Staff members from Primitive Pursuits, an educational program of the Cornell Cooperative Extension in Tompkins County, came to the GrassRoots Festival of Music and Dance in July to teach children about nature. Activities included using a bow drill to make fire and building thatched-roof shelters.

Primitive Pursuits teaches children such topics as birding, tree lore and cultivation, bow-making, primitive technology, winter survival, permaculture and animal tracking; it also offers wilderness education programs.

Click to see a video slideshow narrated by Primitive Pursuits co-director and educator Tim Drake.