Navigators Chapter 350 - Sun Prairie, WI

January and February were all about Science! The leaders handed over the chapter to our resident scientist who taught the Navigators about multiple scientific disciplines. Experiments and activities like bending light, discovering the center of gravity of different objects, moving our bodies to learn about proprioception, taking the supertaster test, and experimenting with germs spanned two meetings and gave the Navigators a great introduction to the world of science.

Several Navigators took an optional field trip to the Wisconsin Museum of Quilts & Fiber Arts where they toured the museum and made their own quilt square. The museum was full of amazing quilts and the staff was excellent as they taught our group of quilters with various levels of experience.

The Navigators rotated through stations where they were introduced to needle knitting, finger knitting, crocheting, and weaving on a loom. Several Senior Navigators already familiar with these fiber arts practiced their leadership skills as they acted as instructors to the Stargazers and Juniors.

The Navigators continued working toward their Fiber Arts and Sewing badges by embroidering their own patch (for the older Navigators) and embroidering on plastic canvases (for the younger Navigators).

November kicked off the activities for our Fiber Arts and Sewing badges. In this first meeting the Navigators learned about quilts and got to sew their own fabric quilt square as well as design/decorate their own barn quilt. We have several skilled Navigators when it comes to sewing so they helped the younger Navigators operate the machines and practiced growing their leadership skills at the same time.

It was a chilly, but fun, mile walk at Lake Farm County Park with the hiking club!

We started our birding adventure at Cherokee Marsh with a lesson on bird migration with a picture book followed by an obstacle course so the Navigators could see what life might be like for a migrating bird as they face windmills, windows, predators, and more!

Several families visited the Stone Crest Llama Farm‘s open house where they got up close and personal with some very friendly llamas and made it one step closer toward their Senior level Fiber Arts badges. After giving treats and pets, the Navigators were able to learn more about how the wool is processed and spun into yarn followed by a stop in the gift shop to see a variety of products created from llama wool.

The morning of our hiking club outing to Patrick Marsh started with some showers which cooled everything down at the beginning of the hike but we were all shedding layers once the sun came out. We got to enjoy the various colors of the changing season and even came across a couple creatures during the hike.

We enjoyed a chilly October day full of activities and hiking on the Ice Age Trail!

Several families joined us on an optional field trip to the corn maze at Treinen Farm. It was a beautiful day to adventure with friends!

After a brief tour of the Ice Age Trail Alliance headquarters the Navigators started their 2.5 mile exploration of the Cross Plains segment, filled with stories, activities, and nature observations.