Explore: Life Skills

People have the mistaken impression that you go camping by throwing a few things into the car, driving there, doing activities all day and someone else has set up the shelter for the night.

This system may work one day but I have never found it to be so.  Life skills are something that excludes exporation of mistakes, celebration of successes and then evaluation of what went right, was done right in the wrong circumstances and what failed miserably.  Next time things will be better as one experience builds upon another.

Campcraft acting

The Guides are numbered in their patrols. All no. 1's come to the leader who tells them a camp activity. They return to their patrols and mime it. The first patrol to guess correctly wins. Then no.2's go up for a different activity.

Examples — blowing the fire, knocking in a tent peg, making your bed, getting into bed, hoisting colours, campfire, breaking colours, washing up

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A GAME FOR CAMP

Give the Patrol Leader's sealed orders. At a given signal, each one opens her envelopes.

FIRST CHALLENGE: Go with your patrol and collect 12 sticks 20 cms long and six sticks 10 cms long. Do not break them off trees. First patrol back with all sticks collects the next envelope.

SECOND CHALLENGE: Collect 12 small stones all the same size. Take to leader for next envelope.

THIRD CHALLENGE: Lay a trail with sticks and stones from your patrol tent to leader (or any given point). First patrol to finish with all signs correct gets points. (Could be checked by having the patrol second from another patrol follow the trail).