Children at the Catskill
Wheelhouse in Catskill, New York, use tools to crumble off bits of decaying
wood from a fallen log and study the bugs that live inside it.
When it
comes to outdoor projects, kids take the lead at the Catskill Wheelhouse. Through long
stretches of unstructured time at the cooperative school’s play yard classroom
and forest in Catskill, New York, children develop creativity, divergent
thinking, aesthetic experimentation, problem-solving, reflection,
self-knowledge, and resilience.
Best is that
the outdoor projects can be done at home, too, like the Potion Lab, an
outdoor tag sale held at the school last summer, where children mixed goods for
sale, from color water to flower petals to aromatic herbs. An at-home variation
is to make recipes for sun tea.
Materials:
- Two or three
large jars
- Water
- Various
herbs
How-to:
- Fill each large jar with water
- Mix two or three different herb
blends
- Add one each of the herb blends to each
water-filled jar
- Label each jar with its herb blend
- Allow the water-and-herb filled jars
to steep under strong sunlight for several hours
- Enjoy!

Children with the Catskill Wheelhouse blend herbs to make tasty sun tea.
READ MORE: Make seeded clay balls for gardens
Another
outdoor project that can be done with your kids at home is the Fallen Log Bug Study.
Materials:
- Screwdriver
- Wooden mallet or sturdy stick
How-to:
- Trek through a forest or wooded area and find a fallen log
- Using the screwdriver, mallet or stick, have your kids crumble off pieces
of decaying wood from the log
- Observe what’s inside the log, from stag beetles to ladybugs and other interesting
insects
Note: If this activity is done during warm weather,
be aware of bees that could be colonized inside the log
Through
personal experiences with wildlife, children develop a connection to the
natural world, nurturing an attitude of environmentalism, wonder, stewardship
of the land, and connection to something bigger than themselves.
Catskill Wheelhouse is a
cooperative school nestled in the foothills of 200-acre farm in the Catskill
mountains, serves children ages 3 to 10 and includes a pre-school program,
summer camps, and an after school program. The school supports family in all its
forms, and provides a place where all children feel challenged, capable and
irreplaceable through open-ended play and functional tasks such as cooking,
building and gardening alongside attentive, caring adults.