Ive just come back from an evening out in the woods with one of our patrols of 6 Girl Guides. They are all very young 10 & 11 and havent been in guides long but as a patrol they wanted to do their survival badge.
Tonight they were to be building shelters. Looking at the weather ( high wind and heavy rain) I was beginning to wonder whether it was a good idea. At 7pm they all dully turned up looking very excited and nervous, and I decided that wed better go.
After a quick check to make sure they all had some waterproofs. I told them to turn their torches OFF!
And off we went. Their was a lot of nervous chatter as I led them in to the woods by the village, to a spot I had scouted out earlier.
It was now pitch black and I let them turn on torches, with strict instruction not to shine them in peoples eyes. The spot I had chosen was under a huge holly tree, with some smaller trees surrounding it. When we arrived I asked what they were going to do, and immediately got some great suggestions out of them. I then asked if they had brought anything to build shelters with and to my amazement they had. Out came ropes and a ground sheet ( all I had said to bring was string and a torch) and one girl set to work tying a rope around a tree trunk, then tied of the other end on another tree. The groundsheet went over the top and was quickly pegged and weighed down around the edges. I just stood back and left them to it. Within 20 minutes they were all warm and dry undercover and eating a variety of snacks they had brought.
I was amazed at how well they worked together and how quickly they rigged up a shelter in howling wind and driving rain, in the dark too.
Best bit off the night for me was when they said this is the best thing ever then the youngest girl said well remember this for the rest of our lives. Of course I forgot the camer
Now they want to do it every week. Oh well, fire lighting next week.
Tonight they were to be building shelters. Looking at the weather ( high wind and heavy rain) I was beginning to wonder whether it was a good idea. At 7pm they all dully turned up looking very excited and nervous, and I decided that wed better go.
After a quick check to make sure they all had some waterproofs. I told them to turn their torches OFF!
And off we went. Their was a lot of nervous chatter as I led them in to the woods by the village, to a spot I had scouted out earlier.
It was now pitch black and I let them turn on torches, with strict instruction not to shine them in peoples eyes. The spot I had chosen was under a huge holly tree, with some smaller trees surrounding it. When we arrived I asked what they were going to do, and immediately got some great suggestions out of them. I then asked if they had brought anything to build shelters with and to my amazement they had. Out came ropes and a ground sheet ( all I had said to bring was string and a torch) and one girl set to work tying a rope around a tree trunk, then tied of the other end on another tree. The groundsheet went over the top and was quickly pegged and weighed down around the edges. I just stood back and left them to it. Within 20 minutes they were all warm and dry undercover and eating a variety of snacks they had brought.
I was amazed at how well they worked together and how quickly they rigged up a shelter in howling wind and driving rain, in the dark too.
Best bit off the night for me was when they said this is the best thing ever then the youngest girl said well remember this for the rest of our lives. Of course I forgot the camer
Now they want to do it every week. Oh well, fire lighting next week.
