A Childhood in: The Yukon Territory, CANADA

Johanna and her family have been calling the tiny community of Beaver Creek 'home' while her husband, a police officer, is stationed there. 

What's it like to be so cut-off from the rest of civilization? Johanna says: "You have to get creative!"

Besides turning their cellar into a playroom for all those long, cold winter days that stretch between late October and early May, Johanna has kept her little ones busy with lots of arts and crafts, and daily nature excursions.

Here's what Johanna has to say about raising her children in the Yukon Territory!

1. Please tell us a little about yourself and your family, and where you live.

My family includes myself, my husband, our two children: Noah (5 years) and Katia (3 years), and our dog, Ryder.

We live in a very small and remote community in the far North West of Canada, called Beaver Creek, Yukon. It is situated on the Alaska Highway and the population is about 80 people. Our town is a 2.5 hours drive away from the next closest town, and 5 hours away from any major town. We are quite literally surrounded by mountains, lakes, trails, creeks, rivers and bush.

I am a former high school Visual Arts teacher, who now stays home. I run a part-time photography business (based out of Whitehorse) called Birds on a Wire, where I specialize in family and children’s portraits, and I also do part homeschool with my children. In my spare time, I blog, craft and paint, and head outside on lots of walks!

We have lived in Beaver Creek for almost two years, and in the Yukon for five years. This coming summer we will be moving down South and hope to live in a rural community.

2. What is the thing you love most about the nature where you live?

What I love most about the nature where we live, is that we are so immersed in it. We have come to rely on being in nature for much of our recreation. We don’t have shopping malls, movie theatres or any fancy sports complexes here, so we end up going for hikes and adventures almost daily. 

Nature in the Yukon is so vast and grand. Most people up North really come to feel like they are connected to nature just by the seasons and the light that we get.

In the summer, we have nearly 24 hours of daylight, and we spend much of our days outside (covering from the bugs!).

In the winter, when the days aren’t too cold and the light peaks over the horizon, we head out to get our daily dose of sun and fresh air. 

It’s hard not to feel a connection to the land when we see moose walk by our front door and when the Northern Lights dance over our heads at night.  

3. What are some of the challenges that come with living on the Yukon?

In all honesty, at first one of my biggest challenges in living in this tiny isolated community was feeling lonely. At times I would feel so far from friends and family, and it was somewhat of a sobering realization for me.

However, now that I have lived here in Beaver Creek for almost two years, I have learned to embrace that time alone, and to dig deep into myself and my feelings. Learning to be alone is good, and going out on my daily walks (alone) has been a great way for me to sort through my feelings.

4. What are Katia and Noah's favorite outdoor activities in Winter?

In the winter, Noah and Katia love to go sledding down the toboggan hill. I think the reason being that it is a relatively easy activity for them, and the results are fast and gratifying. 

Other activities include ice skating and going on our daily nature walks. And they like to look for Snow Fairy homes and animals tracks in the snow.

5. Are your kids ever resistant to playing outside? How do you make it more interesting on days when they would rather stay indoors?

Sometimes I get some moans and groans about going outside, especially on those really cold days or when it is so dark for much of the day.

I usually try to come up with some kind of end reward, like a snack that we enjoy out on the trail or hot chocolate at home. Other times we make up stories or challenges, such as: "Let’s look for fairy homes" or "Let’s pretend we are dogs." Usually this helps to keep the walk exciting. 

Sometimes my goal is to just get them outside for a bit on those really cold days, so we’ll do something like paint in the snow with coloured water and squeeze bottles.

6. Tell us about a nature project your kids had fun with!

Most of our activities include gathering. One of our most simple and easy nature projects is to collect things on our walks and bring them home for our nature table.

In the Fall, we like to go berry picking.

Sometimes we go on hunts for animal tracks ( such as moose, rabbits, birds). 

 
We also enjoy making fairy homes in the Summer, by using a combination of natural found objects and some miniatures that I have collected.

7. Who instilled a love for nature in you as a child, and how? Please share one of your favorite childhood memories in nature.

I think my sister Sarah was probably the one who most instilled a love for nature in me. She has taken on a career of teaching and has a passion and background in environmental studies.

When I was very little, we would go camping with the whole family, but this was often car camping- so not the real thing.

When I was probably around the age of 9 or 10, my sister (and a few others) took me along on real canoe trips, where we would paddle and portage our canoes. There would be no electricity and we would carry everything in with us. 

I think those memories really helped me to feel a real connection to nature.

