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Campgirlz.com received this email from Margo in Illinois.  I thought is was awesome!  Check out Maren in the tree. 

We have camped in our back yard for years and our grand kids love it. They pick the camp site and have several areas named by the trees there. The area with pine trees they call “Minnesota”; the area with the Birch trees is “Maine” and the area between the pasture and our prairie plantings, they call “Illinois”. Tree climbing is one of their fun activities. Maren’s G’pa made the mistake of telling her she wasn’t quite big enough to climb the big Hickory. She was well up into the tree before he knew what was happening.

The concept of progression is my passion. I firmly believe progression leads girls to their passion. Without progression, girls can develop fears and aversions to nature that last a lifetime. This key ingredient to outdoor education success is often overlooked. Moving too fast, at too quick of a pace, can end a journey before it begins.

I firmly believe girls were meant to be in wild places. I know from experience that girls will only love wild places if they are introduced to them in a fun way & at a pace they are comfortable with. Whenever I hear someone say, “I canoed and I hated it!” Or “I went to camp & it was awful!”, I strike up a discussion about the comment. Invariably, I hear a story of fear and/or extreme discomfort. A hike that was too long in too hot of weather, or being placed in a canoe with no prior instruction & fearfully set adrift into the middle of a lake. Perhaps the first camping trip was in rainy weather without proper clothing to keep warm. As girls advance, discomfort can be a welcome challenge, but while learning, the pace needs to be slow and fun.

So, what is progression? Progression is starting where the child or group of children are at the moment. From this point, activities and skills are taught at a gradual pace, each time increasing the individual’s confidence and expertise.

For example, if a child is afraid of spiders, we want to address that first, before we put her in a platform tent for the night. If we have a group of girls that have never spent the night away from home, we want to have a backyard campout before we have an overnight in a wilderness setting.

Here are some cool stories of progression success!

Example 1: One of my children’s friends was terrified of canoeing. His only exposure to canoeing had been watching some older kids at a lake, who were horsing around and tipping frequently. Because of this and some other experiences, he had developed quite the fear of stepping into a canoe.

We started on shore, where I reassured him that he was in control. At his word, we would stop. Next, I let him sit in the canoe & hold a paddle while the canoe was on shore. I gently rocked it on shore so he could get used to the feel. We practiced some tips for getting into and out of a canoe the right way to avoid tipping, such as staying low & walking on the center line.

Next, I put the canoe in shallow water, with him in the boat & myself wading next to the boat. I let him practice some strokes while I held the canoe with a rope. Eventually, we paddled near shore, where the depth was only a few feet. During all of this, the communication was open & he knew he was in charge. Within an hour, we were both paddling across the lake. He loved it.

Example 2: One summer, I worked at a camp as a naturalist, and we had a girl so afraid that she was crying & begging to call her mom to come get her. Upon talking to her, she was terrified of the sounds at night. She had never been away from home & never spent a night outdoors. Even talking about her first night in the tent sent her sobbing. Anyone who has tent camped knows how large a tiny animal can sound at night in the underbrush. Her fears were transferring onto the other girls in the camp group. The counselors asked me to talk to the group about the animals & bugs at camp. The counselors and I spent the afternoon with the whole group, talking about all the animals that call camp home and some of the sounds they heard the night before. We had a night hike where we explored the woods as a group & talked about all the sounds that we heard. We also discussed that we had lived at camp all summer & had no problems with the animals at night. She calmed down & by the end of the week felt comfortable in her tent.

So, whether you are a family member or a youth group leader, spend some time getting to know your group, their level of comfort and their fears. And, start at the level they are comfortable with. From that starting point, the sky is the limit in outdoor adventures.

Step by Step Guide to a Super Backyard Camp Out!
If you are reading this, you must be lucky enough to have a beginner camper! I love new campers & I love working with 6-8 year olds. How do we create a perfect first camp out for them? Read on…

I. The planning meeting

The girls help plan the camp out. At this age, you have to ‘cue’ them with ideas, but they can still voice ideas and vote on the camp out. Encourage all comments. At this age, they may come up with some unusual ideas that are not feasible (some downright funny!). Listen and guide them to 2-3 plausible choices for games and activities and supper and breakfast food. Have the girls vote on the winning options.

