Arrival at the Lodge and Afternoon Tea (around 4pm)
Children are told the rules about staying at Wangat Lodge and settle into their rooms.
There may be time for a swim, game of volleyball, journal writing, drawing, board games or showers etc.
Dinner (6pm, served in the Main Hall)
Evening Program (7pm)
Children are given an introduction to percussion music and learn The Earthsong. We explore the night-life of the forest with a short Spotlighting Walk (possums, wallabies, spiders etc.), a Quiet Time in the darkness or listening to The Frog Chorus. Before bed-time there is a Slide show introducing Wangat's history and wildlife.
DAY TWO
Breakfast (self-serve in the kitchen around 8am)
Mime (beginning at the BBQ area at 9am)
The children meet Jean Paul, the mime, who helps them learn the "usefulnesses" of the forest.
Morning Tea on the deck (weather permitting).
A LightFoot nature ramble
Exploring Wangat Wildlife Refuge with games that build understanding of nature's cycles. The Recipe for Soil activity explains the foundations of nature (-air, water, soil, sun) and The Useless Old Rough-barked Apple Tree is an unusual twist on the food chain game. The walk includes physical challenges such as The Rope, a Quiet Time at a pristine section of the Chichester River, percussion on the The Logophone and a koala search.
Lunch at the Lodge
The Island Games
We cross the river via a plank bridge and spend the afternoon in riverine rainforest. Children engage in a series of co-operative team exercises relating to use of the senses. We make face-paint using river-rock ochres, and build biodegradable boats from sticks/bark/string.
Afternoon Tea followed by a craft session, swim at Fig Tree Pool, volleyball, journals or shower time.
Dinner (6pm, served in the Main Hall)
Evening Program (7pm)
The Garbage Game (re-use, repair, re-cycle, reconsider) challenges children to face up to the demands our garbage places on the planet and come up with LightFoot alternatives for the way we live. We perform The Earthsong Concert and go on a Frogging Expedition (with some star gazing?).
DAY THREE
Breakfast (self-serve in the kitchen, around 8am). Packing of bags and storing luggage in the Lodge before program starts.
LightFoot Tour of Alternatives
Children discover all the ways they have been treading lightly on the planet whilst living at Wangat Lodge.
They then help further by making Mud-bricks, planting trees, and perhaps some lantana-wrestling!
Morning Tea.
Our LightFoot Camp Memories:
A recap of the program so far leads into our final activity: a special Solitude Session where children spend twenty minutes in their own spot in the forest, a little away from others, to reflect, draw, write a letter, poem, prayer...
We share our writings/drawings and have a LightFoot presentation ceremony.
Lunch, then pack the bus ready for Departure (around 1pm)
We appreciate the freedom to allow more time where children are particularly absorbed in an activity, or to modify the program to suit the mood of the moment, weather or wildlife. This usually happens! Please talk to us about what you want your children to get out of the camp and how you feel about the activities.
Activities in reserve for sustained wet weather: Sculpture, Collage, Creative projects with leaves/sticks/mud/string, Mask-making, Journey-sticks, Drawing, Percussion workshops.
Optional outdoor activities for your program: Pond-dipping for aquatic invertebrate life, Pitfall Trapping for minibeasts.
