Coyote camp is different.

A story from the first week:

Amidst the context of a multi-day, multi-team game similar to capture the flag, Tim and I set off from “Meeting Tree”, the huge willow our group had designated as it’s meeting spot away from our “base”. Some members of the group were heading off to track animals and make track casts, while others were heading back to the base to shore up defenses, set traps, or just hang out. Tim and I had other plans. We were the raiding party, sent to scout out other teams bases, steal their flags, and deliver presents to them without them ever noticing (a mission scoring 1.5 times the points as stealing their flag). We set out along the shoreline of the Humber River. We stuck close to the brush, crouched and sneaking quietly with the water covering the sound of our movement.
We passed a concrete wall in the grass, climbing up over it and moving on our bellies back toward the forest edge.
We moved quietly along the edges, just inside the forest, covering distance, but moving as close to silently as we could.
As we neared the base, we got low. Many minutes were spent on our bellies, still, waiting, watching the team members as they passed by us, unaware of our presence. Finally Tim took his opportunity and delivered a present (one of the kids “fishing rods” they’d made and lost… we found it and took it upon ourselves to bring it back!). He quietly tucked it inside their shelter, and moved away unseen and unheard. We left quickly but quietly, and started a new mission.

Looping around to the southern side of the same base, we crawled up trees above other teams, watching them play along the waters edge. We moved slowly, never seen. We made it up into a willow tree directly above the main base, and planned our next move. Our only giveaway were the Blue Jays alarm calling above us with their typical “sneeeeeeeeeeak!” call that seems to happen whenever they catch someone being sneaky. We also pushed a new family of Robin’s out of their nest, with one fledgling landing on the foot of one of the opposing team staff sitting below the tree.
We worked our way down a ladder of trees below us, over to their fort, and with Tim standing on my shoulders, stick in hand, stole their flag.
A silent dash back to camp was only interrupted by a bit of backtracking and a nifty move to avoid a scouting party on their way back from a mission of their own.
We arrived home to tell the tales of our afternoon, and help the team pack up for the day. We returned the flag and shared our stories, though word had spread throughout the opposing teams that we had successfully achieved what was thought to be impossible.

It was a great afternoon. One spent quietly, paying attention, with all of our senses tuned in to our surroundings. It’s not often that one has the opportunity, or need to pay attention to the world around them in such a way, which is exactly why we have created this camp. It’s an opportunity to develop sensory awareness, is full of naturalist lessons, play time in nature, and connecting to urban wild places in very different ways. Simple ways. Old ways. Much they way your grandparents or great grandparents might have done. Or maybe you.

This kind of play is virtually lost to the experience of childhood today, especially in the city. So we’re giving it a chance, and the results have blown us away. Coyote’s, we can’t wait to see you next year!

A-ooooooooooooooooooooo!