Kids love camping, even if they've never gone. Just the thought
of sleeping in a tent, going on hikes, catching fish, swimming in a lake
or riding in a canoe, and gazing at the starry sky while toasting marshmallows
around the campfire ... well, it all sounds like fun to them. Lots
and lots of fun. And there's so much to learn about, they can hardly
wait to get started!
There are dozens of ideas here to be sure your classroom is filled
with happy campers. A camping unit can last a week or a month, depending
on how much you want to cover. Maybe you're looking for a great way
to begin or end the school year, complete with an overnight camp.
Or maybe you just want some new songs and poems and a good book or two.
Whatever you're looking for, you'll find plenty here to choose from.
So lace up your boots, load up your pack, fill your canteen with
cold lemonade, and don't forget your hat and binoculars. It's time
to hit the trail!
A-Camping We Will Go (tune: Farmer in the Dell)
A-camping we will go, A-camping we will go, Hi-ho and off we go, A-camping we will go.
More Verses:
First we pitch our tent Next we chop some wood We light the campfire now We cook our dinner now We tell fun stories now It's time to go to sleep
I'm Going Camping! (tune: Twinkle Twinkle)
I'm going camping, yes sirree! I'm going camping, won't you come with me? First we'll pitch our tent on the ground, Then make a fire as we all gather round. I'm going camping, yes sirree! I'm going camping, won't you come with me?
Next we'll cook on the open fire, Then till stories till we all get tired. When the stars are twinkling bright, We'll sleep in our tents 'til the morning light. I'm going camping, yes sirree! I'm going camping, won't you come with me?
When we see the morning sun, We'll wake right up 'cause the day's begun. There's so much that we can do -- Fishing, swimming, hiking, too. I'm going camping, yes sirree! I'm going camping, won't you come with me?
The
Kids Campfire Book Another must-have resource book that covers camping in detail, with lots of fun and games! I've used this one at school and with Cub Scouts.
The
Lost Lake by Allen Say Early one morning, Luke's father awakens him with exciting news of a camping trip: they are going to find the Lost Lake, a very
special and secret place Luke's father used to visit. Say's watercolor
illustrations make this book extra special.
Sleep
Out Eager to try out his camping equipment, young Christopher sleeps
out alone in the woods for the first time, and almost regrets that he didn't
wait for his father to come along. "A deep sensitivity to the world of
nature . . . is reflected in the harmony of story and pictures." -- Horn
Book Review
Our Hiking Song (tune: I've Been Working on the Railroad)
I'm a first grade explorer Exploring every day. I'm a first grade explorer, And I have a dream today. When I'm working or I'm playing And pretending what I'll be, I'm a first grade explorer, Exploring to be me!
Set the Scene
Camping Museum Children, their parents, you, and even the
principal bring in camping items and explain what they're for. Be
sure to make time for lots of questions, answers, and shared stories.
This is a great time for building connections and drawing on background
knowledge. Set the hands-off items up on the counter as a Camping
Museum.
Bulletin Board Make a floor-to-ceiling tree with a river, rocks, and a campfire.
Camping and Hiking Gear to Make Paper bag vests & paper hats
Binoculars Cover two tissue rolls with black paper and glue together. Add yarn to wear around neck.
Star Gazer Glue a circle of aluminum foil over one end of a tissue roll. Cover with colored paper, leaving both ends free. Using a toothpick, punch a few holes in foil end. Look through the other end and you'll see stars!
How Many Stars Do You See?
Twinkle, twinkle, One, two, three, How many stars do I see? Even in a space so small I could never count them all.
Five Little Stars
Five little stars, twinkling in the sky. The first one said, "This is much too high." The second one said, "I'm the brightest star of all." The third one said, "Be careful, don't fall." The fourth one said, "Isn't nighttime fun?" The fifth one said, "On no! Here comes the sun!" Then up rose the Sun, so high in the sky, And the five little stars said "Good bye!"
Reading Corner & Creative
Play
Set up a tent with sleeping bags, pillows,
and flashlights. Make extra tents the old-fashioned way ...
put a blanket over chairs or a table.
Bring in an inflatable boat with oars, life
jackets, fishing vests, hats, fishing poles and tackle boxes. Don't
forget a bucket to hold the fish!
Items for Creative Play picnic basket w/ plates & utensils camp stove mess kits maps compass binoculars kaleidoscope camping books from Auto Club canteens lantern flashlights cub scout handbooks backpacks small sleeping bags camp fire built of logs tied or glued together
Friendship Trail Mix Use peanuts, chocolate chips, Fruit Loops
cereal, mini marshmallows, raisins, M&M's or Skittles. Younger children count out 10 of each item. Older kids measure a scoop of each, then graph
their results before eating. Compare and contrast graphs -- did everyone
end up with the same number of raisins? Discuss why or why not. Make group graphs,
or a whole class graph.
