The Greenway Foundation - Blog

Week 7- Secret Life of Plants Summer Camp Recap

8/2/2021

Plants are just boring, right? Nothing interesting about them? No way! Here at SPREE we think there is community value to all living things and plants are no exceptions. This week of camp we got into the weeds of our local plants and learned about their adaptations!
On Monday, we began the day with a brainstorm about how important plants are in our lives. So much of what we use are made from plants including paper, wood items, food items, and more! We also played a name game to learn about our fellow campers, before wrapping up the day with our week’s first critter crawl. Critter crawl is the time each day that we get into the river and catch the small macroinvertebrates that live along the river’s bottom.

Tuesday’s theme was plant adaptations. We started the day with some plant experiments! Campers first decorated a flower pot with some mystery because we weren’t sure what would be planted in them! After, we looked at flowers under UV light. Why? Because flowers live a secret life trying to attract pollinators and pollinators see differently than humans, bees see in UV! Campers even transformed into bees and played a game where they needed to find and pollinate flowers.
We also did critter crawl where we focused on finding critters both hidden in the plants, as well as not hiding in plants. We found that some animals, like fish, are found more commonly in plants, but some critters just love hiding under rocks more!

Westwood Neighborhood Campout Recap!

7/26/2021

This past weekend, we celebrated community with a campout at Johnson Habitat Park with Westwood Neighborhood families! Families came to SPREE HQ on Saturday afternoon where they were greeted by SPREE teachers and a pile of camping gear. We set up campsites before getting busy with crafts and critter crawl!

After welcoming neighbors to our space, we made some DIY first aid kits. These useful crafts can be taken into our city or into the mountains for safety during adventures. Families then went off on a scavenger hunt to explore nature and test their observation skills.

Observation skills came in handy during Critter Crawl. You woud never know that some of our guests had never looked for critters in our river before- they were pros! We caught so many crawdads, and even a large dragonfly larvae hiding under rocks!

Critter crawl worked up an appetite. Evening had come, and it was time to cook dinner over a fire in our firepit. The patience it took to cook our hotdogs over a fire transferred really well when it came time for dessert…. S’mores!

As dusk came, and eventually night we went into our tents to enjoy the night under the stars! This annual campout is always so much fun, and we are grateful for the families that made it so special this year!

SPREE Scientists: Week 6 Summer Camp recap

7/26/2021

Geology, meteorology, chemistry, and more! We got to wear so many scientist hats at camp last week!

On Monday, we wore our geologist hats to explore the rocks around HQ. We began the day with a rock-paper-scissors competition game to learn about and bond with our fellow campers. Our second activity of the day was critter crawl. Critter crawl is an activity we do every day of camp where we get into the South Platte River and catch the small macroinvertebrates, like crawdads, that live along the river’s bottom. During Monday’s critter crawl, we focused not just on the animals that live in the river, but also observing the rocks in the river and out of the river. We learned about how water weathers rocks, and changes the shape and texture of rocks over time.

Cole Neighborhood Campout Evening

7/19/2021

On Saturday we had a blast with friends from the Cole neighborhood of Denver with our annual campout celebration! This year was a bit different than other years- we packed all our fun into one evening when in a typical year we sleep over at Johnson Habitat park.

The shorter time did not mean any less fun! After welcoming neighbors to our space, we made some DIY first aid kits. These useful crafts can be taken into our city or into the mountains for safety during adventures.

After some crafts, we had a blast at our river with critter crawl. We caught dozens of crawdads of all different sizes, and many other macroinvertebrates like scuds, mayflies, aquatic sow bugs, and snails! We even caught a small fish!

It was almost too fun at our river discovering the life that lives below the water, but our bellies started grumbling so we knew it was time for dinner.
This was a campout after all, so we cooked our dinner over a fire. Hot dogs just taste better with some char from a fire’s flame! The patience it took to cook our hotdogs transferred really well when it came time for dessert…. S’mores!

For some of our Cole neighbors, this was the first time they got to make, and taste a s’more! What a special moment to share with our neighbors!

We cannot wait until next year’s campout when we plan to set up tents and sleep under the stars of Johnson Habitat Park. Until then, we will remember the memories from this year.

We look forward to seeing all our Cole neighbors again soon down by our river!

Journey of the South Platte River: Week 5 Summer Camp Recap

7/16/2021

Where does the South Platte River water come from? Where does the water go after Denver? This week we found out during “Journey of the South Platte River” summer camp!

We kicked off the week on Monday by getting to know the world’s water and our fellow campers with a game. Campers took turns tossing a sticky hand at a world map, and tracking if the hand stuck to land or water. Not surprisingly, water covers most of the earth, and so most campers hit water!

A Trip to Phantom Canyon

7/15/2021

The Greenway Leadership Corps (GLC) & SPREE's summer High School River Rangers were lucky enough to travel to Phantom Canyon, aptly named because it seems to appear out of nowhere as you are driving along the plains of the northeastern Colorado. The Canyon is one of the last roadless canyons on the Front Range last weekend, and it provides habitat for many wildlife species and native plants. Phantom Canyon is maintained by This Nature Conservancy (TNC) and it is closed to the public. We were fortunate to work yet again with TNC at Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV) on this annual trip, for the opportunity to see this spectacular landscape along the North Fork of the Cache la Poudre River, while doing maintenance on the Phantom Canyon River Trail.

Urban Nature Explorers: Week 4 Summer Camp recap

7/2/2021

Denver is a wild place, and SPREE loves to explore it! This week, we practiced the skills of urban naturalists, learned about the wildlife of Denver, and explored what it takes to care for our City’s parks.

The first step of exploring is safety, and you stay safer if you know the other explorers you are outdoors with! Monday, we focused on getting to know all the campers we would be exploring with, by playing a name game during our first activity.. We also got to know our South Platte River with a critter crawl, and activity we do each day to catch and learn about macroinvertebrates that live in our river!

Mad About Macros: Week 3 Summer camp recap

6/28/2021

Here at SPREE, we are always mad for macros… but only once a year do we get to spend a week completely focused on them!
What is a macro? Macro is short for macroinvertebrate, and macroinvertebrates are small animals that are still big enough to see with your eyes but do not possess a backbone or spine. If your child has come to previous weeks of camp this summer, you’ll know we look for macroinvertebrates each day during “critter crawl”. But this week, we were focused on the macros that live both in our River and on land!

Nocturnal Nature: Week 2 Summer Camp Recap

6/21/2021

Another successful week of SPREE camp in the books! This week, our theme was Nocturnal Nature, and we focused on Colorado animals that live a crepuscular or nocturnal lifestyle. We were lucky enough to have some special nocturnal animal guests teach us this week too!

Special Agent Training: Week 1 Summer Camp Recap

6/14/2021

Welcome Special Agents to another fun summer of SPREE Camp!

What is a Special Agent? That is what our first week of summer camp was all about! A special agent is someone who dedicates time to helping our South Platte River and the environment it creates and supports. This week of camp, our campers learned about Special Agents through action!

On Monday, the mission left by Chompers, our beaver boss, was to get to know each camper through a name game. The mission was also for each camper to get to know themselves better and tap into their special agent persona. Each camper came up with a special agent name they could be called when engaging in special agent actions! We wrapped up our Monday with a critter crawl- our favorite activity at SPREE! Campers get into the South Platte River to catch the small macroinvertebrates that live along its bottom.