking non-stop about everything we were gonna do, what we were gonna wear, even where we were gonna sit on the bus, so you can imagine when I woke up at 5 in the morning from excitement I was all ready to go. The day before had mostly been spent on last minute packing so I was sure everything I needed was tightly packed away in my backpack. I had laid out the clothes I was gonna wear the night before, so I quickly slipped them on. I made myself a good breakfast and before I knew it I was in the car, luggage in hand.
Once everything was ready to go we loaded the luggage on the bus and took off. I sat next to my friend and we annoyed the whole bus singing obnoxious songs. When we arrived we met our counselors, they taught us about what safety would look like in NatureBridge and sent us to the dorms to set up. After practically throwing all of our belongings on our beds we were shuffled downstairs to be split into groups. Since I was still recovering from bronchitis I went with the person who had my meds and (thankfully) my friend.
After lunch and a rundown of what the day would look like, we started to hike. We learned a lot about NatureBridge like how it used to be a military facility which is why there were buildings called batteries all over the place. We hiked past two batteries and down to the beach where we met another group and hanged out with them. After winning a hole digging contest (because we were the only team that qualified) we headed back to the dorms.
During “Me Time” all the groups met up at the dorms for showers and like the name suggests, time to do whatever you want. One of the teachers had brought a computer so while we were cooped up in our room after our showers, we watched some TV. Then when the hour of getting used to our dorm was over, we headed for the dining room for dinner.
After a delicious dinner we were brought for a meeting to learn about composting. Then we went on a hike to the beach. The soft melody of the waves crashing against the shore soothed me and made me ready for the bed that awaited me when I returned to the dorms. Once pajamas were on and teeth were brushed we laid in bed till the next morning came upon us.
The second day ran practically like the day before. Everyone got ready and gathered together for breakfast and another composting meeting. After the morning meeting we were split up into our groups and brought to our meeting spot. We split up lunch and decided on our team name. We eventually came to Rugrats, a name everyone liked, and after a rundown of the day ahead we went on our journey.
First we made our way to the Marine Lab with tons of underwater creatures like sea urchins and hermit crabs. Even though everyone was eager to play with the creatures, we had to go over what we can look at, touch, or hold but once we were done with safety it was a blast. I felt what a sea urchin felt like and had my hand tickled by a hermit crab walking on it.
Once we finished the lab we started hiking to the lighthouse stopping for lunch and a fun game called jays vs juncos. Along the way to the lighthouse we stopped to gaze at some sea lions, take a group picture, and meet up with another group. Together we walked the rest of the way to the lighthouse. We walked across a shiny white bridge and tried to listen to each other through walls our instructors called echo walls.
Eventually we had to split from the other group as we made our way back to the dorms. But that didn’t stop our group from having more fun exploring. On the way back to the dorms we stopped by Battery Mendel and played a quick and fun game of sardines. After the game, we made our way down to the beach for a little and back to the dorms.
After showers, a good dinner, and another evening meeting we went to campfire, the single funniest experience I had at NatureBridge. We started off with a poem that was hilariously funny, a tracking game where one of the instructors had to find stuff without looking, and of course classic campfire songs.
But the best part was the fortune teller Martian who could tell your future by smelling your shoe. It was gross but hilarious at the same time. When I got my fortune the Martian told me that I was going to have a painful experience very soon, before throwing my shoe and making me walk across rocks in just my sock to get it back. My foot was sore after that but I was fine in the morning. It was a person in our group’s birthday so we got cupcakes which made me feel better. With another day gone I settled into my bunk to sleep.
Finally the last day was upon us. After breakfast and morning meeting we jumped right into the days activity. We were brought to a different lab, a plankton lab. While we learned about plankton another group looked at them under a microscope. We learned the difference between phytoplankton and zooplankton and our teacher drew plankton from SpongeBob on the board.
After filling our brains with plankton knowledge we moved over to the microscope room where we got to look at plankton under a microscope. We each got assigned a microscope but after a few minutes everyone was chatting about their plankton and looking at other peoples microscopes.
Of course this great experience couldn’t last forever and we went back to our dorms to load up the bus. We loaded our luggage and lunch onto the bus, took our seats, and before we knew it we were leaving NatureBridge behind.
