Favorite Campfire Activities

[happytot]

We are having our first Pack Family campout in 2 weeks and have access to a very large OA ring with benches. We will have about 3 hours to do stuff at the campfire and want something organized.

 

What is your favorite campfire activity besides cooking s'mores.

 

Thanks.

 

Kathy

[OneHour]

Welcome happytot,

 

3 hours of campfire is a long time. 1/2 to 1 hour of campfire is better. After 1/2 hour, you will loose the youngest members of the family. After 1 hour, the cubs will loose interest. Any more than that, the rest of the pack will follow suit ... not to mention several trees that you will have to burn to sustain a 3 hour campfire.

 

We have a large pack (~100 families, but usually we get about 60 families to participate in the campout). At the campfire, seat your audience to one side with a stage in front of them if you are planning to do skits. If you plan to sing only, then a circle is better.

 

What do we do at our campfire?

 

1) First, we have a flag retirement ceremony about 15 minutes.

 

2) Each den picks one or two skits. If they don't come prepare, we provide one for them. Family can perform a skit as well. We have 10-12 dens, with 2 minutes a den, it took about 30 minutes. The dens practice their skits throughout the day.

 

3) We provide song sheets (the sillier ... the better, eg. Second Story Window, the Fast Food Song, God Bless My Underwear, etc...). We alternate between skits and songs. Skits seem to be the preferred entertainment once the boys get going! The songs take up about 15 minutes collectively.

 

4) 1-5 minutes of cubmaster minutes/ reflection.

 

5) Campfire ends

 

Families/Dens can have their own campfire, providing that there is a fire ring at their campsite. If not, they are more than welcome to stay at the pack's campfire and cook s'mores and marshmellow. Be careful, a large campfire is not a good place to cook s'mores.

 

The cubmaster and me (and eventually the other den leaders) usually have a pot of coffee or hot cocoa (craker barrel) going after the families have turned in (since the time that we camp, the weather is about 50 degrees).

 

Great weather for fellowship amongst the adults beside a pile of dying ambers underneath clear, cool, starry sky... priceless.

 

Have fun and good luck,

 

1Hour

 

ps: make sure that you have two or three crazy, funny leaders or parent to mc the campfire. When the parents are having fun, the boys will too (vice versa).(This message has been edited by OneHour)

[shanve]

OneHour- Do you really cook s'mores over a retired flag or have I read that wrong?

[Its Me]

I think in the baloo book there is an outline for a campfire program.

 

Three hours seems long to me too.

 

In general I love kid skits. The invisible bench, chair and fence skit will always bring a smile to my face. Mix in some songs and a few Books Never written jokes and wa'la', you'll have a good night.

 

 

[anarchist]

happytot,

 

Ditto on the three hour campfire....way too long...better an hour...if multiple fire rings are available, get the word out that afterwards the dens can do s'mores and cocoa at their own fire campfires (rings!). If your group is large, s'mores and toasted 'mallows tend to lend themselves to 'accidents' and mishaps...better done in small groups ...just be sure they remember to bring wood...(if it's necessary)...in many areas, after a busy summer camping season, many camp-sites have been "picked clean" of "easy firewood".

 

if you have the wonderful luck of having good Den Chiefs ask them to do a few "lead-in" skits...sort of an opening act. It sets the stage and helps the cubs "loosen" up and enjoy doing their own skits.

 

"muffin man" song (when expanded into the 'audience')helps loosen up the adults and gets them in the spirit of the campfire.

 

wind down with an "inspirational"...find a couple of good Scoutmaster minutes ... and as a closing, we always like to do a "scout circle" (scouts arms crossed {right over left..no the other right!}, facing the fire, hands joined )as a closing...Cubmaster will say, "may the great Scoutmaster of all scouts be with you until we meet again, good night scouts" (scouts raise arms and turn about without having to release the hands of their fellow scouts and quietly walk away)...effective and settling if done quietly...'course can be funny if the boys don't understand the technique.

 

have a few large buckets of water and a couple of shovels handy, appoint one or two of your den chiefs or parents as fire marshalls to watch for stray embers and to keep the fire under (watchful) control...garden sprayers (pump type)full of water are excellent for ember control!

 

one small "be prepared" for you; Know the fire regulations!Depending on your area and the rainfall situation. If your area has been dry (like ours has), you may find fire bans in effect...call someone ahead of time! If it is a park -the ranger station can tell you; if it is a commercial campground the operators will know...Sometimes it is an outright ban...some times it "only" requires all fires to be in a container with a steel screen (1/4inch) cover...we've been down that road...If you run into this find someone to cut a fifty-five gallon drum in half length-wise. four pipes welded onto each as legs or even just a couple of rows of cinderblocks can be used to stabilize the "cans". set side by side and covered with steel mesh, makes a fair "campfire"...this can keep you from having to cancel...but you need time to react, so call now if dry weather is an issue.

 

have fun and good luck

anarchist

 

 

[Lynda J]

Because of the seriousness of a Flag Retirement Cermony, we never follow that with skits and certainly not cooking over that same fire. Now cook on the fire first then as the closing portion retire a flag. That we have done. But normally our Flag Retirements are done as a totally serarate ceremony.

[Cubmaster Mike]

No more than one hour.

 

Remember to stage your campfire program like the fire itself. Start low and easy, build to a high point midway through (flames should be highest at this point), then stop addidng fuel and let the fire dwindle down as the program calms down in the same matter to a low-end closing and off to bed!

 

We start with a couple of songs, then have each den perform a skit or run-on mixing in songs. We do songs that everyone knows or repeat-after-me songs because otherwise everyone has flashlights out during songs or can't see the words, etc....

 

halfway through the campfire, mix in a shaggy dog story or two. We then open the campfire up to those boys who want to either tell a story or a joke- be prepared to jump in with a "tree check" if necessary.

 

End with an inspirational story.

 

CMM