After some confusion and jostling for position we – all fifty kids and the four A Rocha day camp leaders – finally stood in a giant circle holding hands. It was a sunny Wednesday morning around 9:30 am and a few minutes earlier we had introduced the day’s topic – plants. We could tell by the grimaces and glazed looks that plants were going to be a harder sell than bugs had been the previous day – we had our work cut out for us. But we had come prepared!

“The circle we are making,” said Ruth Des Cotes, A Rocha’s Environmental Educator, “which measures approximately 103 meters around, is the circumference of the widest tree in the world.” Immediately there was a chorus of whoops. A kid next to me gasped and announced that it was even bigger than his garage which could fit a small airplane. A number of kids, mouths agape, nodded their heads in agreement. 

“Not only that, but the tallest tree in the world is as high as 100 Tyrannosaur Rex’s,” Ruth exclaimed. We waited again for the chorus of “wows” and whoops to quiet down before going into a demonstration of how amazing it is that trees that tall can still drink. We had one of the camp leaders climb up a ladder and try and drink from a cup through 100 straws connected together. But, even with all the kids cheering her on “Drink, drink, drink” it was a near impossible task. Again, illustrating the wonder of trees!

While many campers may not remember the exact circumference of the largest tree, they will remember the experience of making a tree circle and watching someone try and drink through 100 straws! These activities were just two of the many at A Rocha’s Nature Exploration Day Camps this summer at the A Rocha Field Study Centre in Surrey, BC. From making bird feeders to bug hunting, kids learned unique features and characteristics about the planet’s birds, bugs, trees, mammals, and water creatures. The two week-long day camps, which targeted children aged 5-11, featured different themes everyday and provided opportunities for kids to learn about creation and how best to look after it. Campers even had the chance to make their very own nature journals and spent ten minutes in quiet reflection every day observing and recording what they saw. When asked what he thought about the week, one 9 year-old replied, “You can do way more things in nature than I thought. Nature makes sense now.”

Erin Carter, volunteer