Fort Albany, Sunday January 15, 2012

The Winter Carnival was a defining success for the high school class running it. Every single kid in my class enjoyed it immensely and participated throughout without having to be nudged one direction or another. We started the day off in the deeper snow behind the school learning to build a blind; used for shelter and camoflaging when in the bush hunting. Fairly certain that I was the only once present who hadn't seen one before, but they all had fun helping put it together and take it apart before throwing themselves and each other in the snow.

Next we played tug of war out front followed by a few games of Kookum and Mooshum as we did at Teepee days. It was a little trickier in the snow and took a lot more energy.
As it was below -30C we took some breaks to warm up and didn't quite last the full half hour of each activity outside. Thankfully most kids dressed for the weather though we had a few wearing running shoes or no mittens. No frost bite was reported!
Luckily our hour outside was followed by dodgeball and basketball in the gym for the next two sessions before returning outdoors to play an awesome game of lacrosse. They've had a couple of phys. ed. classes working on lacrosse skills so that came in handy and made it noticeably more fun!
Cross country skiing was probably the most amusing activity to witness. For the majority of the kids, it was their first time but I could certainly sympathize as my downhill experience over the Christmas holidays was still fresh in my mind. During this time, there was also the option of snow shoing so a few students chose that more familiar route. There were several examples of snow-shoers being very sweet and helping the skiiers up when they got stuck with their limbs sticking out in every direction.
The last planned activity was a school-wide game of Bull Dog; running back and forth across a field trying not to get tagged each time they call 'bull dog'. This was again made into a form of entertainment for onlookers due to the deeper snow at the back of the school.
This fun-filled day was rounded off with delicious hot dogs and steaming hot chocolate served to all in the cafeteria. A wonderful day.