Please note that you may still join some programs currently in session
Registration forms and applications for
all our programs can be found at
DOWNLOAD FORMS
Spring Programs
Spring Camp 2010
spring break program
Roots, shoots, sunshine and mud boots, oh how we love springtime! Whether you’re eager for the thaw or you lament putting the sled away Spring Break is here and the sun is calling. Celebrate the greening of the forest with us as the great adventure continues! You’ll practice living in the wild and solving survival challenges, using laughter and curiosity as your tools for learning in nature. Grab a friend or come make new ones in this fun filled Nature Awareness program.
Skills covered: Tree and Plant Identification, Primitive Cooking Techniques, Fire Making, Aidless Navigation, Wilderness Safety, Tool Crafting, Team Building, Story Telling, Knife Carving, Sensory Awareness, Animal Tracking and more!
When: Monday, Apr 5th – Friday, Apr 9th
*Staff will be on site from 8:30am – 3:30pm.
Who: youth ages 6-14
Where: 4-H Acres, 418 Lower Creek Rd., Ithaca.
Cost: Choose from three options:
#1) Monday & Tuesday $110
#2) Wednesday through Friday $145
#3) Monday through Friday Save! $205-$305 (self-determined sliding scale)
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Spring Tracks & Trails:
(A homeschool program for youth ages 5-8)
“One generation plants the trees, another gets the shade.”
From songs and stories to games, foraging, and fire-building, this spring the adventure continues as the spring sap flows. Along with our small community of students, parents, experienced instructors, and teen-mentors, we are excited to be joined by red-winged blackbirds, spring peepers, blooming maples, red squirrels, wood nettles, wild mint, and many other special teachers.
In the words of one of our homeschool students, “Since I started going to Primitive Pursuits I just feel like I have to spend more time outside.”
Spring fever: it’s a wonderful thing to catch. Join us this season at Tracks & Trails!
When: Tuesdays, April 13th to June 15th, 9:30am – 1:00pm
Who: youth ages 5 – 8 (parents are invited to join)
Where: EcoVillage, Ithaca, NY
Cost: $250-$350 (self-determined sliding scale)
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Wilderness Explorers
(an after school program for youth ages 7-13)
What do you get when you cross several hundred acres of diverse wild spaces skilled wilderness instructors, and a group of students eager for adventure?
Come join the fun and you’ll find out! Activities will include: fire-by-friction, navigation skills, edible/medicinal plant use, team and solo challenges, shelter building, and tool-crafting.
When: Wednesdays, March 3rd to May 5th
(grades 3-5) 3:30 - 5:30 (grades 6-8) 2:30 – 5:30pm,
Who: you ages 7 – 13
Where: 4-H Acres, Lower Creek Road, Ithaca
Cost: $160 - $210 (self-determined sliding scale)
Field & Forest:
(After-school program)
Experience the return of spring through the eyes of a farmer and hunter-gatherer. Primitive Pursuits Staff are joined by Dilmun Hill students and farm managers to deliver a dynamic blend of ancient and modern skills and practices. Together we will wild-harvest and grow our own spring greens, both in the woods and on the farm. Journey from the greenhouses to the nut grove, and taste what both have to offer. Have fun, and play with your food
When: Tuesdays, 2:30 – 5pm, Feb. 23rd – May 4th (10 week session)
Who: youth ages 8 - 12
Where: Dilmun Hill Student Organic Farm, near the corner of Pine Tree & 366 in Ithaca.
Cost: $150 - $200 (self-determined sliding scale)
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Summer Programs 2010
Please see bottom of page for location/times/costs/ages
Wildcrafting I&II
Harvesting and crafting the raw materials of the land is the focus this week. Our hands and creative minds will keep busy as we transform wood, stone, feathers, and bones with water, fire, and steel. In gratitude for what each unique week has to offer we’ll eat roots and drink teas that nourish our growth. You will take home crafts made with seasonally available resources along with stories to last a life time.
Wild Crafting 1 June 28th - July 2nd
Wild Crafting 2 August 23rd - 27th
Scout I&II
Traveling light, finding your edges, coming to your senses, and moving invisibly through the landscape are skills that belong to the ancient scouts. In these two weeks we will hone our own skills of self-reliance through challenges and awareness routines. We will read more deeply into the landscape, camouflage with our surroundings, learn aidless navigation techniques and practice mastering our skills on the move.
