From Fire-Making to Folklore, AXL 7th Grade Students Experience the Magic of their First Time Camping. Written by AXL CAP Instructor Harmony Esqueda.
AXL Academy 7th graders prepped nervously leading up to their overnight CAP trip, asking many questions about tents, wildlife, trip location, etc. We practiced how to set up tents in class and students excitedly signed up to be chefs or on cleanup crews for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For many 7th graders this experience would be their first time camping.
We immediately started the trip off with a silly name game for students to continue to get to know our amazing co-instructors David and Shawn. The game is called Name Zap, in which one person in the middle of the circle points at someone who then ducks, and the first person to say the name of the person next to them wins. If they lose they go in the center of the circle, and so on. This game always wakes everyone up for the start of a long trip.
As soon as we arrived at Cheley, our site for the night, we all reviewed safety information about how to set up tents, and the process included David demonstrating by jumping into a sleeping bag liner and hopping around like a bunny. With one tent beginning to fly away in the wind, instructors helped students through the process until everyone was settled in and comfortable.
We divided the class into three groups for survival skills rotations, with each group learning a different essential outdoor skill: shelter building, fire making, and whittling. With much excitement and some frustration, students learned that patience and timing were key as they made s’mores sticks, practiced knot tying, and tended to fires during their respective rotations.
Some students flocked to the gaga ball pit during free time, while others kept practicing their new whittling skills.They also put their new fire-making skills to the test when the sun began to set and the chilly evening air wafted through camp. With a roaring fire going, students eagerly made s’mores. Everyone sat around the campfire telling spooky stories, including Mexican and Guatemalan folklore.
The next morning, we split off into groups to play a competitive game of Nature Scavenger Hunt. Students found juniper, raspberries, animal scat, and bird feathers. It was the perfect ending to a great trip full of first time outdoor experiences.
A big thanks to the funders and supporters that make the CAP class possible, including: Enterprise Holdings Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, Patagonia, PeyBack Foundation, Strear Family Foundation, Thorne Nature Experience, Tony Grampsas Youth Services Program and the Xcel Energy Foundation.
If you’re also passionate about getting students outdoors for first time camping experiences, please consider making a donation or becoming a monthly donor! You’ll help invest in our students, programs, and long-term sustainability and success!
