Day 2 | Voyageurs National Park: Noticing, Creating, and Getting a Little Weird at Voyageurs

There is something that happens when you finally slow down enough to really notice where you are. Today at Voyageurs National Park was filled with those moments—the kind when you stop walking quite so fast, look a little closer, listen a little longer, and suddenly realize just how much has been there all along waiting for you to notice it.

We started our morning with some really special SEL time led by Tiffany. These moments have become such an important part of STEAM in the PARK because this week isn't only about learning about Voyageurs National Park. It is also about learning about ourselves and each other. Tiffany gave us space to think, share, connect, and simply be present together. There is something pretty powerful about sitting in a national park with a group of educators and giving ourselves permission to slow down and talk about the things that matter.

That feeling continued during To Each Its Own, one of those activities that always reminds us that nature doesn't make everything exactly alike—and neither should we expect that from people. We spent time looking closely, noticing differences, making connections, and thinking about how those differences are often the very things that make something interesting and beautiful. There were some special conversations tucked into those moments, and I found myself once again thinking about our theme for this week: Be Where Your Feet Are.

We carried that noticing into our nature prints, where the tiny details suddenly became the stars of the show. Shapes, textures, lines, patterns, edges—things we might have walked right past became things worth studying and creating with. I love activities like this because there really isn't a right answer. Everyone can look at the same piece of nature and see something completely different.

Then we headed out for our hike to Mosses Meadow. We identified plants along the way, but even more importantly, we practiced noticing. We slowed down. We looked up. We looked down. We stopped to examine things that normally would have gotten only a passing glance. We noticed colors, textures, smells, sounds, and all of those tiny pieces of Voyageurs that are easy to miss when your only goal is getting from one place to another. Sometimes the best part of a hike isn't where you end up. It's everything you almost walked past along the way.

This afternoon, things got a little strange.

Okay. Maybe really strange.

It was time for our Adaptations Auction, and apparently we have a group of campers with some VERY interesting imaginations! After bidding on adaptations and creating creatures that could survive using the traits they had collected, we discovered that many of our campers are, well, extremely strange. HAHA! Their creatures were completely off the wall, wonderfully ridiculous, scientifically questionable in places, and absolutely hilarious. You will get to see some of that craziness when our end-of-camp video goes up, and trust me—you are going to want to see these creatures.

After all that creativity, it was time for some much-needed free time. Swimming and canoeing were once again the favorites, and there was so much laughter coming from the water. One of my favorite things about camp is watching grown-ups remember how much fun it is to simply play. No lesson plan. No agenda. No bell telling us where to go next. Just water, canoes, friends, laughter, and another beautiful afternoon at Voyageurs.

After dinner, we launched something completely new: the first-ever Voyageurs Loon Network! Our campers took the events of our day and turned them into their own versions of famous television shows. It was ridiculous, creative, hilarious, and exactly what we hoped it would be. Who knew the day's adventures at Voyageurs could become television? Apparently our campers did. I have a feeling the Voyageurs Loon Network may need to become a camp tradition.

As darkness began to settle in, we gathered outside to watch our CCC video under the open sky, which was just plain fun. . From there, we put our learning into our hands and created our CCC LEGO designs, building, imagining, problem-solving, and sharing our ideas with one another.

And because apparently we hadn't squeezed quite enough into Day 2, we ended our night with a Night Hike led by Ann. Out we went into a completely different Voyageurs—the one that appears when the sunlight disappears and our eyes and ears have to work a little harder. It was the perfect ending to a day built around noticing.

Today we created. We hiked. We learned. We built. We swam. We canoed. We laughed—a lot. We got weird—a lot. And somewhere in between all of those things, we slowed down enough to notice the place around us and the people beside us.