Children's Bushcraft

[belzeebob23]

On my first trip out with my 4 year old daughter, a few years ago now we
Slept under a low tarp, she baked I was frozen.
Made a fire
Explored

Now she is 9 she can easily with a friend
Make a fire from a spark
Put up a tent
Put up a hammock and tarp
Use knife for whittling under supervision
Follow a simple orienteering or 'treasure hunt' route with a compass
Look after her kit, kinda
Know what to do in emergencies
Cook a full breakfast on an open fire
Make a roasting stick and rest for marshmallows
Get a pretty neat groupings with an air rifle at 20 yds

I usually take a mate of hers and dad, then i get some beers in the evening.

Skinning rabbits in half term

Hey Langers I know some adults that u're kid would put to shame.
bob

 

[TwoSticks]

My two year old daughter and I had a great day today. We harvested some Willow shoots for a bit of weaving ( I hesitate to say basket making looking at the results!) She's an expert at running her hands along them to strip the leaves off. Then, since we had dirty hands we put some water in a bucket, picked some horse chestnut leaves and spent an hour playing with the liquid soap we made from them.

I've got lovely soft hands now too....

 

[Fallow Way]

One of the main reasons I do the job I do is that I honestly believe the most potent form of environmental sustainability is to provide the next generation with opportunities to feel the value in looking after nature for themselves. You can tell them sure, but allow them to have an honest and exciting relationship with nature themselves and this is what will last the rest of their lives.

Personally also, one of my main interests in learning bushcraft is so that I have a teaching which I value as having worth to pass onto my children (the first of which is on the way and due in December!!! ) and something that can teach them a great deal about life, the world they live in and to help them to become well rounded, independent people.

 

[Mang]

This has been done before on other threads but there's a lot of pics that don't display. I also can't see any pics on here so I'm doing a stripped down version.

Take one plastic bottle (this is a three litre one).

Cut it around the neck and reverse the cut bit in to make a Lobster pot design. Push a hot metal skewer through both the body and the reversed top and secure with freezer bag ties. Add some string to lower it in and out. Finally, fill with a few stones and a bait.

I've tweaked the colours and circled an American Signal Crayfish that showed some interest (probably mooched off when it realised it was only bread on offer =D).

Now from what I've seen Minnows are as greedy as they are dumb! Other fish are more cautious.

This is a modified fish trap. It has the string to give the crabs purchase and a line of weights inside, finishing with a weighted bait box…

…There were three in this trap but two managed to leg it before I could take the picture. I reckon if the mouth were cut smaller and a frill cut around it like it would be a decent crayfish trap too. I noticed a prawn trap in a fishing shop which was essentially two of these together dimension wise, that size trap might have caught this fella when I tried it the River Dart…

I’ve seen woven baskets on the River Test which are used at night to catch these beasties.

I also had some success with a modified pier landing net by putting stones and a bait box in. As mentioned I other threads it was effective at catching prawns.

 

[wildelycreative]

There's a book with lots of ideas for bushcrafting with children. Go Wild! by Jo Schofield and Fiona Danks. ISBN 978-0-7112-2939-6

 

[gsfgaz]

my boy loves the outdoors , he's 10 now but i've been taking him oot for years . now he can spot plants , animals , birds .. he love's it just like his auld da .. but we've always stayed in tent's nevar a hammock.. but i hope to change that ..

 

[OutdoorAnge]

My kids love carving as part of their bush craft activity, obvously you need to be able to supervise them quite carefully, as it does involve using knives...especially the boys, they love the chance to be able to use knives!

 

[Bush Monkey]

I think that There should be more courses and things avaible for younger people. 13 and my mates arent interested in the outdoors and it makes me feel as if that we are soon gonna lose interest in this sort of thing and all this knowledge will go to waste. so if there were more courses out there then maybe more kids would be intersested.

 

[scott mcmillan]

having worked with children in the outdoors for years. the basic bit is have fun.
let them try stuff and along the way show them how to do bits better.
but only in little bits.
if you do it like this you can teach children anything from fire lighting to using knifes
dont get hung up on structored learning . make it fun and they will come back to learn more

 

[sprucegoose01]

Quite interesting

http://bushcraftandsurvival.blogspot.com/2009/12/top-5-adventure-holidays-for-kids.html

 

[bighead]

Hi, im a forest school practitioner and i take groups of children into the woods to give them experiences of things such as leaf/tree i.d., tracking, knots, fire skills , campfire cooking, leaf litter, camouflage, carving, working with tools but most importantley to respect our outdoors. All the children love the sessions and don't want to come home and if we can teach the children at a young age they will look after thier own future, they range form 5yrs -11yrs and they love it. Get the kids popped out of the classroom cotton wool and into the outdoors!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[JamieG]

All children these days like to be given some freedom and trust. I find that the rigid constraints of school need to be balanced with some adventure outdoors. By giving young people the chance to explore the great outdoors with some fun learning thrown in they will appreciate it for a long time to come.
I teach bushcraft to Scouts and have found that given some instruction then time to practice, the youngsters relish the opportunity to show off their new found skills. Just after I taught fire stick lighting, our local stockist ran out within a few days. We go out into the woods throughout the year come rain or shine. The only complaint I had was from one parent who was not happy their child was almost covered in mud (to be taken home in a leather seated car) BUT with a huge smile on his face.
I agree, get the children outdoors more.
JamieG

 

[Wayne]

Teaching children bushcraft is one of the most rewarding parts of my day. Its great to see a young person how to walk softly in the wilderness.

