Outdoor skills

April 18, 2019

Review: Downsview Discover Center

What: Downsview Park is a former Air Force base that was decommissioned in 1995.  The base has been converted into a park that combines a number of land uses including an urban farming, indoor and outdoor play fields, storm water management, walking paths and natural areas.  There are also a number of former Air Force buildings rented to third party activities.

The Discover Center is the lower floor of a converted administration building, with two classrooms, washrooms and a cloak room.   The classrooms contain a large touch table and a number of nature related activities which the Guides were encouraged by the program facilitator to explore as they arrived and at lunch.  There is also a large aviation themed playground across the parking lot.

The Community Field Trips are 90 minutes in length and you have a choice of a half day program including one activity or a full day program including 2 activities and a lunch break.  They have a wide variety of activities to choose from some of which are limited by time of year and some would suit some age groups better then others. We selected Wonderful World of Trees and Compass Challenge.

In Wonderful World of Trees, the girls were taught tricks for identifying trees in the winter.  Then we went outside to one of the walking trails where the girls were split into small groups.  Each group was provided with a clip board, work sheet and tree guide and they were allowed to wonder though the paths at their own rate finding trees marked with numbers and trying to identify them.  Our Guides did great with most groups successfully identify most of the trees they found.

In Compass Challenge the girls were taught the basics of taking bearings with a compass and then played an outdoor game where they had to use their compass to solve codes.

With both programs we were really impressed both with the teaching methods used by the facilitator and at how absorbed our Guides were in the activities.

When: Our program was in April 2019.

Cost:  The Community Program was $10 per girl for a full day (2 activities) or $7 per girls for a half day (1 activity).

Booking: Booking was very straight forward and was conducted though an online form and follow up e-mails.

For more information see: https://en.downsviewpark.ca/educate/community-field-trips

Note: The road to get to the Discover Center is a little bit hard to find but all our parents reported no problem finding the place with the assistance of a GPS unit.  Also note that the area around the Discovery Center can be a bit windy.

March 15, 2019

Sun Down and Sun Up Challenge

The Sun Down to Sun Up challenge has been out for a couple of years but I haven’t featured it before.  It features skills useful at night (although many of the parts of the challenge can be done during the day). Glow in the dark crafts, astronomy and nocturnal animals are some of the topics covered.  It  would make a great theme for a camp, especially in the fall or winter, when you will have more night to work with.  Or for a Pathfinder/Ranger wake over.

March 13, 2018

3D Animal Tracks

This website contains 3D models of many Canadian Animal tracks.  They create the models by taking many (20 plus) photos of a track found in the wild from different angles.  In addition to the digital 3D models they also have created 3D printer STL files so if you have access to a 3D printer you can print out the models to show kids in the field.  The site also has instructions for taking your own photos of tracks you may come across to add to their database.  That might be a fun project for Pathfinders or Rangers.

 

The 3d animal tracks project

October 3, 2017

Soaping a Pot

Soaping a pot is a technique used to make washing pots after cooking over an open fire easier.  If your girls are new to the technique it is important to go over it carefully with them.  I’ve seen many rushed Guiders giving instructions that were misinterpreted by the girls.  This often results in soapy stew and is not recommend.

How to soap a pot: 

  1. Turn the pot over so the bottom of the pot faces upwards.
  2. Squirt a little liquid dish soap on the bottom of the pot.
  3. Uses your hand or a dish rag to spread the soap all over the bottom of the pot and up the sides of the pot but not in the pot.
  4. Cook over an open fire.  The outside of the pot will turn black.
  5. When it is time to do the dishes, you will find the black rinses easily off the pot.  Unsoaped pots require a lot of scrubbing to remove the black.

August 28, 2017

Buddy Burners

Traditionally I’ve always used tuna cans, but at a recent camp we tried small  individual serving cat food cans.  The Guider who collected them feeds her cat the food twice a day so the cans were easy for her to collect and used less wax then tuna cans.  It is easier to make buddy burners on a different day then when you want to use them.

Materials:

  • Small flat cans
  • corrugated cardboard
  • a wick or birthday candle
  • paraffin wax or old candles to melt down

Instructions:

  1. cut the cardboard so it is in long strips the same width as the height of the cans.
  2. Tightly wind the cardboard around a wick or birthday candle until it will fill the can tightly.  It may help to play with the cardboard some so it will be flexible enough to roll.  You want to fill most of the can with cardboard otherwise it will take A LOT of paraffin to finish the burners.
  3. Melt the wax in a double boiler.  It is often wise to use a can as the inside boiler otherwise clean up can be tricky.
  4. Fill the cans to the top with wax and allow to cool thoroughly.

Buddy burners can be used under a tin can stove or in a park bbq for some quick heat.  I recommend bringing an old flat pot lid or large can top to snuff out the burners when you are done.  Also pack some oven mitts.  Do not under estimate how hot the cans can get.  Be sure they are completely cool again before packing them away on a hike.

November 4, 2016

Tidy Camper Challenge

The Tidy Camper Challenge is a new challenge from the British Columbia Camping Committee. This challenge teaches the girls how to look after themselves, their belongings and their site at camp.

The challenge is divided into three sections:

  • Personal Belongings
  • At Camp
  • Core Challenges

Crests are available from the BC Provincial Office