Beat The Isolation: Get Your Family Camping Ready
Build Skills and Confidence
Spring is here, which means summer is around the corner. Unfortunately instead of planning summer trips, we are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time we are participating in our civic duty of social distancing, but that is going to be hard. With school out and most of us hunkered down in our houses it is easy to get bored, anxious or find yourself in front of a screen.
Here are ways to stay entertained and engage with the outdoors. We created a trail map of activities for your family to prepare for when it’s time to go camping. It is a way for your kid to understand the responsibilities they will have on your family camping trips. Think of it like the responsibility test parents give kids before adopting a dog. This checklist will keep your kids engaged and show that they are ready to join the family on camping trips. We know camping can feel like a lot of work but it can be easier if the family can chip in to lessen the load on the parents.
Have Fun!
OK, enough talk, time to start doing! Below is the list of tasks to complete and you can download the map (which is 4 pieces of paper to tape together). By the end you will be officially ready for a camping trip AND, if you send us a photo of your family’s completed map, your kids will get an official Titus Adventure Company Certificate of Readiness! Have fun, happy camping and stay healthy.
Your Challenges:
Read a nature book
Build a fort (and then clean it up)
Practice setting the tent up and taking it down. How fast can you do it?
Camp in backyard or basement
Stuff your own sleeping bag
See what is under a big rock
Dig up worms (handy for going fishing)
Dance in the rain/snow (it can be wet when you camp, don’t let it get you down!)
Stomp in puddles
Look at a map and find a trail
Find a walking stick
Finish a 2-mile Hike
Extra credit: carry backpack with water, snack, and packed lunch. Extra extra credit: you make a sandwich
Scavenger Hunt (here are the ones we have created)
Find 5 new birds
Merlin Bird ID App is a great free app that helps identify birds
Cook a meal and eat it outside (extra credit, eat sit on the ground)
Help with the doing the dishes without using a dishwasher
Practice washing your hands without a sink
Read a book with a flashlight
Brush your teeth outside using a water bottle
Spot a shooting star
Dig a cat hole, should be 6” deep (don’t need to actually use it yet…)
Play a game of go-fish (good practice for rainy days)
Create a self portrait out of leaves, sticks, and other foraged materials
Make walkie talkies
Make a musical instrument from things in nature
Learn to make a S’mores stick
Roast S’mores (make one for your parents first!)
Race leaf rafts down a stream
Make a bow and arrow with a branch and string
Identify 3 animal tracks
Build a bike jump
Press flowers in a book
Read about mountain and off-road driving
BONUS: Study 4WD vehicles and mechanisms inside the transfer case