8. Why is a connection to nature so important for your children?

I feel that people in today’s world are so inundated with technology and that we live in such a fast paced society. Sometimes it seems like we have forgotten about how important nature can be to our physical and mental health.

I can see the benefits when my children play and learn outside. It is a real life connection for them, and

I know that it is healthy and what is most natural for them.  

I want them to have as many opportunities as they can to learn about the land and to have a relationship with it.

9. Tell us about some of your favorite outdoor gear. Which brands have proven to be good quality? What would you recommend for kids who are playing for long periods of time in the snow?

We have used a number of different brands over the years, and have a few favourites of our own. 

For children’s boots, there is a company called Stonz, which we love. They have a soft waterproof and warm boot for babies that are learning to walk, and they also have a hard soled boot for older children. The temperature rating is -50c and they are made in Canada. My son has never once complained of cold feet in them. We also enjoy their mittens. 

For snowsuits, we like the Jupa brand. They are Canadian designed and have seams that let out over the years, so that you can get at least 2 seasons out of the snowsuit. They are very warm. 

For other accessories, we usually go through a company called MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op). They are Canadian and sell an in house brand as well as other brands. 

My children both wear balaclavas in the winter time to protect as much skin as we can. The winters here in the Yukon are cold and dry, so it's important to cover up their necks, ears, throats and cheeks where possible.

We feel that it is important to buy good quality products for our kid’s outdoor gear so that it is reliable and so that we can pass them on to younger kids.

10. What do you look forward to doing outside once Spring begins?

I’m most excited to show the children the buds, sprouts and shoots that are growing outside. I’m also excited to start some seedling indoors with the children, as part of our homeschool unit on growing things. If we happen to see any baby animals or nests, of course, that will be exciting too!

Thank you for sharing your corner of the world with us Johanna!

All of the above photographs are property of Johanna Rosolen.

COMING UP NEXT ON A CHILDHOOD IN NATURE:

Charting the Growth of a Narcissus: A simple, affordable indoor project!

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Outdoor Project: A Stick House

Welcome! I am so excited to finally be launching this blog. Thank you so much for joining me here!

The reason why 'The Story of a Stick House' is the very first post for A Childhood in Nature is that the construction of our humble little fort was a huge game-changer in my son Rafael's experience of spending time in the woods. 

Before we built it, our walks in the woods had been very simple. We would take our two dogs, pack the essentials, and head out, with no plan or destination. And while there were definitely highlights, things to be found and collected, bugs to be spied and berries to be eaten, Rafael was becoming a little bored with our walks.

This changed drastically once we built a small, simple shelter.

It was hardly more than a pile of sticks thrown together, and it kept coming apart. 

Rafael and his friends seemed suddenly drawn like a magnet to the woods once we had our rickety, tiny fort up. But after pieces of the roof started coming down on children's heads, I realized we needed something sturdier. I had no experience with building forts, but one morning I discovered a fallen tree and thought, Why not lean some sticks on it? 

We found a log to have as a bench, and a tree stump that was perfect as a little table. Since then, we frequently meet with friends for playgroups and picnics. And all we have to say is, "Meet us at the stick house."

Having our stick house makes our time in nature so much more fun. And the really wonderful thing is that, other families enjoy it every day as well! Sometimes we see hikers taking photos of it, or children we don't know playing there. 

People have vandalized and destroyed our fort countless times. It's just a part of having something that doesn't actually belong to you out in the open where anyone has access to it. Of course it's upsetting to arrive at our stick house and see it in pieces, but we never get tired of the fun work of building it back up.

If you would like to build a stick house, here are two options that can help you.

Option 1: These stick houses are simple, because all you need is a tree with a long, naked trunk. They are shaped like a tipi, but don't have much sitting space. Perfect for one or two kids to hunker down in.

Option 2: (This is what we built.) 

These stick houses are roomy and you could even camp inside with a sleeping bag!

It is very important, though, to make sure the fallen tree is still fresh and hard, not at all worm-eaten or rotten. If it's too old and soft, it will break under the weight of the 'walls.'

I hope this post inspires you to build a stick house, or any kind of structure, with the kids in your life. They will be so happy you did. 

If you build a fort, or already have, we'd love to see it!  Send photos along with your name and where in the world you're from to: achildhoodinnature@gmail.com

COMING UP NEXT ON A CHILDHOOD IN NATURE:

A mother of two shares what it's like living surrounded by Canadian wilderness!

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