Wildcrafter's Workshop
Please help us keep this calendar up to date! If this activity is sold out, canceled, or otherwise needs alteration, email mindy@kidsoutandabout.com so we can update it immediately. If you have a question about the activity itself, please contact the organization administrator listed below.
What is WILDCRAFTER’S WORKSHOP?
Heeks Farm Wildcrafter's Workshop is an immersive, hands-on camp where kids learn core wilderness skills—such as building shelters, firecraft, cooking outdoors, and making useful tools from stones and plants. It is a program for kids 9-12 interested in nature knowledge, functional crafts, and wilderness skills on our 75-acre farm with forests, open fields, creeks, and springs. Each day is balanced between specialized skill instruction, free nature exploration, hammock time, and games.
-
Ages: 9-12
-
Location: Our 75-acre farm in Rougemont, NC (Northern Durham County)
-
Time: 8:30 AM – 3:30 PM (M-F)
-
Dates: June 15-19, June 22-26, July 6-10, July 13-17
The Skills:
-
Shelter building: tarp tents, lean-to, leaf hut, or anything else you can imagine with sticks, logs, branches, leaves, grass and mud
-
Fiber: make string and rope from native plants, learn useful knots, use vines and grasses to make baskets
-
Firecraft: learn the recipe for bringing fire to life, focusing on tinder collection, kindling, fire construction, and making fire from a spark
-
Cooking with fire: learn some basic techniques using rocks and sticks to cook food.
-
Flint knapping: learn the basics of making tools from stone
-
Plant and animal identification: learn how to id trees, plants and animals
The Fun:
-
Games in the field and forest: animal tag, capture the flag, sharks and minnows
-
Games in and around the barn: ping pong, foosball, 4-square, games with balls
-
Board and card games
-
Reading or relaxing in a hammock
The Farm:
-
50 acres of forests with trails
-
25 acres of fields
-
Creeks, springs, and pond
-
A barn with a kitchen and bathroom
-
Blueberries and blackberries to pick
Week 1 (Jun 15-19): The Shelter
Focus: Engineering, knots, and natural architecture. The shelter is our first connection to the land. We begin the week by mastering the tools of the trade—tarps, ropes, and essential knots. Once we understand the basics of site selection, we move into the deep woods to build using what the forest provides.
The Craft: Master the taut-line hitch and square lashing; build leaf huts, lean-tos, and explore the basics of wickiups and teepee structures.
The Surprise: Using mud, pine needles, and grass to weatherproof our shelters, then enhancing our structures for stability and comfort by building bedding, furniture or kitchen areas.
Week 2 (Jun 22-26): Firecraft & Cooking
Focus: Fire construction, heat and insulation, and cooking techniques. There is nothing more magical or useful than starting a fire. This week is all about the secret of the spark, the science of heat, and the joy of working with your hands. We move from the three-rock fire to the construction of our own miniature clay earth ovens.
The Craft: Master flint-and-steel ignition and fire safety; build a functional clay oven; learn underground roasting and open-fire griddle cooking.
The Surprise: We’ll head to the farm’s fields to harvest sun-ripened blackberries and blueberries, then spend the afternoon transforming them into delicious treats!
Week 3 (July 6-10): Weaver's Workshop
Focus: Plant wisdom, fiber art, and weaving. There is a world of resources hidden in the forest and fields. This week is about learning to see the plants not just as greenery, but as the raw materials for everything we need. We’ll spend our mornings slowing down to learn the meditative rhythms of processing fiber and weaving vine.
The Craft: Plant identification; master the two-ply twist to make cordage; and learn the foundational techniques to create a functional basket from wild vines or bark.
The Surprise: With baskets complete, we’ll head to the creek and the deep woods on a quest using our handmade gear to forage for natural treasures.
Week 4 (July 13-17): Tool of the Hunt
Focus: Flint knapping, glue making, and carving with stone. This week, we become tool-makers of the ancient world. We’ll learn to identify the right stones and plants to create tools that actually work.
The Craft: Practice the art of flint knapping to create sharp stone flakes and points; harvest and cook down pine sap to create pine-pitch glue; and learn to use stone flakes to carve spears. We’ll scout the forest for the perfect sticks to use for our wooden spears and atlatls.
The Surprise: The week culminates with attaching a stone flake or point to a wooden shaft. Afterwards, we’ll head to the range to test our tools for distance and accuracy.
*Times, dates, and prices of any activity posted to our calendars are subject to change. Please be sure to click through directly to the organization’s website to verify.