Last week was packed with fun adventures in the youth program! On Monday, Wild Virginia met a group of students from Monroe High School at Ivy Creek Natural Preserve, where all the trees and flowers were in bloom and beautiful. We found a patch of grass surrounded by walking paths, colorful flowers, and some buzzing bees and did a camouflage scavenger hunt. The students had a keen eye for finding what didn’t belong, and managed to find the rubber snake hiding in the bushes and the plastic fly sitting on a tree branch. Then it was time to identify animal tracks and draw their own—we had some pretty amazing artists in our group! We all had a blast and felt lucky to enjoy such a beautiful warm day in such a beautiful green space.

On Tuesday Wild Virginia teamed up with Boys and Girls Club to take a group of fifth graders at Jouette Middle School out to the wooded trails for more scavenger hunts. But the real fun began when we went down to the creek and searched for water bugs, crawfish, and frogs. At first students were hesitant to get their feet wet, but on an 85 degree day they quickly changed their minds and jumped in.

And on Wednesday Wild Virginia visited students at Walker Upper Elementary, where we spent another sunny day outside doing scavenger hunts, drawing animal tracks, and making bird feeders. Students couldn’t wait to get their bird feeders hung up, so we hung them on a tree right outside the school! I just wish I could have stayed to see the birds visiting the students for a little snack.

As always, we worked with some amazing students who loved a chance to go outside, run around, and test their camouflage-detection skills. What a fun week!

Jessie Thuma, Wild Virginia Intern