Wandering Yogis: A wander yoga class for ages 5+ without an adult, 2+ with an adult. We'll take to the trails and off to integrate with nature; shaping our bodies and breath to blend into our surroundings. We'll sing with the birds, creep like coyotes, and sway with the breeze in the trees. As we explore we'll collect items, that we connect with, to make fairy crowns and wands when we return.

Children need Nature as a teacher and a friend. Kids will create and explore the crafting of a nature material mandala. We will look all around on the ground for earth materials and enjoy our art making with all of our senses. Kids can work individually or be included in a group make mandala as their abilities allow.

Enjoyer of nature, wildlife watcher, and an avid Earth-systems junkie. Emily is a producer of many creative forms, from mandala making, yoga and creative movement, wordsmithing, to finding the best that nature provides in a lense. Grown here in the Jackson, Michigan area, she is an explorer of our great state, called to be a mother goddess of two young spawnlings, a farrier, a teacher of many and a engaged student of more.

You’ve probably heard that pollinators like bees and butterflies are in decline – which is disturbing, since pollinators are critical to ecosystem function and production of food crops. But you can support these important insects, right in your own back yard, through your plant choices and gardening practices. Attendees will learn how to help pollinators by providing food, shelter, and places to raise young. Plant choice will be discussed, with an emphasis on species that are native to southeast Michigan, along with green management practices and sources for purchasing native plants.

Lee Walsh is a Master Gardener, a certified Pollinator Champion through MSU Extension, and a beekeeper. She’s passionate about supporting bees, butterflies, and birds with native plants and green gardening practices. A Tecumseh resident, she has transformed her perfectly ordinary city lot into an urban oasis, stuffed to bursting with native plants and overflowing with life.

— all day events —

scavenger hunt

Crafts

Field Day Games

Wild tea hike: Go on a foraging hike to gather plants for wildflower tea, learn about pollinators and then come back to the campfire to make and taste our tea.

Nature observation: We will use mixed media art materials to record our observations and learn to look more deeply into nature.  Careful observation leads to amazing discoveries!

Build a fort: Learn the techniques to build a safe shelter from only the materials that nature provides including cordage, branches, boughs, leaves and whatever else we can find.  Survival in nature sometimes requires improvising – a good debris hut is a basic wilderness skill to know!

Shawn is a Naturalist for Washtenaw County Parks, leading outdoor hikes and educational workshops for nature lovers of all ages since 2006. She is particularly fond of wild bees, and squirrels are her Kryptonite. She can't resist a good rock and usually has one in her pocket. She grew up on a homestead in rural Michigan located in a Sassafrass and Maple forest, with a blueberry swamp in the back forty. She learned foraging from her mother and organic gardening from her father - lovely people who used to take her to Audubon Society meetings as a young child and would let her run wild all day long.