Building Something New

Week of February 8, 2026 – February 14, 2026

by Katie McLaughlin, Environmental Educator

On Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, I am out with a homeschool group exploring the preserve. Thursdays this year are a new experience for all of us as we are piloting a Bushcraft Trail School program for teens (and pre-teens). Jeff Devine and I take this small group of young teens out onto our newest part of Baltimore Woods, teaching them skills like fire building, knifework, and most recently how to build a snow shelter. 

Now, to be honest – this was something rather new for me (but Katie – you’re from Tug Hill. It’s so snowy up there! Yes, I know.) Jeff and I learn from each other as we are out there with the homeschool group. As a kid I had dug into some snowbanks and made some small tunnels I could probably fit half of myself in before I grew tired.

This time? Our group of teenage boys with show shovels in hand went wild. They made a massive pile of snow within an hour or so. Before we could continue construction of this snow shelter we had to let the pile sinter. Which is a fancy term for letting the snow settle to get all the air pockets out of it. 

We let the time pass by trekking with snowshoes to our main basecamp we have created over the past few months. Later that day we came back after practicing our fire building skills (finding dry materials can be a challenge with a foot of snow on the ground). We started the process of hollowing out the snow shelter. After throwing a bunch of snow out of the pile we just had made, a quinzhee was made! We were able to make it large enough for the entire group to fit inside. 

At Baltimore Woods we are building our community, our connection to nature, or sometimes literally building something out there in the woods. In this case, I was watching our new Trail School Bushcraft community grow and connect to each other while building this quinzhee. I wish I could share the laughter they had through these words, but knowing that these homeschool teens will have this memory of ‘snow-craft’ to carry with them in their lives as they continue to explore nature is good enough.

We invite our members to enjoy a weekly blog written by our naturalists. Every blog will be uniquely different but always inspired by nature. We may share a memory from a recent hike at The Woods or teach you about an animal or plant that lives on the preserve. No matter the topic, we will be sharing with you our passion for nature and celebrating the connections we all have to the natural world. Each blog will be connected to a weekly set of activities and ideas to help you put nature in your hands, even if you’re at home!