Next, you need to come up with a list of things you will need for the camp out. Walk the group through the list as if they were going away from home so they start to think about the dynamics involved. In addition to their personal gear, have them list group items, such as cooking utensils, tents, lanterns, and first aid kit. At this age, keep the pace at a good speed or they will get bored. Bring in some wood and make a “pretend fire” for them to sit around as they think of what to bring. If the girls cannot think of any more items, quickly fill in the list.

Review safety points such as always have a buddy, tell a leader before you leave the group, etc.

Some pointers:

Avoid the mistake of thinking that s’mores or hotdogs over the fire are easy cooking. Make sure you have several adults to help around the fire. Keep the groups small at the fire and consider having the girls go to the fire in shifts, while the group works on a craft. A few of my fire rules for little girls: long hair pulled back; sit on your behind; don’t get up without permission and don’t fling your stick in the air. If your marshmallow catches fire, keep it in the fire until an adult can help you. Never run or play on logs around the fire. This is not so important for a family camp with 1 or 2 children. If you have multiple little girls around a fire, it can get sorta crazy!

Highlight the importance of taking care of equipment, especially tents. Sometimes, first time campers can accidentally be rough on tents.

II. The parent meeting

It is always a good idea to have a parent meeting if you are the leader of a youth group. This can be short, 10 to 15 minutes. Answer any questions and review the basic outline of the camp out. Hand out a sheet with the itinerary, drop off and pick up times, the list of what to bring, and emergency numbers. Make sure you have enough adults to run the camp out safely. If you belong to the Girl Scouts, they have specific safety ratios that have to be followed and they are a good starting point for any group.

III. The Backyard Camp Out!

Pre-Arrival:

Review and make sure you have everything you need. Relax! Prepare to have fun! Keep your expectations reasonable. I recommend experience with setting up the tents before trying with it the group. These times are just a guideline. Remember, the joy of camping is being free from the clock.

4:30-5:00 Arrival &Set Up

Girls arrive, help set up tents, and organize their sleeping space. Even though they are young, they can help quite a bit, especially with holding poles and stakes. Adults will still have the bulk of the work. Allow plenty of time to set up things in the tent; most girls love this!

5:00 to 5:30 Elbow Tag and other games the girls have chosen

They are excited! Let’s burn off some of that energy. In my book, Elbow Tag would win as the most popular game of the century. Every time I have played it (and I have played it a lot), it has been a smashing success.

Elbow Tag

Girls get in pairs; linking elbows (explain to them they will be switching pairs all the time, so no biggie who your partner is). Have set areas for out of bounds. Select one pair of girls. Choose one of the pair to be “It” and one to be the runner. The only way the runner can be safe is to link elbows with one of the pairs. For example, Sue and Cindy are linked together by elbows. Rachel is the runner and she links elbows with Sue to avoid being tagged by Lynn, who is ‘It’. At this point, Rachel is safe and Cindy has to run. Cindy has to link elbows with a different pair to avoid being tagged. And, on and on… If the girl is tagged, she becomes ‘It’. A key to the girls having fun is to set reasonable boundaries or the runners may run too much and stop the fast moving pace. Encourage girls to hook on quickly.

5:30 to 6:00 Prepare the food

For very young girls, I prefer to use camp stoves in place of a campfire. You can cook over a campfire, however. You can build the fire together but allow plenty of time and have safety guidelines in place.

Break the girls into small groups of 3-4 and break the meal down into small steps. Have each group work on a section of the meal. I usually keep meals simple, easy and fast for the first camp out. They can sing while they work if you have a group that likes that! (I do!:))

6:00 to 6:30 Eat and Clean Up.

Break the girls into small groups for clean up. Options to make clean up more fun: Name the groups, such as “Ladybugs do dishes; Katydids pack the cooler”. Have a race to see who can finish first.

6:30 to 8:30 Crafts, games, scavenger hunts, and other activities.

Time for the activities the girls selected by vote! Some cool things to do: nature scavenger hunts, painted pet rocks, tag games and relays, knotted friendship bracelets (at this age, they just tie any knots together in a string with beads inserted occasionally-nothing too complicated), three legged race, leather crafts, dandelion chains, candy campfires (Check out that page on this site).

