Environmental Education Nature Games Handbook

The Nature Games Handbook is a resource compiled by Benjamin E. Leese. Ben is a Lutheran pastor and served on the staff of Camp Kirchenwald, Colebrook, Pennsylvania in various roles. A graduate of Valparaiso University and Trininty Lutheran Seminary (Columbus, OH), Ben began to see the need for this resource through his study of biology and theology and of course from his work in camping ministry. This handbook seeks to provide a distinctly Christian approach to nature education which is not present in existing secular nature study curricula. It is his hope that this resource will stimulate more sharing of ideas among Christian camp naturalists. Ben can be reached by email at ben.leese@gmail.com.

The Preface

It is my privilege to write this handbook of nature activities that I have used over my years as naturalist at Camp Kirchenwald, in Colebrook, Pennsylvania. Some of them are borrowed and some of them are our own inventions, but all of these games are the standards in our nature curriculum. This book is really a group effort of the entire staff and all the campers, using and polishing games as I continue to develop them. These games are field tested by 500 campers every summer and it is my hope that these activities will be of use to other campers throughout our church camps.

Soon into my time as naturalist at Camp Kirchenwald, I noticed how difficult it is to find good nature study ideas for the church camp setting. A church camp provides a dual challenge for nature educators –first, camp is a very different place than the classroom, for which a lot of environmental education material already exists, and second, nature instruction suddenly becomes a ministry when associated with a church camp. While there are many nature study guides that are helpful for classroom educators, very few are active and playful enough for the camp setting. Furthermore, the guides all seem to take a very secular, scientific approach or a method which views the earth as mother, neither of which is particularly helpful for the church camp setting.

This book is my attempt to fill in that gap and to develop an independent method of nature education, one that is uniquely suited to church camps. All of these games actively involve children in learning, mainly through play and their own discovery. Also, these activities all come from the approach that God is Creator of the earth, and that by exploring the creation, we can learn about God.

As these ideas percolate before I write them, I sit next to the cold spring that flows out of the earth near my nature pavilion. The spring always reminds me of Baptism, in which God uses earthly water to wash us in God’s grace. I have been continually washed in grace to explore God’s creation with campers every summer. I wish that same blessing for you.

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