Saturday, October 10, 2015

What to do if your scout can't go camping with his den?

This weekend was supposed to be our 1st camping trip with our pack but my son had a stomach virus that shot projectile vomit everywhere Friday.
He seemed fine Saturday BUT I didn't want to chance other kids getting it, so we stayed home. 
He was so disappointed!
Friday I had also built this big dome tent that fits 10 people in the back yard. When my son was sick all night Friday, I never had a chance to bring it down. 
So I promised that if he wasn't throwing up, that we could go camping in the back yard.
Well, guess what we did last night? Yup, camped out in the back yard!
My son, my niece, granny, daddy and I all slept in that tent last night. The kids stayed in there from 6:30 pm,, playing with toys, then later with Ipads when it was dark. We adults knew it would be boring for us, so we stayed inside until 9pm, watching TV.   No, we had no fire because I really didn't want to burn my grass and I was NOT going out and buying a fire pit. So there was no campfire songs, smores or scary stories. It was what some might call " comfy camping" or "lazy camping."
I have already signed up for a camp out that is not with our pack, so I'm not terribly worried about my son not completing his campfire requirement. We will just do that later!
But we did "try" to look at the stars. Yeah, in the city, you don't see a lot of stars. So that was a bust.
But, my son didn't feel so bad about missing his camping trip. That little effort really went a long way in cheering him up!

I knew his den was going to work on the " Tigers in the Wild" requirements, so the next day, we set out for a "hike." We have a small drainage/bayou in the back of the house, which was going to be our hiking place. We walked out the back gate and walked all the way around the area so that we could find our way to the front door. He had his backpack filled with hiking essentials ( Requirement 1). He carried his own bag ( Requirement 2). We stopped ans read the Outdoor Code an discussed what that meant ( Requirement 3). We stopped and discussed the Leave no trace behind principles for kids ( Requirement 3B). We looked at the animals and plants that we could see. That mainly consisted of bees, flowers and birds. I look pictures of whatever we could find.

That will help with Requirements 3C, 4 and 6. Requirement 5 will be done at the Sam Houston Camp out and #7 will be done on open day at Saint Francis Wolf Sanctuary. So by the end of October, he will be done with Tigers in the Wild!
So even if your child can NOT make your pack's camping trip, remember they can still find a different way to get the requirements done! And set up your tent in the backyard every now and then, your kids will love you for it!

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