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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

Congratulations to Amelia from New Jersey, the winner of our Campgirlz T-shirt contest! The number was 29 & Amelia guessed it exactly. Amelia is almost ten years old. She likes to camp and canoe with her family. She is definitely a campgirlz! Way to go Amelia and thanks for checking out the site!

The winner of the favorite color contest was overwhelmingly Green at 42%. Yellow and Hot Pink tied for second place with 19% of the vote. Blue came in at 14% and soft pink at .04%.

If you would like to order a T-shirt for yourself or your daughter, they are $9 plus actual postage and packing costs. If you live in the Peoria area, you have the option to pick up your shirt. For this initial order, you can order any color or size, adult or child sizes that you like. After this order, the official colors will be green, yellow and hot pink. Please email if you are interested in ordering a shirt. Campgirlz777@gmail.com. You can pay by check, money order or Paypal. Click the link below to see the shirts.

http://www.campgirlz.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/camp-girlz-t-colors.pdf

One of my favorite ways to camp is to gather all my supplies and head out on a canoe trip. In canoe camping, you trace a journey either along a river or along lakes, taking everything you need in your canoe. Actually, this is one of my motivations for creating this website: I believe every girl should know the feeling of being out in the middle of wilderness. It is one of the best feelings in the world. I know many others share this passion.

Diane from Canada was nice enough to share these amazing photos of her canoe camping dogs. She takes her three dogs with her when she goes out canoe camping. Wow! This is so cool. We appreciate her sharing. Click on a photo to enlarge (make sure to enlarge and fully view the sheer joy on the Dobie’s face during nap time).

She also shares this link:

(Save the Ogoki Forest)

http://savetheogokiforest.blogspot.com/2008/01/paddling-ogoki-forest.html

I was lucky enough to get in on a canoe trip on the Kopka River last year. I personally like rainy, cool weather as long as it is not too cold and does not rain for too long. One of my best memories of this trip was paddling through a large open area where the river pooled into a lake. It was light rain, cloudy, with big white low hanging clouds. It gave the feeling of being in a big, beautiful bowl, with trees on the sides. A cool wind was blowing. I felt alive and free. Now, that’s what I’m talking about.

‘LookinNorth’ gave me permission to share this:

Paddle on! 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!

*******************************************
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!

Our T shirt design is finally complete! I am asking people to vote for their favorite color from the list below. One lucky voter will receive a FREE Tshirt. So, vote now! Choose your favorite color and email your choice to campgirlz777@gmail.com. ALSO put a number from 1-100 in your email somewhere. I will not sell your email address or anything. (I don’t even know how to do that. )

Click here to view the colors!!

I have a number from 1-100 in mind to win the Tshirt! If more than one guesses it, I will mix up your names & draw a winner.

The winner will be chosen on Sunday, January 24, 2010.

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.

Like all bugs dear to my heart, the click beetle has a story behind it.  When I was about 17 years old, I heard a pop while standing on my parent’s back patio. I went looking for the noise & imagine my surprise when I located an odd looking bug that appeared to have huge eyes on one end!  As I bent down to inspect this beautiful little bug, I heard the pop again & he flipped into the air.  What surprised me the most, was that I had lived seventeen years & never ran into a click beetle before!  Fast forward to 2008, when I led a group of girls on a hike to Mississippi Paliscades Park near Galena, IL.  They called me over to see if I knew what kind of strange bug was on the picnic table.  It was my old friend the click beetle.  I looked very impressive that I knew the bug but actually it was only the second time I had seen one!

Here are some impressive statistics about the click beetle:

• They are also called snapping beetles or skipjacks
• They usually make the clicking noise when they flip over from landing on their back.
• They can pop 6 inches into the air.  whoa!
• They spend the winter underground
• The official name is Alaus oculatus
• They like rotting logs
• The adults eat flower nectar
• The larvae of the click beetle can be a big pest for crops!
• They can be found throughout the Eastern US as far West as South Dakota

Here are some cool night activities to try with girls.  Remember to always check out the area in the daylight to ensure a safe area. Make sure you know the area well & that it is safe for this type of activity.

Beginner night hike

Before the hike, explain to the girls what will happen & make sure they know there is no talking once the hike activity begins.  Have one or two adults stay with the girls at a start point.  Another adult can move down the trail a comfortable distance.  The distance will vary by age/comfort level of the girls.  For very young girls, you should be able to see the group but stay hidden behind a tree.  The adult at the start of the hike, will send girls one by one down the trail at intervals.  The interval time will vary by age/comfort level of the girls.  The idea is to give the girls a chance to experience a solo night hike in a safe environment.  As each girl approaches the end, the second adult softly whispers to her & she joins the adult in hiding.  Variations: for very young or very frightened girls they can go in buddies holding hands (but no talking!).

