Wish me luck!

[Stringmaker]

Next Monday (7th) I will be working with my first group of youngsters on-site at the experimental archaeology project I have joined as a volunteer.

They will be a bunch of 8 year olds yikes, and I'll probably have a group of 6 or so for an hour at a time. My plan is to do a journey back in time through the story of fire, starting with the combustion triangle, how modern methods work (lighter), then getting them to gather and build the materials they need for a basic teepee.

As they are a very young lot, the plan is to let them succeed, so I'll be using dry cotton wool/sawdust/hay, along with a firesteel and then flint and charcloth.

For those of you that have done this kind of thing with kids before, have you any extra advice/tips/tricks which engage your audience? The emphasis is very much going to be on "See it then do it".

Thanks in hopeful advance.

 

[ex member coconino]

Good luck with that. Tips? Having them do a quick activity before you start your story will burn up some fidget energy and help them concentrate, they could jump around pretending to be flames. I'd also split the six into two threes or three pairs for the practical, rather than each doing their own fire or all doing one. Something I've seen work well with children is to get them to write a wish (or their name or draw a picture) on a piece of paper and then fold it up, put it on the fire and watch what happens to it. Marshmallows are always popular.

 

[Stringmaker]

Thanks coconino.

Sorry yes I was going to split the group up into threes/pairs. I also misread your other suggestion as "they could pretend to be on fire!"

Not sure the project leader would go for that one...

 

[Osprey]

Hi Stringmaker, I do this fairly frequently with kids from age 8 upwards. It looks as if you have got it sorted really well from your post.

I do five minute fires. Basically I get them to gather two fistfuls of matchstick-sized sticks and two fistfuls of pencil-sized sticks, and I provide cotton wool tinder, or else charcloth and dry hay. Sometimes, if I have lots of out-of-date first aid dressings, I use them instead of cotton wool, and get the kids to pretend they are in a survival situation.
I think the key is to make sure they succeed, so I make sure there is plenty of the sort of dry kindling they need beforehand. Where are you diong this ? and will you need to bring in the kindling or can the kids collect it for themselves ?
I have managed this activity with a class of more than 25, by splitting them into groups of 4 or 5, at the end we choose the best fire and add bigger sticks to make a fire suitable for marshmallows.
Good luck with it all, but from your post I think you have got it sorted.

 

[ex member coconino]

By they way, I'm assuming due diligence has been paid to the H&S side. It might be useful to others here to know what sort of process you've had to go through on that.

 

[Stringmaker]

Hi Stringmaker, I do this fairly frequently with kids from age 8 upwards. It looks as if you have got it sorted really well from your post.

I do five minute fires. Basically I get them to gather two fistfuls of matchstick-sized sticks and two fistfuls of pencil-sized sticks, and I provide cotton wool tinder, or else charcloth and dry hay. Sometimes, if I have lots of out-of-date first aid dressings, I use them instead of cotton wool, and get the kids to pretend they are in a survival situation.
I think the key is to make sure they succeed, so I make sure there is plenty of the sort of dry kindling they need beforehand. Where are you diong this ? and will you need to bring in the kindling or can the kids collect it for themselves ?
I have managed this activity with a class of more than 25, by splitting them into groups of 4 or 5, at the end we choose the best fire and add bigger sticks to make a fire suitable for marshmallows.
Good luck with it all, but from your post I think you have got it sorted.

Hi Osprey, thanks for the feedback.

I'll be doing this in a woodland site (mainly coniferous but with some birch), but I'm taking no chances and will be bringing my dry tinder with me. As you say, it's important that they succeed, but if we experience problems gathering enough kindling then in my view that's an equally important learning i.e. the importance of dry fuel. I'll report back next week!

 

[Stringmaker]

By they way, I'm assuming due diligence has been paid to the H&S side. It might be useful to others here to know what sort of process you've had to go through on that.

Oh yes, I'm security clearance level 5!

The mandatory stuff for this particular project was the enhanced CRB check, basic food hygiene certificate and emergency first aid training, all paid for by the project.

Now it's payback time...

 

[Stringmaker]

Never mind hungry bears, raging rivers, frozen wastes and all that stuff; a group of expectant 8 year olds is far more terrifying...

Yesterday afternoon was the first time I have worked with kids, and I was showing them firecraft. For the benefit of anyone else new to/considering this kind of thing, here's how it went.

Right from the beginning my plan was to let them succeed in making fire, rather than be too hung up about method/technique/context. I had 7 of them to work with and got their interest right away by demoing the firesteel; they loved it, it was like an early fireworks night!

