We’ve had a fun (and fairly snowy) winter at Ney so far! This more typical seasonal weather was of course well received not just by the Ney staff who never need an excuse to head outside, but also by some of the youngest adventurers at Ney — our campers! For two days in December, Ney became a winter wonderland, helped along by a surprise blizzard, followed by extreme cold. And we took advantage!
Camp Day 1, Cozy Critters, focused on the different strategies that Minnesota animals use to surive and thrive through winter. Even though a blizzard the night before resulted in lower attendance, we still had a great time learning about animals that hibernate, animals that migrate, and animals that adapt to thrive in the coldest months of the year.
Inspired by the thirteen-lined ground squirrels that you’ll see scurrying around the Ney lawns in the summer, our craft of the day involved paint, decorating, and some careful gluing. These tiny critters served as examples of an animal that survives winter by going into a state known as torpor — a sort of milder version of hibernation. Of course, just like the squirrels themselves, campers enjoyed a bit of snacking too! A delicious mug of hot chocolate always makes craft time just that much more enjoyable (And warmer). In the end, our craft-squirrels turned out pretty good if we do say so ourselves.
As adorable as these squirrel crafts turned out, there was one more thing to do! We needed to add a water bottle.
The craft was paired with an intriguing experiment to further investigate how torpor/hibernation works. Campers were given a bottle filled with hot water, and tasked with finding a place outside for their new warm-bodied creature to hunker down and try to conserve heat. They were allowed to pick any spot that they thought would work best, and were able to add materials from nature to try to improve insulation – branches, leaves, etc. To measure success, the water bottles were photographed with a thermal camera in order to measure temperature changes.
Throughout the day, temperatures stayed pretty frigid which ended up giving us quite a solar show — sun dogs! Although not a rare phenomenen, it’s still spectacular to see these mock suns, looking like small rainbows or spots on either side of the real deal sun. Unlike true rainbows though which are caused by water droplets in the air, sun dogs are caused by ice crystals in the air, making them much more common on cold days.
Camp Day 2 was even more outdoorsey — “Arctic Adventurers”! Campers were able to test out both snowshoes and cross country skis. Both activities were a bit more challenging than anticipated by many of the campers, and served as a good challenge. After a bit of practice though, we were ready for games and for trail exploration.
We hope that everyone had a blast during Winter Camp 2025 — we can’t wait for next year! Of course, now we’re already turning our attention to the next round of camp – spring and summer 2026! For Ney Members, registration is already open for summer day camps. — Registration opens for the general public at 9:00AM on January 25th.
Register for Ney Summer Day Camps HERE!