I work with a lot of troubled youth, enabling them to make sense of their own chaotic behaviour and that actions have consequence.

 

[Nyayo]

OK - my boy will be 10 at the end of the month - what bushcrafty item do I get him for his birthday? He has a tarp, hammock, backpack. SWMBO says 'no knives'...so what can I get him??????

N

 

[dasy2k1]

decent LED torch? set of billies? wonder what the SWMBO would think of a trangia like mini stove? :grin


back on topic im a socut leader in manchester and hoping to add a lot more of the outdoors to what we do... now the nights are getting lighter this will certianly be easier!

anyway there are some great ideas in this thread, hopefully once ive honed my own skills a bit more i can pass some of them on!

 

[sccadmin]

I think that There should be more courses and things avaible for younger people. 13 and my mates arent interested in the outdoors and it makes me feel as if that we are soon gonna lose interest in this sort of thing and all this knowledge will go to waste. so if there were more courses out there then maybe more kids would be intersested.

Hi Bush Monkey, it is getting better on the courses front, at least the 'commercial' courses, still very few free or low cost ones. In particular you might be interested in Bushcraft Ventures Ltd, they do the usual bushcraft introduction courses for 2 days, family courses for 2 and 5 days but also a 5 day root skills course for young adults aged 11 - 16, google them and see what you think, there are a few others also.

 

[Hare Brain]

I whittled my lad, who is 5, a little bowie 'letter opener' from holly, and stabilised the, shall we say 'functional end' with wood hardener. Depends what you want to call it I guess, but he definately likes it! Maybe a hand carved spoon, mug, pan stirrer or porridge spurtle 'd be more likely to get past SWMBO though. My son also appreciated the anti-midge head-net last time we camped.

 

[Moff8]

I recieved an email from this lot http://www.blueskiesearthskills.co.uk/ a couple of weeks ago. I have no association with them etc. I did a firelighting and tracking course with them and thought it was pretty good.

I did have a couple of reservations regarding the camp cooking being vegetarian (next time I would make my own evening meal, I drag my knuckles and I like meat ) and there not being any dry tinder during the firelighting (we had to source it from the local woodland, which most of us managed but some didn't, a bag of rabbit hay would have been useful)

My niece is interested in going along on some of the courses as she is pretty keen on the outdoors.

 

[stienthor]

recent yrs I have gotten back into bushcraft, and been takeing my 8 yr old son out with me and now that my daughter a little older (6) and keeping there interest up with nature I have found inventive ways to teach, and keep there interest up all at once.
when out camping I will clear off a bit of ground down to the dirt. After loosening the dirt up and leveling it, we throw different foods on the area near the center (seeds, vegie's, meat) each food placed nin its own spot. then we leave it. come back a day or two later and although it not always work, we often have food missing, and some tracks to look at.
Another activitie is to take a board, or small log and drive some very long nails through it. attach a rope, and you have a tool to make markings on the ground. the idea is for the kids to track you. your job is to make it as easy or difficult as there skill level by going over different terrains. this game teaches some serious observation skills.
I started by talking about knife safety as i was doing things in camp, and as time went by with my being there i started letting my son use knifes. he started by makeing tent pegs, and different utility things. he has now graduated to owning his own knife, used only with my supperviseing him, and has begin his first real carveing project. He has started makeing him self a bull roar which is nothing but material removal and some very basic shapeing. perfect for his skill level, and gives practice in basic knife techniques
I also introduced my son and daughter early on to fire building. first helping me collect the different sized components and my son has now gotten to the point where he makes the camps fires by use of match's.
one thing I have learned to be very help full is to explain things in aspects of law. law being it has to be down that way. fire building being an example, although it can be done in many different ways there are certain things that do not change from method to method. that is law.
now I have to admit none of the above are original ideas. sources have been from many old timers in my area who gave me the ideas, or in one case a western book( the patch of dirt and food to see tracks)

 

[mojo]

HI, i was interested to read your post especially about you introducing and allowing your son to use a knife. I have a 10 year old who will be coming with me to our 2nd Moot next week and would like to get him a knife and wondered if you could recommend one for young kids that are both safe and functional.

Thanks

Mojo