Scout 1 July 5th - July 9th
Scout 2 August 2nd - 6th
Primitive Camp
For all those kids who ever scorned using matches! This is your chance to find out what it would take to replace your gear in a REAL survival situation. We will travel to uncharted territory and create a new primitive camp from raw materials. Try your hand at using stone tools, build a rain proof shelter and go home with your own primitive fire kit.
July 12th - 16th
Advanced Primitive
Journey to our new primitive outpost camp for an advanced immersion in wilderness living. Prior experience is not required, but we are offering this only to older youth. We’ll be making stone blades, harvesting meals from the wild and preparing for an optional overnight campout.
July 19th - 22nd (please note this is a four day program with optional overnight)
Overnight
Bringing together the threads woven in Advanced Primitive participants will have the option of spending a night in a group survival shelter. Led by our most experienced wilderness instructors, this is a not to be missed opportunity!
Overnight July 22nd - 23rd
Hunter-Gatherer I&II
“For three million years we were hunter gatherers, and it was through that way of life that a brain so adaptable and so creative eventually emerged. Today we stand with the brains of hunter gatherers in our heads, looking out on a modern world…” -Richard Leakey
Summon the sleeping human within! Reawaken your ancestral self while using the tools of the ancient hunters: atl-atl, rabbit stick and bow. Explore plant knowledge through caretaking and harvesting from the field and the forest. This week we will be joined by special guests who have mastered some of these ancient arts. Participants may complete a special project, such as a bow or planting stick, under the guidance of a craftsman.
Hunter-Gatherer 1 August 9th - 13th
Hunter-Gatherer 2 August 16th - 20th
Wilderness I&II
Travel with us into the wilderness of the Finger Lakes National Forest. Celebrate the peak of summer feasting on blueberries, tracking beavers, telling tall tails around the fires and navigating the boundless resources of this public land. Going beyond “survival”, this will be a time to learn about caring for our forest while caring for ourselves.
Wilderness 1 July 26th - 30th
Wilderness 2 August 23rd - 26th (please note this is a 4 day program with optional overnight)
Overnight
During our second week in the wilderness, older participants will have the option of spending a night in a solo survival shelter of their own making. This will be an opportunity to safely test all the skills they have practiced under the guidance of our most experienced wilderness instructors.
Overnight August 26th - 27th
Call of the WILD
"He was sounding the deeps of his nature, and of the parts of his nature that were deeper than he, going back into the womb of Time." - Jack London, "The Call of the Wild"
Listen carefully and you will hear the call of the wild within. With the animals as our guides we will follow our instincts, play hard, laugh loud and take time to go “where the wild things are”. A special focus this week on personal expression through stories, songs and movement will deepen our connection to nature.
July 19th - 22nd (please note this is a four day program)
Trailblazers
On the road with Primitive Pursuits! Picking up the trail of our most popular school year program, we are offering this summer adventure program for the first time ever. Meet downtown at Cooperative Extension, jump into a van and head out to a different wilderness area each day. Discover uncharted wilderness all around Ithaca that you never knew existed, while you continue practicing your routines of gathering shelter, water fire and food in all kinds of terrain. Please note that as groups are limited to 10 participants, space in this program is Extremely Limited. Please register early to reserve your space.
August 30th - September 3rd
SUMMER CAMP TIMES, COSTS, AGES & LOCATIONS
Times:
Our day camp programs run from 9am - 3pm with staff on site from 8:30am - 3:30pm for extended supervision at no additional costs.
Our overnight programs end at 10am on the morning following the overnight.
Costs:
Trailblazers $240-$340 (includes transportation costs)
5 Day programs $220-$320 (self determined sliding scale)
4 Day programs $190-$290
4 Day programs with Overnight $250 - $350
All programs are on a self determined sliding scale. Funds received above the base rate are tax-deductible and used for scholarships.
Ages:
Camps are open to youth, 6 - 16 years of age with the following exceptions:
Overnights - Age 10 & up
Trailblazers - Age 9 & up
Locations:
4H acres 418 Lower Creek Rd. Ithaca NY
Wildcrafting I & II, Scout Week I & II, Primitive Camp, Advanced Primitive, Hunter Gatherer I & II
Finger lakes National Forest near Trumansburg NY
Wilderness Week I & II
Meeting @ CCE 615 willow Ave. Ithaca N.Y & exploring unique natural areas outside Ithaca
Trailblazers
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