Preparing for camp - hints? suggestions?

[JoePro]

Laura,

 

For fun we take spring-loaded clothes pins and write "Gotcha" on one side and "scout's name - Troop 109" on the other side. The scouts try to clip the pin on a staff member without being caught. I give an "amazing prize" to the scout that clips the camp director.

 

Also, we have a troop washing machine. A five-gallon bucket with with a small hole in the lid where the toilet plunger handle comes out. Operates like a butter churn. Scouts think its fun.

 

We also have a Clean-Camper Award for each scout who showers every day. The award is usually a rubber duck. This year we're raising the requirements for this award to include a clean tent. This means all their gear must be neatly stowed away and their tents in order.

 

That's some of the fun things we're planning for camp.

 

JoePro

[Eamonn]

JoePro,

We used the "Washing Machine" That you describe.

Found that you only need a very small amount of Tide.

Use too much, and you have hard time getting rid of all the suds.

This could be due to the fact that we used it ...

Wait for it..

OUTIDE.

[SagerScout]

OK, we only had 3 kids at camp, one first-timer, one old-timer (my son, age 15) and one for whom this was his second summer camp.

 

The first-timer was a very, very shy boy who has been in the troop for a while but hasn't advanced a bit although he's met many individual requirements. He likes my son, and his mom said knowing my son was going was the only reason he agreed to go to camp. He and my son bond over video games, which gives you a clue how physically fit he is.

 

Monday, he asked to call his mom, and asked a number of other questions that led me to believe he was counting the moments until he could go home again. We were deliberately vague about how possible that was, truthfully telling him that my cell phone didn't work out there and that we weren't real sure if the pay phone at the dining hall would work - but that we would check at the SM meeting Tuesday morning how he could call home, and that he should get back to us about it on Tuesday or Wednesday. The boy was clearly a bit homesick but not miserable, just wistful and rather tired from all the walking around. He accepted our explanation all right. I called his mom and reported that he had asked, and that if she TOLD us to, we would let him call her - but that we advised against it for at least a couple of days. She agreed it was wise to hold off a bit.

 

It didn't appear to cross his mind again. By Tuesday, he voluntarily invited a staff member to sit with us at lunch. I almost fell off my bench. Wednesday he was cracking jokes with the other 2 boys in our troop, and even popped one off at my expense (not offensive, but quite funny in context). Thursday he packed his pack himself and headed off with the rest of the Rangers for a 5 mile overnighter, not a word of complaint.

 

His mom came up on Friday morning and he barely had time to say hi to her as he had places to go and people to see....

 

[LauraT7]

Doesn't that just give you that warm, fuzzy feeling? Watching them bloom like that just makes everything worth it, doesn't it?

[LauraT7]

ok - here's what i found useful at camp -

 

ALL your advice!

 

but also -

 

the lost and found box - esp since it rained everyday - an empty extra cooler became our lost and found. a rubbermaid box or even a cardboard box might work - but i like waterproof.... esp for mildewy stuff.

 

waterproof matches

 

extra tarps! you can NEVER have enough extra tarps! for Shade, rain, wind - or to just sit out on - or for the boys to make their own shelters and sleep out in... lots of reasons.

 

Also - at the last minute we were mysteriously locked out of the storage area where we keep the troop shelter/ tent. So we didn't have it at camp and it rained all week. Luckily I had brought a HUGE extra tarp and some other tarps, and the boys made a shelter out of them - or we would have really been wet all week!

 

waterproof matches

 

a heavy staplegun and/ or pushpins for bulletin boards and notices

 

a dry erase board for announcements and duty rosters, notes - etc.

 

a battery clock

 

We didn't check on toothbrushing - but a couple of us did start a 'toothpaste spitting contest' one night that I'm sure encouraged some to get out their toothbrushes that otherwise wouldn't have...

 

We did tell everyone that they 'must' get a shower on tuesday and stretched it to wednesday - most did.

 

we suggested the boys turn funds over to us and we'd put them in marked envelopes - but we didn't follow thru on it - we forgot the the envelopes. We did have LOTS of lost wallets, actually - lost everything! One boy made me smile though - he said - "mrs T? will you hold on to my last $10 so i won't spend it? i want to be able to get something to eat on the way home! LOL!" so i did.

 

waterproof matches

 

 

 

 

[Eamonn]

Don't these postings make you want to be a Scout again?

Laura think about investing in a Zippo, you can relight the used matches.

At the last Jamboree I took a large plastic bucket with a tight fitting lid, for each Scout.

The idea was that they would not be in camp very much, so they could use it for storage and keep things dry or just keep the smelly stuff in??

As it happened we didn't get the buckets to transport the gray water to the waste disposal. We had extras so we were able to share them with the Troops camped near us.

They also make great seats and the lids are giant frisbees - Just don't let it hit you - It hurts.

[DRussell1187Eagle]

Laura -

Your file idea sounds really good. I'd include extra paper and pens/pencils. Those are some of the things that easily disappear into tents and get lost. The 5 gallon buckets are a good idea, but most of our kids have already gone to Walmart and bought the fold-up camp chairs with the carrying strap, so whatever works for your troop. Being from FL, we really watch what the boys drink (not just during the summer either!) and insist that the boys ALWAYS bring cup/bottle to camp.

Another thing we do in my troop when we get to camp is to make sure that the entire troop stops by the snack store. We do this so that the staff there gets to see our entire troop. The real reason is so that we can let everyone know that our boys are NOT allowed to purchase any soda or candy during the day. (Digesting the extra sugar just heats up the body anyway.) Most evenings after dinner we will go over to the store as a group and we let them buy something then.

One last thing, (I'm sure your already back, but you can still do this) we always have the entire group circle up at the end of every campout. We go around the circle and everyone tells 4 things: what he liked, what he disliked, what he learned, and what he could have done better. Even the adults participate, and all the normal circle-type rules apply. You'll be pleased what the boys will tell you; at the very least you can learn what they don't like doing.

 

Good Luck!!

Charles

[Eamonn]

As part of the fee for the last Jambo we had everyone fitted out with a fanny pack that had two water bottles.

We asked all the Scouts and leaders not to leave the camp site without making sure that they were full.

I'm not a great soda pop drinker, but those ice cold sodas from the machines were just tooooo good, to pass up.I don't care if water is better.

[LauraT7]

Actually - i did tell the boys, put on the camp list and parent booklet, and repeated until blue in the face -

 

BRING paper, pens, a fanny pack, hat and water bottle - over and over -

 

still.....

 

all week I heard

"Mrs T? do you have a pen/ paper I can borrow?"

me, "where's yours?"

kid, "I left it on the bus", (also: i left it back at camp, i lost it, i forgot, i can't find it, mine broke, etc.)

 

Good thing Mrs T knows the scout motto! LOL!

 

Another thing we found handy from one of our fundraisers - we would sell bottled water at fairs and events, and to keep it cold, we would freeze some of the bottles. Well, we always take some 'healthy snacks' along with us to camp, and have lerned to freeze milk jugs and bottled water rather than buy bag ice. Those frozen water bottles are better than a coke on a hot day! you can carry them around on your bike for quite awhile - drink 'em as they melt - and use the cold bottle to cool down the back of your neck or the inside of your wrists, etc. I keep frozen water bottles at home for road trips now!

 

laura