This afternoon we prepared for our trip to San Koen this Friday. Students worked with their tent buddies and their group’s supervising adult to create menus and review packing lists. Students used the reflections they had done last week to help them prepare for our next trip. Several students discovered last trip that their rainwear was not waterproof and have found solutions. Others have added more warm layers to their packing list, after their last experience. Some groups have increased or decreased the amount of food they will bring.
We checked out the equipment that the campers will use for the trip. Students checked their packs, tents and trangias to make sure all the necessary parts were there. Everyone made a note of the ID numbers on their equipment so that they can be responsible for making sure their gear is returned in good condition.
Today, at camping club, we reflected on our camp-out. Campers worked in tent groups to think about things that worked well and things that they would like to do differently. Then the tent groups came together and shared ideas with the whole group. The adults added their reflections as well.
Below are some of the ideas we talked about:
Keeping play areas and tent areas
Keeping the tent organized so there is more space
Think about in-tent entertainment
Think about amount of food
Getting better waterproof clothes
Warmer clothes because weather will be colder
Leaving extra packaging at home
Dont leave things in the main building as we none of the teachers have a key
After we had come up with a whole group list of “goods” and “not so goods”, the campers met back in their tent groups to think about their packing lists for the trip next Friday.
Next week tent groups will be planning their menus and deciding who will bring what. As last time, we will give out camping equipment so that campers can pack at home and get ready for Friday.
Children seem to have fewer and fewer opportunities to get outdoors and interact with nature. One of the aims of the Elementary School camping club is to give children opportunities to experience the wonder of living in nature even if just for a night or two. There is nothing quite like a good, hard hike, stopping on the way to climb a particularly inviting tree and crawl through some undergrowth before pitching camp, cooking your own supper and sitting around a bonfire in the dark, singing campfire songs, telling ghost stories and toasting marshmallows.
The weather forecast for the trip was, typically, rain, rain and more rain. We told the children that short of a direct hit by a typhoon, the expedition would go ahead, and they should come prepared with suitable clothes. As we set off after lunch, the weather was grey but dry. The campers had a skip in their step and there was a sense of anticipation in the air. We stopped here and there on the way, as nature called to us; an inviting rock to sit on, or secret space under the branches of a tree that demanded to be explored.
We got the campsite by about four o’clock and set about pitching tents before the weather changed. Everyone was cheerful and engaged and there was a wonderful team spirit as more experienced campers worked together with first time campers to put up tents, organize kit and cook super. There was time for some night-time exploration and a few ghost stories before bed.
We were very, very lucky with the weather, and though it teemed down all night, there was a break for a couple of hours in the morning, long enough for us to cook brekkie, strike camp and start the hike back. Despite being caught in heavy downpour on the way home, everyone was up-beat and entered into the experience with true adventuring spirit. The children are already talking about the next camp!
See below for a link on why it’s so important for children to get out-doors and into nature.
Today, students worked individually to come up with a list of things they would pack for the camping trip. After students had had time to work on their own, they went into groups to compare lists. Eventually we met as a whole group to share and compare lists. See the tabs at the top of the page for the packing lists.
We have only two more sessions before our first camping trip. During this time the children will work with their tent buddies to plan menus for their trip. We have decided to assign tent buddies for the first trip.
We had our first camping club meeting today. We began by looking at the Elementary School Camping Club blog. There were some posts showing last year’s camping club sessions. This gave the new campers an idea of what we would be doing.
Then we shared some of our previous camping experiences. Several of the children had been camping before. We heard stories of bonfires, lakes and encounters with bears. Some children have never been camping before.
Today the students worked in pairs to plan what food they would need for the trip. They worked out they would need afternoon snack, supper, breakfast, morning snack. We talked about what foods would be light weight to carry and easy to cook. We will have one trangia stove between two children and each trangia stove has a large cooking pot, a small cooking pot and a frying pan. Each tent pair will have one trangia stove.
The children agreed what to eat as a tent group and then assigned particular children to bring particular items for their whole group.
A lot of debate went into making wise choices and figuring out who would bring what… Menu planning is not as simple as it seems!
