Hi Forum Members,

I need your help in developing/reviewing a lesson plan for a very basic wilderness survival class I volunteered to teach to a group of 24 children.

The kids will be approximately 13 years old, boys and girls, from the inner city with very little outdoor experience. I have 3 hours to teach them the basics in both a classroom and field setting.

I have planned this so far:

- Introduction and dicussion on "What is a Survival Situation".
- Rule of "3's"(3 sec. evasive action,3 min. air, 3 hrs shelter,)
- 5 Critical Elements: Fire, Shelter, Signals, Water, Food.
- Knowledge/Experience vs Equipment.
- Field Judgement. "Common Sense" and Tell someone your plans.
- S.T.O.P - Stop (stay put), Think, Observe, Plan.
- Discussion on equipment and Exercise on the 10 essentials.
- Each assemble personal Survival Kit from prepared materials.
- Hands-on Field lesson on starting/maintaining a fire.
- Hands-on Field lesson on basic shelter building (debris-hut).
- Demonstration of field signals: mirror, fire, whistle, air ...
- Wrap-up.

I think my difficulty is that 3 hours is not enough time, but that is all I have available.

The biggest chore in this lesson was preparing the materials for 30 survival kits (e,g, cutting/rolling the wire/cord/fishing line/duct tape/thread, counting the fish hooks/sinkers, waterproofing the matches, folding the aluminum foil, etc).

Any insight you all may have would be most appreciated.

Mike

Doug actually has a section of his site dedicated to Survival for Kids. Make sure to give it a read.

First, let me say I am so jealous it isn't funny. This sounds like a great opportunity.

At three hours, are you going to be doing this all yourself, or will you have assistants? For the fire building, I would want a couple of extra sets of eyes around just for safety. Shelter building is more important, IMO, that fire building under most conditions- I'd cut the fire to a demonstration if something had to be cut for time. And I think you are going to have to cut for time. Have you done a dry run, with +50% the kit assembly time that you think you'll need?

Is this being taught as part of a camp curriculum? If so, can some of this be merged in with?

Also, is that the outline for your lesson? If so, I'd move the field judgment and STOP up to the level of the law of threes, before talking about equipment. Like this:
- Introduction
- Field Judgement.
- S.T.O.P
- Rule of "3's"
- 5 Critical Elements: Fire, Shelter, Signals, Water, Food.
- Knowledge/Experience vs Equipment.
- Discussion.....
If they've seen the toys, they'll be spacing out until the demo in my experiences working with teenagers.

But other than those points, let me say again, I think this is a very cool idea.

Looks like you have a good plan. In my experience of teaching kids survival basics the biggest problem was keeping their attention. (Three hours!!! Are you serious?) My little program is 1 to 1 1/2 hours long with the majority of the time having the kids duplicate most of the survival techeniques they had just watched in Ron Hood's Survival Basics I and/or Survival Basics II. Video's. My approach was to really hammer on the ABSOLUTE BASICS of a debris shelter, fire, water, signal. I happen to agree with the camp that states you are much better off to completely forget about food for the first 72 hours. I also teach very basic survival tools in their pockets or maybe a waist pack; things that kids are more likely to actually do rather than perfect emergency kit.

Good on you SwampDonkey.

At three hours, you will be challenged by the 13 year olds watching the short attention span theater while you try to teach. Good luck. You might have to light a fire under them or whip out a big knife every 30 minutes or so to keep their attention.

I did something similar for a group of 4 year olds and their moms. We spent about 30-45 minutes talking and about an hour or so practicing with gear.

Here are two links:

Pack for Young Kids

Checklists & Safety Booklet

Basically, I just followed the booklet, then we went over the stuff in their packs. To this day, they still use their packs and the contents every time we have gone hiking and camping. They are six now. I am not sure if it will help you as your group of kids is older, but if it does help, then great. And if not, just ignore it.

Thanks for the comments fellows, keep them coming!

I am doing this training through my professional association for a group of 24 under-priviliged kids at a remote lodge in Northern Ontario.

I have split the day into 2 - 4 hour sessions of 12 kids each; the session will start with a classroom lecture, this will conclude with them assembling their own personal survival kit.
The material for each kit is already prepared and given to each child in a large cup, they then have to fit all the items into a 3"x3"x1.5" container (like a jig-saw puzzle), the container is then sealed with electric tape, it takes about 1/2 hour to complete this (I have taught it once before to 60 kids). All of this neat stuff will be hidden throughout the first part of the lecture, I learned that the hard way the first time I taught the lesson.

