Camp Friday Winter 2017: Wilderness & Survival Skills

From GARNA’s Youth Coordinator Emily Henderson:

As part of Salida Recreation’s Friday Enrichment Series, GARNA offered a 2-week session focused on Wilderness and Survival Skills January 27 and February 3. The program was open to students ages 5 to 8 and met in Chisholm Park.

The first week we investigated what you should carry if you are hiking or camping in the back country by going through the parts of a pack. The students put together a mini survival kit they took home to add to their own backpacks. We then talked about fire safety at home and in the backcountry. Students helped collect tinder and kindling to start a one match fire, practicing building their own arrangement of sticks to logs. As a group, we got our actual fire started and enjoyed cooking pigs in a blanket. The students did a great job and luckily we had warmth because the temperature only warmed up to 21 degrees during our 3 hour session!

We focused on building shelters during the second week of wilderness camp. Students built their own lean-to structures covered in spruce boughs and then spent some time inside investigating how warm, comfortable, and wind protecting their shelters really were! We practiced making our own cordage, a somewhat tricky task for 5 to 8 year olds, but some really got it and enjoyed it. Finally, we built paint brushes using spruce needles, feathers, pine cones, and dried flowers to try our hand at natural painting utilizing the unique textures of our brushes.

The students are really enjoying learning these hands-on skills. They offered stories of experiences they have had in the wilderness and brainstormed how knowing these skills will help them in the future. It’s awesome to watch curious minds explore what life as a Native American would have been like making their own rope and how they can puzzle piece logs to build a shelter. The students do a great job of working as a team and love spending every minute they can outside! GARNA will host a third session of Camp Friday on April 7 and we plan to take the students on an exploratory hike in our public lands!