Barton Elementary 4th-6th graders arrived in early May, and they brought with them some of that crazy May weather! On the first day, it was rather calm out, and rather pleasant, but the second day brought some major rains, heavy winds, hail, lightning and hot temps! And then the next day, the weather cooled off by what seemed twenty degrees with fog in the morning. But none of that seemed to really bother the group, as they got to do just about everything they came to camp to do! These classes included learning about animal and plant life in water, water pollution, and wetland management in our aquatic ecology and wetlands classes. They also got to learn about glaciers and their effect on the landscape here in southeastern Wisconsin. In addition to those, the students got to go rock climbing, boating, and participated in our adventure class known as Trek. They also got to see the night sky in our Star Lab planetarium while it was storming outside, in between the problems presented to them while they were doing team building and low ropes activities. They ended their classes here at Camp Minikani with the popular class Predator/Prey, which focuses on the students portraying animals, and then having to survive as they go all over camp looking for food, water, and shelter.

Of course, the classes were not the only part of camp that we hope the students take back home with them! During their meals, we gave them The Food Waste Challenge, which encourages the students to make smart choices with the food they take, and to consider if they really need it, or just want it. Over the years, we’ve noticed that the students from Barton have made drastic improvements in their food waste, and it was very noticeable this year! Of course, with our Food Waste Challenge, there is a reward. And this time, it was no contest in which Minikani staff member was going to get wet. The students seemed to have some sort of friendly vendetta against Eli, and he was the lucky staff member to get pushed into the Amy Belle Lake. And because the students did so well, Mr. Siemson agreed to be pushed in as well. But then, in what we here at Minikani can only assume was an attempt at embarrassment, Mr. Siemson pulled Mr. Griffey in as well when he tried to push Mr. Siemson in, sending two Barton teachers plunging into the cold waters of Amy Belle Lake! After a few seconds of swimming to shore, the three guys all got out, shivering just a bit, but to the loud laughing and cheering from all the students. We really hope that Barton Elementary students take this knowledge of wise food choices back to school with them, and that they continue this fantastic trend of continuing to cut down on food waste next year when they return!

It seemed that almost as soon as the 6th graders from Tippecanoe arrived, they were beginning their first class. And talk about a way to start out their stay here at Camp Minikani! The entire afternoon was spent doing teambuilding and low ropes activities. They solved various problems using creative solutions and used tremendous teamwork to get out of some precarious situations! Their first night they went out on a night hike, journeying into the dark forests of Minikani. Out there, they did various sensory activities led by a Minikani staff member and only the light of the moon and stars. The next day the 6th graders ventured back into some of the same forests while doing GPS Bingo, Shelter Building, and Aquatic Ecology. They also got to spend a little time inside looking at the night sky once again, but this time in our inflatable planetarium, Star Lab. The last morning, they learned about the forests in two ways. The first, they learned about the types of trees that are found in our forests, and after that, they learned about the lumberjacking history of WI through various activities on Norris Field.

Like many schools before them, Tippecanoe was given The Food Waste Challenge as part of their stay here at Minikani. This challenges the students to waste as little food as possible while eating their meals. Tippecanoe ate 6 meals with us, and we challenged them to stay under two pounds of food waste for their entire stay. They worked very hard at their goal, and were very proud of the result as at the end of their stay, they reached it, with some room to spare! As a reward for reaching their goal, they were able to have their teacher, Mrs. Fieder dump a big bucket of water on the head of Nick, one of the Minikani staff members who worked with them. He happily got drenched as he knew the group enjoyed it, and he also knew that it was a good reward for the kids after meeting their goal. Everybody at Camp Minikani looks forward to the return of Tippecanoe next school year!

For the third year in a row Steffen Middle School has mobilized their entire school body in the name of service learning. Over the past 44 years, Camp Minikani and Steffen Middle School have built a relationship that some would describe as family. Camp Minikani has enjoyed providing their 7th grade class with an over-night outdoor education experience since 1968. In addition to visiting Minikani in the Fall, Steffen Middle School jump-started a service learning program to positively impact their community and give back to others.

On April 27th, 2012 Steffen Middle School engaged over 480 students, parents, and staff volunteers all across Camp Minikani grounds. Volunteers stayed busy for three hours staining decks, planting flowers, weeding gardens, building bird and bat houses, fixing up planter boxes, tidying up the Equestrian Center, painting cabins, performing trail maintenance, and planting trees over 200 trees in the forest of Minikani. The entire camp was a working example of service learning and buzzing with the spirit of Minikani. Students worked cooperatively with others while building character and learning life long skills.

