YIS Camping Club

Simply Glorious!

This week we thought about possible accidents that could happen at camp and action that could be taken. The children decided that learning more about how to deal with burns, minor injuries such as nosebleeds and scrapes and insect bites would be useful. Each group carried out some first aid research and created skits to illustrate the accident and the first aid to be administered.

First aid notes:

Again it was delightful to be a part of our camping experience at Sancho Koen. The weather was perfect. The children showed collaborative skills in pitching the tents and cooking as a group. We were very impressed with the variety of meals that the children had planned and then prepared. Some children cooked pasta, some scrambled eggs and some enjoyed the old favourite – cup noodle. On this trip there were children who had camped several times before and some who were on there first trip. Everyone supported each other, took initiative and problem solved as they went along. Camping in the park provided so many valuable possibilities.  The opportunity for joyful, sensory rich and adventurous play. A rich context for curiosity, wonder, mystery and ‘what if’ thinking. A perfect space to navigate and negotiate the social world of friendships.

Today is the second-last meeting before our first camp-out of this semester. Students worked in tent groups to plan menus for snack, supper, breakfast and lunch. THE groups were made up of a mixture of returning and first time campers and students learned from and with each other. They recorded their plans on Google docs which they shared with the rest of the group.

After the trip, the students will add their reflections to these docs, which will help them when the time comes to plan meals for the next trip.

This week the children considered how to set up and use the Trangias. For some this was a new experience and others were experts and were able to offer advice on how to do it.

Today, we had our first meeting for this session of camping club. We began by coming together in a circle and sharing, one by one, why we joined camping club.

• I have been camping before but I don’t know how to put up a tent and I wanted to learn how to do that.
• I joined camping club last time and I really liked it. This time I have set these challenges, like build a shelter with sticks.
• I have never been camping before but I wanted to do it and my mom and dad told me I should join the camping club to get the experience to see if I like it
• I have been in camping club before in 4th Grade. I just wanted to camp at least once more. There are some things I dont like doing when I’m camping, like putting tents down because its complicated and hard but the rest is fun and that’s why I came again.
• I have never slept in a tent before and I want to see what it’s like.
• I went camping before with my grandpa and we got some fish.
• I like that when you sleep you hear noises around you and you know that you are not alone.

Next we talked briefly about what to bring. A few of the more experienced campers shared a few tips and then students broke into small groups to brainstorm together to come up with a packing list.

Again it was delightful to be a part of our camping experience at Sancho Koen. There is much to be said for visiting the same place again, as this space holds many special memories for the campers and they feel safe and secure here and able to explore further. The children showed increased skills in pitching tents, were more adventurous in their cooking and worked closer together as a collaborative group. This was another special experience which has served to embody ways of  building relationships with each other and with nature. This is an episode that will stay in the memories of the children and teachers for a very long time.

At our camping session today, the students planned what they would need for the camping trip at the end of this week. Several groups made changes to their menus based on their experiences during the last trip. We discussed how the weather is becoming colder and the days are becoming shorter, and thought about how that would impact packing lists. It is evident from the small group and whole group discussions that the students have become considerably more knowledgeable since the beginning of the session.

This week camping club spent our after school session learning about the most common first aid situations on a campsite, cuts and burns. Students discussed the different ways these sorts of things could happen, then read carefully through detailed descriptions of how to most effectively and appropriately treat these events if they should occur.

In tent groups, students then chose a first aid scenario to dramatize for the group, showing an accident and an appropriate way to treat it.

There are some things we hope we’ll never need to know, but we’re happy we do if they ever happen!

Enjoy the stills below from the student skits…