Vacation Camp at Wellfleet Bay

All week long the sanctuary has been alive with the sounds of children. "Vacation Adventures" has been a series of daily programs designed for young children and on most days we have been able to get them outside for exploration around the sanctuary.

On this day we were talking about "Creepy, Crawly Slimy Things" and everyone wanted to go to the swamp, even though most of the creepy, crawly slimy things that live there were still deep into their long winter naps. The swamp was covered with a skim of ice and our young explorers spent a lot of time and energy trying to find the thinnest spots where they could break a stick all the way through.

Once back inside we decided to make some of our own slippery stuff and we began with a big vat of home made play doh. A little flour, salt, oil and water colored with some blue coloring and sprinkled with silver glitter and tada! Instant modeling clay.

This sting ray was made by one of the boys. Other animals included snakes and worms, little pigs and even a big salamander.

After a little chat about amphibians and their slimy skin we decided to make some slime of our own. We used a little borax and water mixed with some glue and water and food color and stirred it all up with a spoon and got some very satisfying slime.

We had all sorts of fun stretching and playing with our slime before packing it up in baggies for the kids to take home. Refrigerated it will last a month or so, as will the play doh.

Recipes for slime of all kinds can easily be found on kids craft sites on-line.

Other activities throughout the week included a day focused on Mammals and Tracking, Water Explorations, Birds and Whales. Our young birders logged 24 species of birds on the sanctuary in one morning, by the way.

Don't forget new sessions of After School Nature Club begin next week!