New this year was a sponsorship by the Children & Nature Network’s Let’s G.O- Outside program that helped make this BIG event even BIGGER! The Let’s G.O. Event provided a small grant to off set project costs, 50 event T-shirts, and national support for this annual event. Steffen Middle School and Camp Minikani also received national recognition for their commitment to play outdoors, serve outdoors, and celebrate outdoors in their community.

The impact Steffen Middle School made on Camp Minikani during this years’ service project is evident from the Dining hall to Fireside lodge, from the Equestrian Center to the rock wall, from Halquist Family Lodge to Sundowner. At the end of the day volunteers accomplished an array of camp improvement projects that may otherwise never been tended to! Totaling close to 1,500 hours of service Steffen Middle School truly left their mark at Minikani.

We cannot thank Steffen Middle School students, staff, and parents enough for their dedication to service on behalf of the Minikani community. For the third year in a row Steffen Middle School has amazed Minikani staff in their hard work and determination to make a difference. Their impact will be much enjoyed by all visitors to camp for years to come. THANK YOU STEFFEN MIDDLE SCHOOL!

On April 24th, a whole bunch of excited Golda Mier 4th graders arrived at Camp Minikani, smiling and ready for the field trip they had been looking forward to all year! These students got to participate in quite the wide variety of activities. Their time at camp began with classes about the wide variety of life found in forests, and they then learned how to build a survival fire in middle of the forest. Every single group from Golda Mier were able to get a hot fire going, with numerous groups being able to boil water, even in the short amount of time that they had! After some fun in the forests of Minikani, the students moved to the water, where they studied various forms of life in the water here at camp. They also learned about the importance of water pollution and watershed management. On the second day, the 4th graders had a day full of adventure and fun as they partook in various classes. They started out with climbing our big outdoor rock wall, then moved on to our low ropes and team building courses where they got to work with each other to solve problems creatively. The day ended as they journeyed out through our forests of volcanic mysteries and dangerous obstacles in our tremendously fun, all-encompassing class, Trek. During the nights, they didn’t just have free time. Oh no, they were kept busy then too with a night hike on the first night, and then on the second night, a special wildlife presentation from Wanakia Wildlife was presented. Before the students left on their third day, they participated in the class Predator/Prey, where every student plays the role of an animal in the food chain, and their goal is to work together with other similar animals to survive, while traveling all across Minikani.
In addition to all of the educational classes, the students also partook in The Food Waste Challenge. This challenges the students to have minimal waste when eating their meals in the dining hall. For our Food Waste Challenge, we try to get students and adults to make wise food choices when it comes to taking appropriate amounts of food. The 4th graders were given a maximum weight of food that they could waste in total during their stay here at Minikani. If they met that goal, they got to see one of the camp’s staff members get a big bucket of water dumped on their head from the dining hall porch. The students, taking a great approach to this challenge, were able to reach their goal, and they did so well, that their teacher, Mrs. Fecteau joined in as well, saying they could dump water on her head too! So, after hearing the camp staff plead their cases about why they shouldn’t get water dumped on them, the students voted that Nick should get the bucket of water. So, he and Mrs. Fecteau took their places as the other camp staff dumped the buckets of water on their head, as the students and chaperons cheered, laughed, and applauded! We here at Minikani hope the students remember that the point of The Food Waste Challenge is not to just get the water dumped on staff members, but to remember that making wise choices with food consumption is important and has a bigger impact than just full bellies. We look forward to having Golda Mier back again next year for another great time!

On Sunday, April 22nd Camp Minikani welcomed families and friends to celebrate Earth Day by building their very own rain barrel. Participants began by choosing their barrel and considering where they’d be attaching their barrel once they took it home. Barrels were then constructed with participant help by utilizing drills, hose bibs, drain pipe adapters, and more. Individuals were taken step by step through construction and rain barrel usage. Some families left knowing they’d use the rain they catch to water their garden, others learned that they could use the water to wash their car or their dog!
Did you know? By using rain barrels you can save water for use during dry weather periods.

With spring break for most kids this week, the equestrian center has been buzzing!
For the first time ever 8 students were able to train with their horses on the Salaj Bauer x-country course in the month of April…That’s a whole month earlier than usual. It was a fun afternoon re-introducing students and horses to working outside and jumping natural obstacles, even though a couple of them still felt that it was a little too chilly to go through the water jump!

