Need ideas for a camping skills night at a weekly meeting

[Lexington76 10]

Hey all- I am the crew advisor for a high adventure based crew with many new members. Ne w & present membership includes hiking & camping experiance of all levels- never had a back pack to eagle scouts.

 

To help the teens who have little experiance, the officers and I are planning a Camping 101 night at our next meeting (a local equipment outfitter opened their doors for us after hours last week and did a great job updating us on packs, bags and clothing)

 

Besides going over other basics (BTW -our first overnighter will be a drive in event helping with a council Cub Scout weekend- we will back pack the next event) I would like to have some fun with some competitions, like a fire building event, tent pitching, etc....

 

Any ideas or suggestions? Resourses?

 

Thanks!

 

Steve in SC

[insanescouter 10]

Here are some skill related events with twists that I can think of off top of head ...

 

1) fire building .... you have become lost and night is falling it is getting cold you need a fire but you only have one match (or flint and steel) and most get it to burn the string about 2 feet above the fire pit

 

2) pitch a tent, however all members can talk but the leader, other members may be blind, have a broken leg or arm, etc ... you could add in extra challenges if some one breaks the rules maybe they talked and are one handed but not blind ... so they get blindfolded

 

3) boil water on a 1 burner stove

 

4) raise a flag pole (4 poles make tripod and lash one pole vertically to it)

 

5) cat eye type compass course which takes place at night and they most find (in case of cat eye eye like reflectors) a target at each point ... maybe even make it so they have to do the points in the right order they only get one point a time and at each target they find the next point ... you may also be able to add challenges like no compass or just using the map or use a gps but mix it up

 

6) maybe some where along the way the find a cub made up to look like fallen and badly hurt they must treat and evacuate using available materials

 

7) team building games such as

 

monster ... "A spell has been cast upon you, that if you do not break in the next 30 mins you will die. To break the spell your entire group most move from point a to point b however only half the hands and half the feet of the *group* may touch the ground. Also the whole group most be joined as one." ... the easiest solution I have seen is wheel barrow with thumbs or elbows inter locked ...

 

another good one is human tangle "A witch has cast a spell upon you to break the spell you must untangle yourselves without letting go" (I usually tell everyone to close their eyes stick out right hand and grab someone elses hand, and then repeat for the left hand... of course I am also watching to make sure they dont get to weird or simple)

 

Anyway that should be a good start for you ... also think about giving it a theme such as a discover trail ... which is where you have a story and everything is around that story ... for example ... "Your patrol was on a hike and past through a cave. Unknown at the time, the cave transported them back to the boer war. They come out to be faced by Baden Powell and his small army trying to hold a small town. BP, see your patrol and tells you he needs help building a fire to cook food on for his soldiers. ...... (After that you are sent on to another place say) .... BP send you on a Scouting mission but on your way you notice a young native boy injured do you stop to help him or move on with your mission .... "

 

you get the idea .. I have even heard of twists where for example at a camp-o-ree they had an old lady dragging a ice chest around. Any patrol who stopped and offer to help received extra points...

 

Ok I have babbled on long enough and may even be off topic .. but no matter I hope I was of help ... if not just my insane 2 cents...

 

Scott Robertson

http://insanescouter.org