Suvivorman Hits the South

Z has become quite enamored with Survivorman. If you've never seen it, it is show where a man is dropped in many different survival-type situations and must do his best to live among the elements.

Z, of course, saw an opportunity to explore his inner survivor and test his skills. He collected downed branches from around the yard. As loving and guiding parents we have encouraged this pursuit. I took this picture from far away, as with any "wild" thing, they must not be disturbed in their natural habitat.

I helped him tie the cross beam between the two trees. With safety first in mind I also helped make two support legs. The mother in me didn't want the "ceiling" to fall in his head or that of us his playmates.

Tigger then brought home some palm fronds that had been cut from a tree where he was working. Unfortunately the palm trees in our yard do not bear such leaves. Z then took hammer and nail and fastened all the leaves on by himself. He's been hammering and nailing since about 18 months old, but I was still very proud of his arrangment of the leaves.

Here is the other side. I think Survivorman himself would be quite proud. He also gathered pine needles and magnolia leaves to use for bedding. He has a backpack, yes the one he took from me, of supplies that he will carry out there each day.

One of the beauties of homeschooling is that he had time to do this. We sat out in it to do our reading for the last two days. He has already requested to camp out for a week. Tigger wasn't too sure about that one. I guess you could say, he just built his first house.