On Wednesday, some of our trusty volunteers arrived to spring clean their favorite horses before riding and helping clean tack for the upcoming tack sale at the local saddler store.

Friday was Pony Day for the younger riders. It’s so much fun to see younger girls spending a whole day looking after a pony, riding and learning cool new things….happy, happy kids

You know the old saying…”April showers bring May flowers!” April 22nd is the perfect day to celebrate spring by catching the rain! Join us at Camp Minikani from 12:30pm-2:30pm to build a rain barrel to put to good use during the spring showers. All supplies will be provided along with Minikani staff members to help you through your building process. Barrels are $20.00 each. Supplies are limited, so reserve your barrel soon! To learn more or reserve a barrel for yourself, please contact Cassie Bauer at 262.251.9080 or cbauer@ymcamke.org.

This month Family Nature Club participants embraced the heavy, wet packing snow that covered the ground the first week of March. This was our first opportunity to meet when there was measurable snow on the ground. We took full advantage by challenging our families and friends to creative a snow creature from their imagination. Each group’s creature was to be made of snow and a number of random props provided by Minikani staff. Groups used their time wisely, searching the back yard woods for sticks, rocks, logs, leaves, and other natural props. As the sun was going down, groups finished building, shaping, and forming their creatures. Each group was asked to develop a name and bit of background on their creature to share with others. When all was said and done, we had five snow creatures guarding the back of Halquist Family Lodge. Creatures included: a Caribbean octopus, a traditional snowman, a lifeguard caterpillar, a construction site turtle, and a moose-ness monster.
We were all thoroughly impressed with the resourcefulness and creativity of each group. Participants even took turns sitting a-top some of our larger snow creatures before the night ended. Family Nature Club participants truly enjoyed the late winter snow down to the last minute, as the next morning when we came to check on the snow creatures, they had completely melted! Thanks for celebrating the end of winter and the turn of seasons with us at Family Nature Club this month- we look forward to seeing you in April!

Even with the mild winter we’ve had we are all still anxiously awaiting for spring to officially arrive. The EE Minikani staff team would like to help you remember how to continue to conserve energy while the month of March comes in like a lion and goes out (we hope!) like a lamb!
With many more sunny days in our forecast it can be tempting to open up your doors and let the rays and fresh air creep in. Keep in mind you can let the sunshine and spirit of spring shine into your home without causing a spike in your heating bill.
- Use your curtains and blinds according to the daily weather; when it’s a gorgeous sunny day let the rays in by pulling the blinds back during the day. At night, remember to close curtains and blinds to keep the heat from escaping.
- Although it’s good to get outside each and everyday for fresh air, try to be mindful of how many times you open and close your door. The more you are in and out of your home, the more you may be allowing heat to escape!
Lastly, if you are looking for a spring project to keep you busy, consider one of the following energy wise projects for your home!
- Replace your shower head with a low flow shower head. This could save up to 15,000 gallons of water annually and up to $150 in water heating costs.
- Create a rain barrel that will help you catch the spring rain! Attach to your home or garage, decorate it fit your families style!
Learn more rain barrels at: http://dnr.wi.gov/runoff/rg/links.htm#howto

OR join us for Minikani’s Rain Barrel Workshop on Earth Day 2012!-Sunday, April 22nd from 12:30-2:00pm.

Minikani’s Family Nature Club resumed after the holiday season and kicked off 2012 by celebrating the birds of winter in Wisconsin. The weather was seasonably cold but lacked the usual amount of snow we typically see in the beginning of January. Without any snow fall to explore animal tracks or try our skills at winter recreation (such as snowshoeing), we decided to stay indoors.
Families explored how birds survive in Wisconsin not only in the winter, but year round. We discussed what makes a bird a bird, such as their feathers, feet, bill, and ability to fly. Families learned that each bird has a specialized bill or beak to help them consume the foods that give them energy. We explored various bill shapes, lengths, and strengths by using tools that model some birds’ beak/bill abilities. For example, we used a pliers to crack open sunflower seeds and other seeds much like a cardinal will do at a backyard bird feeder.
To end our evening together participants had a chance to create their very own bird mask. Each bird was true individual choosing colors that may help them find a mate or camouflage themselves in their habitat. Imaginations ran wild with the species of bird masks created, but a good time was had by all. Some might even say, it was a real “hoot!”