Camping Trail Mix Store
Using the same materials as above, set the
items out in a center to be used as a store. Give children 25 cents
in assorted coins, and they get to shop. Everyone helps make price
signs and set up displays. Kids will take turns being the shopkeeper
and making change. Older kids can write a purchase list before they
buy.
Have You Ever Been Camping?
Yes
No
Give each child a 3 x 4 blackline picture of a tent to color
and write their name on. You could also graph whether they slept
under the stars, in a tent, or in a trailer or RV.
Let each of the children who've been camping tell a short story about
their camping trip, and allow the other children to ask questions.
Other Graphing Ideas Make a camping graph book from
any camping question, or collect all your graphs into one book!
What's your favorite forest animal? Have you ever been in a boat? Which do you like better, hamburgers or hotdogs? Have you ever seen the Big Dipper? Have you ever gone fishing? Have you ever gone on a hike? Do you like picnics? What color is your backpack?
Would you rather go camping
with Arthur or Little Critter?
Camping Picture Lotto Make a lotto card with one-and-a-half-inch
squares on it. Use a 3x3 grid for younger children, a 5x5
grid for older kids. Make a master sheet with the same size squares,
but at least 5 more than on the bingo card. Using clip art, paste
camping pictures in all the squares on the master grid. Pass these
out and the children choose which pictures to paste in their bingo squares.
When their cards are ready, play like Bingo.
Camping Story Problems Have children write and illustrate word problems, then make into a class book.
Camp Supply Sorting (sorting, classifying, categorizing) Collect a large assortment of camping supplies. Children will sort them into categories and then draw or write about
them.
Squirrel Nut Hunt &
Sorting Activity Hide nuts inside or outside, like you would for an Easter Egg Hunt. Younger children sort theirs by type ... walnut, peanut, pecan,
etc. Older children sort theirs, and they get points for each type of
nut. This is a good team activity, pairing older and younger students.
Patterns Children can make patterns from many materials ... leaves, rocks,
nuts, teddy bear counters, water bottles, backpacks, etc. For small objects, they can glue their pattern to a piece of paper
and label the type of pattern (i.e., ABAB or AABCAABC). For larger
objects, they can build their patters on the table or floor, then draw
their patterns on construction paper, write about them, and assemble them
into a class book.
Count on Ants Camping means warm weather and picnics, and picnics mean ants! (numeral recognition, counting, one-to-one correspondence)
Glue magazine and newspaper pictures of food to twenty paper plates,
then label the plates with a large number in the center, from 1 to 20. Put the plates in a picnic basket, along with a box or baggie full
of plastic ants. Children choose a plate at random, read the number,
and put the ants on the plate so they can eat the food! This is a
great Language Experience activity for younger children ... you could even
let them cut and paste the pictures to their own plates, glue on the the
ants, and then dictate a story to you. Mount the stories and paper
plates on red-and-white checked paper place mats (or weave your own) and
hang them on the wall.
Forest Animal Songs & Poems
Along the Trail
(tune: Skip to My Lou)
I met a bear along the trail, I met a bear along the trail, I met a bear along the trail, I stood very still.
Raccoon sleeps in a hollow tree While the sun shines on you and me. Sleep, raccoon. Sleep, raccoon, Warm and cozily.
In the darkest part of night Raccoon has the best eyesight. Look raccoon, Look, raccoon, My, your eyes are bright.
Raccoon hardly makes a sound When he prowls all around. Hunt raccoon, Hunt raccoon, Find food on the ground.
Mr. Squirrel
Oh Mr. Squirrel, Way up in the tree. I see you, Do you see me?
Oh Mr. Squirrel Collecting nuts in Fall, How will you remember Where you hid them all?
Campout Cooking
Smores Put a marshmallow and a Hershey kiss on a
graham cracker and melt it in a toaster oven.
Ants On A Log Spread peanut butter or softened cream cheese on celery sticks, and put raisins on top.
Popcorn Measure it before and after it's popped, and
have the kids guess how much it will make. Graph predictions
and results.
Happy Camper Fruit Salad Everyone brings a piece of fruit to share. Talk about fractions as you cut the fruit
up. Mix with orange juice or pineapple juice and
serve.
A Tisket, A Tasket, A special picnic basket. I made it strong, it wont be long 'Til I begin to pack it.
To pack it, to pack it, I cannot wait to pack it. Crackers, fruit, and sandwich, please, To put inside my basket.
My basket, my basket, My special picnic basket. I'll fill it up with such good food! I'm glad I made my basket.
Activity
Have kids make their own picnic baskets by weaving construction
paper and folding the edges up to staple. Or get a Chinese restaurant
to donate containers with handles for your students to decorate and pack
their lunch in, for your hike across the playground or into the woods.
