Beavers & Bushcraft - Ideas?

[weekend_warrior]

Hi,

I've been invited by my sons Beaver colony to do "something bushcrafty" with them in September. I was thinking of some simple nettle cordage (i.e. take some fresh nettles, show the process then give them some dried nettle fibre to twist) But I'd like to do something that they could keep and would be a bit more meaningful - I was think a woggle or something...

Does anyone have any experience of doing this kind of thing with Beavers? Any suggestions of what to do?

TIA,

Rich

 

[Goose]

Maybe "friendship" bracelets with the nettle cordage?
Show and tell is usually popular, different pieces of bushcraft kit, hammock and basha. Maybe a nature trail or tracking, even tracking a person and domestic animals will keep attention for half hour or so.

My son is a beaver and the thing he enjoys most about bushcrafting is chilling in a hammock!

 

[g4ghb]

Thats a toughie Rich....


The closest they have in badgework is the outdoor challenge badge - bearing in mind the ethos of scouting is progressive training so you need to be wary of doing too much ~ that way you minimise the 'oh i did that in Beavers' when they are in cubs or even worse in Scouts!!

My wife is a Beaver leader and the closest they have done is melting marshmallows on sticks (and many found that a bit taxing apparently - they diddn't like the heat!)

Things like a walk in the woods pointing out trees and collecting leaves goes down well as many cannot even recognise an oak leaf!! - in fact walking in a wood is a HUGE adventure for many.

Personally I would do a walk and pick up bits and finish at a 'campsite' where they can sit under a tarp and eat hotdogs etc while you chat about / test what they have seen and perhaps show them some things you have made.

If you want to do some real bushcraft skills, offer your services to the Scout (and Explorer?) leader, they will jump up and down with joy! - in fact they would be extatic if you offered to become a leader!


sorry if i seem a little negative but it is a difficult section to do anything too involved. Yes you can probably easily make nettle string with your son on a one to one but with a group I personnaly wouldn't entertain it.

 

[g4ghb]

having read gooses suggestion - i do like the idea of friendship braclets as a keep sake - you maks up enough beforehand to hand out at the end as 'prizes' for taking part and you can show them the process for making it during a show and tell session

 

[Toddy]

If you can find a *safe* nearby bit of mixed woodland, plot out a treasure trail for them to follow......."ten paces to the oak on the right. Now draw the leaf and can you find acorns and oakgalls", kind of thing.
If you stick to 15 or 20 *stops*, it's a good long outing and you can always fit in things like "now walk like an ant for twenty paces", three of them walk in a chain kind of thing, or do 15 star jumps. Kids that age love these events. When they get back to base (or the campfire) have them draw out the map in charcoal, since they've only had written or verbal instructions. The different activities help fix individual trees and landscape features in their minds.
Best of luck with it all.
Cheers,
Toddy

 

[stovie]

The one thing our Beavers love doing is building leaf shelters. They don't have to be perfect, but they understand the principles.

And while sitting around the campfire with hot dogs made over the fire, go through your rucksack and demonstrate some of your kit, like a firesteel or show them how to sling a hammock or tarp.

Have fun

 

[Stew]

If you can find a *safe* nearby bit of mixed woodland, plot out a treasure trail for them to follow......."ten paces to the oak on the right. Now draw the leaf and can you find acorns and oakgalls", kind of thing.
If you stick to 15 or 20 *stops*, it's a good long outing and you can always fit in things like "now walk like an ant for twenty paces", three of them walk in a chain kind of thing, or do 15 star jumps. Kids that age love these events. When they get back to base (or the campfire) have them draw out the map in charcoal, since they've only had written or verbal instructions. The different activities help fix individual trees and landscape features in their minds.
Best of luck with it all.
Cheers,
Toddy

I like this idea Toddy. It involves them in an activity without being dangerous.

Re: nettle cordage - I like the idea as it's a "basic" craft they can learn but do you think that nettle would be the best choice? I've struggled to make decent cord from it in the past as the nodules on the stem make it a bit uneven and just generally inconsistent.
I've had much better success with Lime bark. If you want to show them the process of how to get from bark to cord you could have examples in different stages :

• on the branch,
• removed from the branch showing how hard it is
• retting in the water - I'm sure you would get some groans about the smell!
• dried ready for processing

If you want help retting a load down for them to twist into cord them give me a nod and I'll give you a hand.

 

[Big John]

It's defiantely tricky at this age, I wouldn't attempt nettle cordage with them as their attention span will be roughly 30s!

A walk in the woods as already suggested would be good, maybe ending at a 'camp' where you've already put up your tarp and hammock for them to play in, and demonstrate lighting the fire with a flint & steel /firesteel, maybe collect some blackberrys or hazelnuts on the walk for them to try (check out those allergies first!!), and if you have a nice small fire going then try getting them to do some marshmallows on sticks (we use wooden kebab sticks 'cos we're lazy!). Finish off with a couple of songs round the fire - ask the leader which ones they know.

Good luck & let us know how you get on.

 

[JohnC]

We did sticks and cords to make tripods at the Beavers colony. They had a good time doing it.

