Busy,busy,busy. A hive of activity all over the camp site as groups of children are building, collecting, trading, negotiating and hustling. A great number of things were accomplished today and the forts are all at a stage where children feel that they are done and “now we can play in the fort”.
Maybe, before I go on, I should give a little background. We started the process with thinking about what we would like to call our tribe or band or group. the next step is to come up with a legend or a story that would explain the history of where we came from and how we ended up in the woods.
The Tribe of Earth (that’s my 6 and 7 year olds)came to be in the woods after some soldiers invaded where they lived and a group of children feld into the woods. That’s all we have for now. I am sure thought that by the time we need to tell our history, it would have evolved into a great epic (and completely different) tale.
A sign as you near the door of The Tribe of Earth.
As the forts were nearing completion, signs started appearing. In fact that is one of the big differences this time round, the sheer number of signage.None of the signs are very friendly or welcoming, but I suppose as most of the stories involve some kind of calamitous happening that brought the children to this point, one can understand their reluctance to have “strangers” near them.
It’s amazing though that the children soon realized that signage that exclude everybody not from your tribe kind of limits what one can do. And soon other signs started appearing.
With trade, wealth and friendships flourished. We are now seeing how the traders are building real relationships with children that are older and younger. Basically just doing what comes naturally.
I think that the global community will do well to take a page out of the lives and times of the three tribes in the woods.
Elemental Kids 