Language Arts Activities
Brown Bear Innovations
Start with my ideas or make up your own
Camper, Camper what do you see? I see a forest peaceful as can be. Forest Forest what do you see? I see a squirrel living in a tree. ... a blue jay noisy as can be. ... a river flowing out to sea. ... fisherman standing next to me. ... a rainbow trout swimming close to me.
Who lives in the forest? A _____ lives in the forest.
Use as a pocket chart activity to teach tracking and matching, then make a Class Big Book. Have word cards and pictures available to put in the blank. Repeat the sentence in your pocket chart as many times as you like.
Backpack, Backpack, What's In My Backpack?
Make a class Lift-the-Flap book. Each child gets a page with a 4 x 5 box in the middle, and these words at the top:
Backpack, backpack what's in my backpack? Something that's _________.
Students draw a picture in the box, and glue a picture of a backpack over it. Below the picture (and inside the box) it says It's a _______.
A Camping We Will Go Class Book After you've explored the many facets of camping, brainstorm a list
of possible destinations and ask your students where they'd like to go
on their own camping trip. Would they like to camp in the forest
or in the desert? At the beach or by a river or lake? At Grandma's
cabin on top of a mountain, or at home in their own backyard?
Show children how to cut a tent from a 6x6 square of paper, and how to
make a lift-the-flap door. They can draw a picture of where they'd
like to camp, add the tent, and glue a picture of themselves inside.
Make into a Big Book.
Science & Art Activities
Leaf and bark rubbings
Rock collections
Mystery hike -- follow clues or a mystery map
Sock walk -- walk outside in just your socks, then shake the seeds out and see what grows!
Collect sticks, seeds, leaves, nuts, pine cones, etc., and glue them together to form bugs and animals.
Make Nature Wreaths by gluing found objects to a tagboard circle
with a hole in the middle. Add fancy touches like glitter, stars,
and gold ribbon.
Don't Forget Smokey the Bear!
A great way to spice up your camping unit is to call the nearest
office of the National Forest Service, and see what Smokey the Bear is
up to in your neck of the woods. You might be able to arrange for
Smokey to visit your classroom, along with a Ranger friend from a state
or national park. And you can probably get the ranger who answers
the phone to send you some fun freebies for your class: Smokey the
Bear posters, buttons, bumper stickers, or coloring books. Be sure
to ask.
Smokey's Rules For Preventing
Forest Fires
Never leave a campfire unattended.
If you see matches, give them to an adult immediately.
Always keep a bucket of water and shovel near a campfire!
The Bear Facts
There are several versions of the "true" story
of Smokey the Bear. Growing up in California, I was told that Smokey
the Bear was a real bear that was injured in a forest fire in California.
He was badly burned on his face and his body, and it took a special team
of doctors and caregivers to save his life. After he recovered, Smokey
lived at California's Folsom Zoo until he died in 1985. His mate,
Alice, and his son Ensign are still at the zoo. Many teachers in
California still tell this version of the story.
Other sources say Smokey came from New Mexico.
According to this version of the story, in the 1950s a bear cub in
the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico got caught in a forest fire. To escape
the flames and burning bushes, he climbed up a tree. By the time the fire
fighters found the scared and hungry cub, the forest was charred and blackened.
The firefighters, park forest rangers and the
warden were so moved by the spunky survival of this little cub that they
named him Smokey. They put him on a plane and sent him to the National
Zoo in Washington, D.C. to live.
In the town of Capitan, New Mexico, people
erected a park and museum to honor the brave bear. The museum still exists
today, and the park says Smokey is buried there. Visit their website
at Smokey
Bear State Historical Park - New Mexico.
Smokey the Bear Links
SmokeyBear.com forest fun, interactive mazes, coloring pages, bear facts, and Smokey mail
Smokey's
Coloring Book print out a coloring book to reproduce for
your class good fire safety rules and a quiz are included
Smokey's
Activity Sheets 10 fun sheets to print out from California's
Stanislaus National Forest Service website. You'll find more great
stuff in their kid center, too, including information on forest management
and a coloring and activity book called Tread
Lightly that you can print and reproduce. The TREAD Lightly program
uses the letters in the word TREAD to convey this message ...
Travel
on designated routes or areas.
Respect
the rights of others.
Educate
yourself with maps and other information.
Avoid
lakes, streams, meadows and other sensitive areas.
Drive,
ride and hike responsibly.
Timber
Trek a kid's site run by the Woodrow family bush
camp and Australia's National Association of Forest
Industries Be sure to visit their library
for craft projects, recipes, activities, and puzzles, and read
the latest issue of their online kid's magazine, too!
My bookstore pages have lots of information on how
I use various materials in my classroom, and on activities you can do with
your students. The thematic pages are complete unit resources, with
lots of poems, songs, and links on each page. Make yourself comfortable
and take a look around!
Choose from the categories below.
Underlined subjects are links, the other ones are coming
soon!