Bug Activity

Hang a white sheet between two trees.  Have the girls shine flashlights on the sheet & see what insects are drawn to the light. Girls can also do hand charades on the sheet.

Constellation Finding Activities

Check out constellation books from the library if you are unfamiliar with the basic constellations.  Here are some fun activities:

• Have each girl look at pictures of the Big Dipper so they know what it looks like.  Then, make a tin can constellation.  Trace the pattern of the stars on black construction paper & poke through each ‘star’ with a nail.  Tape the paper onto a tin can &, in the dark, shine the flashlight through the can to illuminate the constellation on a wall.  At night, have the girls find the Big Dipper in the Sky.
• Once they find the Big Dipper, it is easy to find the North Star.  Find the two stars that make up the outer edge of the cup of the Big Dipper & draw an imaginary line away from the Big Dipper….you will arrive at the North Star.  The North Star is the tip of the handle of the Little Dipper.
• Repeat this activity with other constellations.  Orion is a good start point in the winter & from Orion it is easy to locate Taurus & the Pleiades (the seven sisters riding on Taurus’ shoulder).
• Show pictures of how the constellations look with their elaborate drawings added.  Tell stories of the constellations-keep it short and animated.

Winter Full Moon Hike

A great time for a hike is during the full moon (or near it) when there is snow on the ground.  The moon shadows on the snow are beautiful and the light will be enough to light up the hike.  A good activity for the cabin (or house) after the hike, is to have the girls draw a picture of the shadows they have seen.  Make sure to tell them to look for them as you hike along.

Candy Campfires are a great way to introduce campfire building & safety to young girls.  I have used many supplies for the campfires, but these are my favorite:

Supplies:

Paper towel or paper plate for each girl

Fire Source:  Red Hot

Fuel: Breadsticks or large pretzel sticks broken to small pieces

Kindling: Small Pretzel Sticks

Tinder:  Potatoe Shoe Strings (Shredded Wheat or Coconut are a better analogy but not as tasty. )

FireRing: Mini Marshmellows

Flame: Candy Corn or redhots

Bucket of Water:  Rolo

Adult:  Large Gummi Bear

Start the discussion, with the question, “What do we need to have before we EVER use any kind of match or flame?”.  Most groups will guess some adult, such as Mom, Dad, etc(Large Gummi Bear).  The second item is something to extinguish the fire in case it gets out of hand or when we are finished with it-bucket of water (Rolo).  After brief discussion, hand out the following candy & have the girls set out on their paper towel.

• Adult=Big Gummy Bear
• Water=Rolo

Next we need to make sure our fire is controlled.  So we preferably use an established fire ring.  We need to clear off everything that can catch fire, such as old leaves, pine needles, etc.  Have the girls brush their paper towel or paper plate.  In order to contain our fire, we will make a fire ring.

• Fire ring rocks=mini marshmellows

So, we have our safe area for fire.  We need to make sure we really need a fire & that we only use the wood we will need.  If we just want a fire for an hour, we would not want to use a lot of big wood, that would be wasteful.

Lead the girls in a discussion of what a fire needs to burn.  Keep it short & sweet.  Have them guess a few times & you will be surprised how many of them get the answers.  If they do not guess within a few minutes, give them the answers.

1. Fuel: Fires need a source to burn.  For our campfire, this would be wood, but could be anything such as paper, bark, or anything else flammable

2. Oxygen: Fires need air or they will go out.  That is why a good campfire will be stacked in such a way as to allow air circulation

3. HEAT: A source of ignition, such as a spark or flame

We need to place wood on the fire from small to large size, letting each level catch well as we add the next layer.  To illustrate why we need to start small & build bigger, say….’If I tried to light a big log on fire with a tiny match would it work?  How about if I tried to light a clump of dried pine needle?’  So we need to keep in mind that smaller fuel needs to catch fire before we add bigger fuel.

The safe way to add wood to a fire is to hold it at the bottom and add the wood carefully from the bottom of the fire area.  Hair needs to be pulled back and we never want to lean over a fire or throw wood onto it.

There are many types of fire we can make, but one of the easiest is the A frame.  Can you make an A with your Breadsticks?  Now we add our layers.  Put some Shoestrings on the cross bar of your A frame, and make a stack of pretzel sticks and breadsticks by your papertowel.

Now take your redhot & light the tinder…now add some kindgling…..last we will add some of our breasticks.  Wow, now that is a fire!  Girls can throw on some candy corn or redhots as the flame.

Invariably, girls will put the marshmallows on the pretzel sticks & pretend they  are roasting marshmallows.  All part of the fun!

After their attention seems to be waning, you can have them spread their fire out & pretend to spread water over it with the ‘Rolo’ water bucket.

Gladbags for take home candy.

Dani shows us why leaning over a fire without hair tied back is dangerous for girls.  The flames could reach up and catch the loose hair on fire.