8:30-9:30 Songs, s’mores and campfire.

Just before dark, have the girls sit around the fire for songs. Make sure their tents are ready for the night & they have headlamps or flashlights in a central spot. I prefer no flashlights at the fire, because clicking them on and off is just way too tempting. I like to gather at the fire just before dark. The girls can watch dusk fade to dark, while being around the fire. Have a list of 5-6 songs to sing and encourage the girls to offer songs they might know from school. This is a time when you have to read your group. They may be ready for bed.

9:30-9:45 Star gazing

At a minimum, I have the girls check out the night sky. You can have them try to find a design on the moon or try to make up their own constellation.

9:45 Tent time!

Some girls will fall asleep right away and others will stay up and giggle until the wee hours. Plan on getting very little sleep and hope for the best!

Morning

8:00 Wake Up, Clean Up and Eat

I know this sounds early, but from my experience almost all groups wake up at the crack of dawn. For this first time, keep breakfast simple: donuts and juice; granola bars and milk. A bonus of the backyard camp out-adults can sneak in the house and get coffee without firing up the camp stove!

9:00 Pick Up Time!

Congratulations! You just exposed a new group of girls to the joys of camping! They are ready for their next trip.

Please send any questions through the comment section! Amy

Who knew catholes would be such a popular topic? On a message board, someone noted to review the Leave No Trace website. The link is on the sidebar.

I received a couple of emails about the post. Listed below are some ideas for dealing with catholes when taking a group of children out into the wild, from Scouter Gerry, hailing from Canada. I love Canada!

Let’s hear from Scouter Gerry:

I read the question in regards to catholes. Having 2 daughters of my own and many girls in our Scout Troop this subject is not new to me. The use of a cathole requires proper hygiene, washing the hands(hand sanitizer) proper covering/disposal of ones waste etc.

When we canoe trip and camp with no thunderboxes or rest rooms we designate an area the proper distance from camp, dig a line cathole( depending on the size of the group) and leave the dirt behind the cathole in a line.

A rag, bag, or bandanna is left hanging from a branch near the fire pit( most often the central location of the camp). When the bandanna is gone, someone has gone to do their business. (This helps with privacy.)

As far as waste disposal, starting at one end of the cathole each person covers up their waste with the dirt and marks it with a couple small sticks. They take their own hand sanitizer with them and return the bandanna so that everyone knows the cathole is free to use if needed.

Sometimes we can find a short 4-5 foot fallen partially rotting log which we can still roll over. Often it has left an indent in the ground already which only needs a little digging. Digging along the indent of the log the same procedure is used as I mentioned above, but when we are ready to leave camp we can roll the log back over where it was to aid in the break down of the waste and to keep any unsuspecting campers from digging up someone’s…stuff.

Anyway, this a subject no one really wants to talk about but everybody wonders about.

As mentioned, your site’s going to help a lot of folks,

Looking forward to seeing more and passing the site on to the other Leaders in our area, I think your site like this has been long overdue and will do very well. Keep up the good work!

Scouter Gerry

Thanks Gerry!

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Hi Amy, Slug and JJ! Great site! As far as Dad’s question, we have all had to deal with this part of camping and outdoor adventure. Sometimes it can feel a little awkward and undignified but the suggestion of a buddy is right on, especially for younger girls. Headlamps are also helpful, versus flashlights so you can see where you are going, and where you are “going” so to speak, without needing to occupy your hands. I bring a long a small shovel and two ziplock bags. One has clean supplies, TP and baby wipes, and the other is for dirty. There is certainly biodegradeable TP but I try to pack all of that out. The baby wipes are useful for wiping hands off in the absence of running water and can make you feel a little more civilized. On some group trips, we mark the common area with a kayak paddle that is stuck standing in the ground. It guides your way to the spot, and when the “bathroom” is occupied, the user simply takes the paddle down. Finally, keeping a good attitude and even making a few lighthearted jokes makes everything seem a little bit better. Good luck Dad! – Toddy

Thanks, Toddy!

I had a question submitted through the site:

'How do you address the challenge of camping where there are no
restrooms?  This has been my biggest challenge with my daughter."----Dad

Good question!