The Golden Pinecone
One of the most famous parts of NatureBridge is the Golden Pinecone. When my sibling came back from NatureBridge they bragged that they were one of the Golden Pinecone winners and wanting to follow in my siblings footsteps I was determined to be one too. I could already imagine bragging to my family that I too was very neat. Of course that didn’t happen.
How the Golden Pinecone works is that on the morning of the second day everyone tries to make their bed look the best, the cleanest and the neatest. During the day’s activities the Golden Pinecone Fairy visits and gives the 2 boys and 2 girls with the best beds the Golden Pinecone. The Golden Pinecone lets you be first in line for dinner on Tuesday night.
In my dorm room everyone was chatting, determined that they would be given the Golden Pinecone. One of my friends even smoothed out all of the wrinkles in her bed to make it look incredibly clean. Of course at least one person feels cheated out in one of these things but this time everyone in my dorm felt cheated out when the girl in our dorm who smoothed out all of the wrinkles wasn’t given the Golden Pinecone. That dinner was a tragic one.
The Food
Speaking of dinner, when my sibling came back from the NatureBridge another thing they talked about a lot was how amazing the food was, they were not lying. Being lactose intolerant I was allowed to get dinner first since my dinner had to be different from others. I sat at a table with the other lactose intolerant kids at the table we named the Lactose Intolerant Table.
I had a total of 4 meals during my time at NatureBridge. Monday night, for meatless Monday the regular kids had a cheese lasagna but me and the rest of the lactose intolerant kids had a pasta primavera. It was much better than school food but it doesn’t rank as high on my list because I had some pretty good food at NatureBridge so I gave it 3 stars and a 3rd place spot on my list. For breakfast Tuesday I had eggs, sausage and potatoes. It was not the best, the potatoes needed more seasoning so I gave it a 2.5 star rating and a 4th place on my list.
Continuing on, for dinner Tuesday we had tacos for Taco Tuesday. They were delicious and well deserving of a 4.5 star rating and 1st place on my meal rating. Finally my final meal at NatureBridge was French toast. It was delicious, so delicious I would give it 4 stars and a 2nd place rating. With every dinner we had a choice between milk and water and a salad bar with condiments on the side. With every breakfast we had a cereal and fruit bar with our drink choice being orange juice or water.
Daily Meetings
Something that has been repeated in this blog post was the mention of a morning and evening meeting. Basically what they are is after dinner and breakfast each day we had to go to this building where we are greeted by the site director. Each meeting we would learn about something exciting…composting!
Each meeting would start with a lesson about composting either through what it is or how by composting we give energy back in a cycle. Every meeting would end in weighing our food waste, inedible waste like napkins, and liquid waste from our drinks.
At the end of NatureBridge I even came up with the idea of having a composting system in our school. I’m still working on it.
Bonding Games
In the article I mentioned some games I played, I played jays and juncos as well as sardines. These are really fun games that are easy to play at home. First let’s start with jays vs juncos. All you need is at least two people, one cup for each person, and beans. The junco/juncos close their eyes as the jay/jays hide their cup somewhere. The jay’s job is to get 9 beans in their cup by picking up one bean at a time and bringing it to their nest. The Juncos’ job is to find the jay’s beans and steal them.
The other game I played was sardines. Like hide and seek there are hiders and seekers but sardines is reverse hide and seek. Instead of 1 seeker and multiple hiders there is 1 hider and everyone else is a seeker. When a seeker finds the hider they become a hider and hide with the hider. The last person left searching is the next hider.
All in all, Nature Bridge was a great experience filled with new activities and a great time.
I love that the school has given both of my kids this fantastic opportunity. I believe it’s important for kids to have a chance to travel with peers and without their parents to learn independence. Not only did NatureBridge give them that opportunity, it also gave them an amazing educational opportunity they would not have had in there generally urban school. Also, in this day and age, getting them away from their phones and tablets can be difficult, so having the excursion be technology-free let them be kids, use their imaginations, and play and interact in a way they haven’t since COVID. Thank you to the school for providing this opportunity, and thank you to NatureBridge for creating this amazing educational experience.
*Most pictures taken by the staff on the trip and shared with their permission
Editor: SKS
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