 

[pumbaa]

I read in a country life magazine where a women had got kids build fairy houses with natural things they find in the wood . The kids did some amazing little fairy homes . Ok I susspect that the boys may not go for that , but you could adapt it for their "action figures" and " barbies" . It would involve them using their imagination and basic bushcrafty skills in a manner that would probabley suit . I am sure they will come up with things most of us would never have thought of !!
The Children in the magazine had stairs that lead up to a knot in a tree , with a leaf door and porch . She had included a fenced of garden made of twigs that had a working gate and a little veg patch . I think they may enjoy that !
Pumbaa

 

[Bob]

Rich

A couple of suggestions -

1. Tracking and making plaster casts. Recce an area for trails or prepare a sand patch and use previously-made casts to create prints. Dental plaster can be bought from most chemists or art shops and isn't that expensive. Use cut off plastic bottles for mixing the plaster up in, and cut rings from bottles (or use card strips held by paper clips) as your moulds. Kids love mixing up the plaster and get to take home a cast too. On a reasonably warm day the casts will have set firm enough after 20 mins to allow for removal (test top with a finger first if wet then leave a bit longer).

2. Place man-made objects on either side of a woodland path for the Beavers to locate as they walk the path between two points (they must remain on the path!) Use things like a bunch of pencils hanging from a branch, toy creatures in the grass, etc. The idea is to make them really look for objects - this ties in nicely with how animals actually camouflage themselves. Award a small prize for the most observant if you wish!

Hope that helps

Bob

 

[fred gordon]

I like the idea of friendship bracelets. Depending on where you are you can weave them using 3 strands of rush. Tie the ends with bush string. Great fun, great keepsake and simple to organise.

 

[Bosun]

Lots of good ideas on here - I may use some of them for my Scouts!

It's an unfortunate fact of modern life that a lot of children find just going in to a wood a frightening experience. I took six 10 year olds into a beautiful, sunny beech wood recently, and it was clear that some of them found that a little un-nerving - going in to the wood, I mean. Not me taking them (I think).

So, how about getting them to follow a trail using traditional Scouting trail markers (you should be able to find them on t'Internet)? Post leaders and helpers around the trail so there's less chance of losing any. At the end of the trail have some of the activities suggested by others earlier in this thread.

If you have time, you could lay a separate trail for each Lodge in the Colony so that they don't just follow each other! Put the Lodge "leaders" - usually the oldest Beavers - in charge so that they get a bit of experience in leading others.

I wouldn't issue written instructions. A lot of 6-8 year olds will struggle unless the instructions are very, very simple. I'd suggest giving them very clear boundaries too. Things like "Don't cross any roads" and "Don't go off on your own".

Firelighting is bound to be a big hit. Modern children hardly ever see a real fire. I showed the 10 year olds I mentioned earlier how to light a fire using a fire steel and they were mesmerized. Marshmallows on pointy sticks are popular too. Actually, pointy sticks are popular on their own.

IHTH

 

[Zodiak]

My Explorers take the beavers "Camping" for an evening every year, but we are lucky because we have a box of old stuff that we have built up over the years and the HQ has a garden with fire pits dug round the outside.

We found the important thing is to keep them doing not watching, so we spilt them into their lodges (Patrols) and assign an Explorer to each one but as we only have an hour we have to occasionaly cut a few corners.

As a lodge they start by colecting the 1" sticks that we carefully paced around the HQ 10 minutes before they arrived, bring them back to their explorers and lay a wigwam style fire using tinder and handful of hay that the explorer "found" (often with a firelighter in the middle) along with a handful of kindling.

The one who collected most sticks gets to have first go at ligthing the tinder with a match, but even if it starts they all get to light one anyway and put it on the fire.

While that is settling in they put up an old hike tent (outer only) then got inside and lie down, but you have to be quite strict about who does what because there is always one who will be drawn to the fire and start poking it with a stick!

By this time the fire is normally ready (even if we have to help it along a bit when they are not looking) and the cook a tin of hotdogs in a batter up old billy suspened by a pot hanger stick. We have to do most of the work here but they actually hang the billy.

We use hotdogs because they are still OK to eat if the fire isn't really hot enough and we bring extra tins because at least one lot will end up in the fire.

They all get to help at every stage and they seem to love it, but the Beaver Leader has to go inside, she can't watch

 

[Big John]

Sounds like a great evening Zodiac, might get our Explorers to have a go at that!

 

[miniac]

Yeap, might have to pinch that one myself

 

[BIG_emu]

I'm a beaver leader, and I have found that running a few nights in the summer down at the closest camp , making shelters, melting marshmallows, etc. it goes down really well, you have to have the support from the parent aswell though. Last time I'm not sure who enjoyed it more the parents or the beavers. I've also offered to sort out a bushcraft-ish type camp for the summer

Ben

and I've just remebered a good one for the winter is to get a big sheet of material for each lodge and get them to paint it one week then the next week. set up a variety of different shelters inside (wigwams, toblerone tents , tarps, etc). but whatever you do make sure you've got something like a double surviaval bag under them during painting or you have to spend hours cleaning paint off the floor.