A Summer of Family Fun
by Deann Curtis
This year, my family is going to have a fun summer! We are going to make
memories together. No, we aren't going to spend our summer at a theme park. We aren't putting in a new backyard pool. We aren't even planning on taking
the kids to the latest release at the movie theater. Well, then what are we planning on doing? Camping! Camping? Yes, camping. We are going camping.
We are signed up to go to day camp with Camp Fire. Our Camp Fire club is also planning an overnight camping trip. We even have reservations at the
local state campgrounds for just our own family.
You might be asking yourself, "Just what is so special about camping?" I mean after all, what can be so fun about sleeping on the ground and eating
burnt food? The fun part of camping is doing it together with your family. We will be cooking out, playing games, challenging ourselves and treating
ourselves to some new forms of recreation. Well, they are not completely new. My husband and I have both camped before. But not since we have been
married. So, in a way it will be new.
We have been learning some outdoor cooking methods from Camp Fire friends and from some sites on the Internet. First, we built a reflector oven out of a
box and some aluminum foil. So far we have baked fish sticks, biscuits and a cake. They have all turned out great. Our daughter Esther, is going to be
sleeping over at our Campfire Day Camp so she got a mess kit to use on her camp out. She has been practicing using her pans for outdoor cooking. It
has been wonderful for her to learn some more cooking skills. We also plan on learning to use a Dutch oven for baking on our camping trips. One more
item we plan on making is a solar oven. It will be fun to build it and a learning experience using it.
We will also be learning some other skills while we are camping. We will practice reading maps and using compasses, with the children when we take our
hikes. We will learn teamwork skills as we depend on each other to eat and to entertain ourselves. We hope that new bonds will be formed within our
family and that old ones will be strengthened. Just being away from the TV, the radio, the computer and the telephone will be hard for us at first. But
we are starting with short, one night stays. As we get more experienced, we plan on lengthening our trips.
I plan to pack a few special things for each child. They will each take a special blanket and a few toys packed in a back pack. I also plan on packing
a couple extra outfits for each child.
Our plans for entertainment and activities are tentative at this point but we do have some ideas to get us started. We will set up camp. The children will
help us to set up a hand washing station complete with soap on a rope. We will take a hike on a trail. Then we will cook our meals together. We want
to take some pictures throughout the trip. We could play a guessing game, sing some songs around the campfire and work on some craft projects.
Will we be spending a lot of money on these little trips? No, not at all. We bought the tent last year for Christmas along with sleeping bags for
everyone. Aside from the food though, we won't be needing to buy much. Many of the things that you might want to take with you can even be made at home
ahead of time. Some of the things we will be making and taking are described below.
Fire starters
To make fire starters, melt down some used up candles and paraffin wax in a water bath. Take an empty cardboard egg carton and fill it with lint from
the dryer (finally a use for that lint you have been saving)! Then after the wax has melted pour it into the egg carton. Use two sections at a time to
light your campfire. Build a small pile of coals with the egg carton sections under them. Using a match, light the egg carton. After about 20 or
30 minutes, the coals will be ready to cook on.
Reflector Oven in a Box
To make this oven, we slid one box inside another box. Then we covered the inside of the box with aluminum foil. We built a rack out of skewers. Then
we placed cake racks on top of the skewers to make an even more stable rack. On this rack we can put an aluminum pan for baking. At the bottom of the
box, we put a couple of aluminum trays to hold hot coals from the BBQ. We put the coals in the bottom of the oven and the food on the rack. Then we
close up the box and wait for our dinner.
Hand Washing Station
Hang a roll of paper towels on a tree by threading a rope through the tube and tying it to a tree or table. Make a soap on a rope with grated hand
soap, cornmeal, water and baby oil all mashed together at the end of a loop of rope. And a jug of water and big bowl for washing hands in.
Hiking Packs
Fill a back pack with a bottle of water, some trail mix, a magnifying glass,
a bug box, a compass, a small pad of paper and a pen. Include a small first aid kit and a whistle too.
Rainy Day Bag
Pack a bag with some stuff just in case it rains. Include paper, color crayons, flash lights to make shadow puppet shows, a card game and a few
games such as checkers or Chutes and Ladders. We might even pack some paper dolls found at
http://www.makingfriends.com
Convenience Foods
We will be making our own convenience foods to take with us. Instead of buying pancake mix, we will be mixing up our own. We will pack all of the
dry ingredients into Ziplock® bags all mixed up. Then all we will need to do is add the liquids before we start cooking. Instead of taking frozen or
canned dinners, we will be packing some foil dinners that we will pack up ahead of time. For example, we can pack some meat and sauce in aluminum foil
packages. We can also slice up some vegetables to be cooked for our dinner.
In addition to camping this summer, we plan on doing some of our other favorite summer activities. These include: taking part in Camp Fire
activities, being part of our library's summer reading program, having movie night at home with kool-aid, pop corn and licorice, spending a few nights
watching the stars and learning about space, playing in the sprinkler in the backyard, going swimming at the park, visiting our local museums, taking
homeschool field trips and creating a summer scrapbook filled with our memories.
I hope that I have inspired you to think of some special things
you can do with your family this summer too. Even if you can't go camping, think about some of the things you can do and make the most of them. It
doesn't have to cost a fortune to have fun and to make memories together.
Copyright 2002 by Deann Curtis
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* If you like this article, you might also
enjoy reading... Tent Camping with the
Family: Getting Started