This can be a tricky one.  Usually, the problem is either a privacy issue or a germ/dirt/insect issue.  The best first step would be to talk about the exact reason so you can address it.  Some girls might be mortified at discussing this with Dad though, so….

Here are some of my ideas:

• If it is a privacy concern, perhaps you could rig a tarp around the area for privacy.  Even if there is no one around to see, some girls, especially at certain ages,  feel very self-conscious.
• You could make a ‘seat’ out of logs or place the cathole in an area where a fallen tree could be used as a ‘seat’ to make things more comfortable.
• You could cover the fallen tree with a bandana to make it a little more appealing.
• My best suggestion is to bring along a friend who does not mind using a cathole/pit toilet.  In all seriousness, I have found this is the best solution.  It always helps to have a brave buddy to rely on.  Some of the funniest conversations I have overheard from my tent, are buddies braving the cathole or pit toilet together in the night.

• Maybe you could focus on having her plan some favorite fun activities or food for the campout to outshine the negative feelings about using the cathole.

• As a last resort, they do make portable toilets to haul along. You can check out some styles at www.campmor.com.

Good luck!

Anyone else have any ideas for Dad?  Send them to me & I will post them. Update: See Toddy’s great suggestions below!

Working with groups of children in the outdoors, you occasionally have a mood meltdown!

First step:  What do you think caused it?

Potential causes: group dynamics, too difficult a pace, extreme weather or temperature

Potential solutions:  Group dynamics

Just like within  a family or at work, group dynamics can be challenging.  Sometimes, we have a group that  is not functioning together well.  Maybe there is a clique atmosphere, a bully in the group or one girl is the outcast.  A whole website could be developed on these dynamics but here are some activities to try:

• Have a group discussion on how to be a good friend.  Have the girls talk about how it feels to be picked on and left out.  An old activity, but a good one is the IALAC activity.  ‘I am loveable and capable’.  You can actually act this out with a piece of paper.  Explain we all start the day with an IALAC sign (feeling good, nice attitude!).  How others affect us & how we respond can tear off little pieces or add some little pieces back.  Example:  Someone calls us ugly & a chunk comes off (tear piece off).  We talk to a friend who cheers us up, a piece goes back on (tape piece back on).  Have the group agree to value other girl’s IALAC signs.
• Keep mixing up group members for buddies and activities.  Yeah, they don’t like it, but it is good for the group and deters cliques from forming. 
• If you have a girl who is a constant outcast, give her some leadership roles in the group.

Potential solutions:  Have you been getting to camp too late or eating too late?  Has the group been pushed too hard & they are getting cranky?  Experienced a really hot day or bad storm the night before?

• Relax-have an informal down time or a planned relaxation.  Have the girls close their eyes & try to relax every muscle in their body from their head to their toes.  Have them close their eyes, & picture favorite items as you call out a category-food, animal, color (stay away from home related categories).  Have them close their eyes & take deep breaths.
• Laugh-Have them play a sit down game such as

1. Frogger One girl sits in the middle of a circle.   One girl in the circle is the frog & the rest are flies.  The frog is picked with a touch on the head while the girl in the middle has her eyes closed.  Frog kills flies by sticking out her tongue at a fly(girl) without the middle girl seeing.  The girl that the frog sticks her tongue out at, ‘dies’.  Yes, you will have some girls be very dramatic.   The girl in the middle has to try to figure out who the frog is.  The goal of the frog is to not get caught.  And, the goal of the flies is to not stare at the frog but be aware when they are the frog’s victim. Try It-they love it.
2. Sleeping Lions One girl is the lion tamer & the rest are lions.  Once the game starts, the lions cannot move.  The lion tamer tries to get the lions to move by telling them jokes or talking to them (cannot touch the lions).  If a lion moves or laughs, she becomes a lion tamer too. I have been amazed at how long they will play this game.
3. Belly Laughs No one can go for long without laughing if others are laughing.  Have each girl do their weirdest or funniest laugh.  You may have to start it out & be really crazy to set the mood.

• Sing-Singing silly or happy songs can make you happy!  Also, if you have someone with a nice voice, it can be very dramatic to have a soft, slow, yet happy song as they are falling asleep.  I helped at a camp where they did this & it was very relaxing & reassuring to the girls.  They could listen to the singing & it helped them drift off to sleep.