I then showed them how I had built a nest of tinder, comprising sawdust and hay, with a char cloth "egg" in the middle, then dropped a few sparks on it and let them see the cloth glowing. This bit was pure theatre; every time I blew the ember there was a chorus of "Ooooh!" and "Awwww!" as (to them) the cloth flared and then went out.

Once the bundle was smoking I just held it out and they all helped to blow it into flame, followed by a group cheer. After that, I helped them all build their own tinder nest and then went round the group one at a time (with the rest of them "helping"). We didn't get anywhere near growing or sustaining the fire proper, just making sparks, smoke and flame was enough to keep them happy.

For future groups I will do the same basic thing but vary the degree of difficulty as appropriate, working through natural tinders etc and saving bow drilling for the gobby teenagers who think they know it all! :evilangel:

A very rewarding session, for me and hopefully for them too.

 

[ex member coconino]

Great! I'm glad it went well, thanks for the report. When's the next one?

 

[John Fenna]

That sounds like fun!
I am glad it went well

 

[Stringmaker]

Great! I'm glad it went well, thanks for the report. When's the next one?

Thanks, I was pleased with how it went. It's a great visual activity for kids of that age to try.

The next one is looking like a slightly older group (middle school) at the end of this month.

 

[Osprey]

Glad it went well Stringmaker. I'm sure it will have given your confidence a boost. I had two gobby 11 year olds yesterday, who knew it all ! so I got them to do the demo. It sure shut them up, but they rose to the challenge and ended up doing a good job.
Well done !

 

[Stringmaker]

Cheers Osprey,

You're right, it did boost my confidence. I'm not new to presenting to groups but I am with kids.

Good tip about getting the gobby ones to do the demo; I might need that!

 

[Gibbo]

I've recently been trying to teach my kids how to light a fire using a fire steel and cotton wool. My oldest, who's 8, has only been trying for a couple of weeks and is getting quite proficient to the point where I've hardly prepared the kindling before the cotton wool has been lit and gone out. This weekend we'll be trying the wax dipped cotton wool balls I prepared the other night as an experiment to see how long they burn for.
Gibbo.

 

[Stringmaker]

I've recently been trying to teach my kids how to light a fire using a fire steel and cotton wool. My oldest, who's 8, has only been trying for a couple of weeks and is getting quite proficient to the point where I've hardly prepared the kindling before the cotton wool has been lit and gone out. This weekend we'll be trying the wax dipped cotton wool balls I prepared the other night as an experiment to see how long they burn for.
Gibbo.

Hi Gibbo,

I notice that you are in the same neck of the woods as me, but I'm a bit further up the A12.

From the session with the kids I did, what was great fun for them was using charcloth and a fire steel, on a sawdust/hay bed. Blowing this into flame takes longer but is much more visual and involving.

Have fun!

 

[Manacles]

Asking them if they know "what this is"/"why we do it this way"/what they think tends to help as it involves them. But it is easier than you think it will be as they are used to the idea from schooling. As Coconino said a quick ativity seems to burn off some of the excess enthusiasm.

Good luck!

 

[Stringmaker]

Asking them if they know "what this is"/"why we do it this way"/what they think tends to help as it involves them. But it is easier than you think it will be as they are used to the idea from schooling. As Coconino said a quick ativity seems to burn off some of the excess enthusiasm.

Good luck!

You're dead right; I used a lot of open questions, even when I struck my Zippo to "make fire" the quick and easy way.

 

[Manacles]

You're dead right; I used a lot of open questions, even when I struck my Zippo to "make fire" the quick and easy way.

Took me a little while to learn it when I first starting leading Scouts. I remember the lad who said "not axe sharpening again, we've done that sooo many times" fortunately one of the other leaders was there and chipped in with "as you know how to do it xxxx you can show us" that was a useful trick I've remembered and used since

 

[Gibbo]

Hi Gibbo,

I notice that you are in the same neck of the woods as me, but I'm a bit further up the A12.

From the session with the kids I did, what was great fun for them was using charcloth and a fire steel, on a sawdust/hay bed. Blowing this into flame takes longer but is much more visual and involving.

Have fun!

hi Stringmaker - Actually in Hadleigh, where are you? I was going to try and get my kids to prep and make the fire without my interference at all tonight and see how they get on. Might even take some photos and post them later.
Gibbo.

 

[Stringmaker]

hi Stringmaker - Actually in Hadleigh, where are you? I was going to try and get my kids to prep and make the fire without my interference at all tonight and see how they get on. Might even take some photos and post them later.
Gibbo.

I'm near Benhall.

How did it go with the kids fire?