If I get the time I will post on the forum the items in the kit; it was a real conflict between, cost vs required items vs size/weight vs ease of use vs COST.

Ironraven, I like your idea of moving S.T.O.P. and "Field Judgement" up a couple of places, this helps seperate actions/knowledge from equipment, good idea.

I will have one assistant to help in the kit assemble/field exercises and the kids have 4 camp counselors to look after any problems.

Al, Thanks for the first hand advise. I have taught this course once already and that time I tried to teach a more elaborate lesson; some of my teaching was over their heads, this time it will be more basic. As you mentioned I also do a short session on EDC (stuff in your pockets) but for kids in our society now it is hard for them to carry anything sharp or that would light a fire. When I was a teen all of us outdoor-type kids (probably many ETS Forum members also) carried pocket knives and lighters, we thought of them as essential tools, it was just part of growing-up then.

I will have about 1 1/2 hours for field exercises on fire lighting, shelters and signaling.

The signaling lesson will be a group session with all 12 kids, it ends with an experiment on which survival whistle is the loudest, the kids love it!

I plan on further spliting the group of 12 into sub-groups of 6 kids each for the fire-lighting (which I teach) and shelter-building (which my assistant teaches). I hope this will give the kids a more hands-on experience.

Each of them will actually light a fire themselves (very simple method: light commercial fire-starter packet from survival kit with match/lighter, put under dry pine kindling/birch branches = instant fire)! They then get to cook some marshmellows on a stick over their own fire, this puts a big smile on their face and a huge boost for their self confidence. I do a quick mini-lecture/demonstration on other more primitive methods of fire lighting (e.g. sparks, lens, electricity, friction, etc).

In shelter-building they will build one shelter (big enough for 1 or 2 kids) as a group of 6, once completed they have their photograph taken in the shelter so they can show their family at home. Each group of 6 will have some extra items from the survival kit to work with like; cord, wire, fishing line, duct tape, a large orange trash bag and a mylar blanket (I know we all like the AMK Heetsheets but they were out of our price range).

Do you think it is better to incorporate the trash bag/mylar blanket in the roof of the shelter, under the shelter bed or wrapped around the survivor?

My fear is rainy weather on the day I present to the group, it will be tough to keep moral high if we cannot do the field exercises (kids will only listen to an old guy talk/tell stories for so long).

I have one more full group lesson I teach that uses an article featured on ETS this past winter. I read to the students the true story "Maybe Tonight is the Night I Die" by Jack Chesnut about how skier Charles Horton survived 9 days alone in the Colorado Mountains with a badly broken leg. In groups of 4 the kids complete a questionaire about what Mr. Horton did right/wrong, what equipment would have helped his survival/rescue and what is the "Will to Survive". We then take up the exercise as a group, this survival message seems to really sink in with the kids as they can relate to this true story.

Please keep sending your replies, I have a week to finish this thing.

Mike

Hi Aloha,

I was lurking on the Forum when you posted the above 2 items this past winter and really liked your inventive ideas. I used them and a lot of information from the main ETS site (e.g. Survival for Kids) when I developed the lesson plan for the first group I taught. I have never tried teaching a survival type topic to children under 10 years old, I would but I have just never been approached to do it. I imagine it would have to be very basic instruction and then turn it into a game to keep their attention/reinforce the message. My wife is better with the young kids, they seem to relate better to me at about 12 years old?

Nice talking to you,

Mike

P.S. I am really envious of the beautiful country you live in, your pictures of Hawaii last winter made the Boreal Forest seem that much colder!

On the where to use the trashbag question... I suppose that depends on how long it has been raining. If it will rain, I put a moisture barrier on the roof; if it has rained but won't, I put it between me an my ground padding; it is raining, has been raining, and will keep raining, I put me in it. :P I'd leave it up to your kids, this is a lab, you're supposed to learn by error.

How bad do you find their attention span? I've known a lot of kids (late teens, college freshmen) with true ADD and ADHD, along with Asbruggers, and I've found that they can pay attention if you capture their interest in most cases.

Having been a camp counselor I'd say the most important thing you can do is keep it interesting for the kids. (Not an easy thing to do) Explain things to them while going on a hike, get them to go find things (pine cones, plants, leaves, etc.) to bring back to the group, have group chat about survival issues, etc. My best advice is to keep them active, engaged, and give them fun responsibilities. Group activities work well. Since attention spans at that age are almost nonexistent, try and give them things to do that they can immediately relate to. Let them make a bow drill, make a solar compass, whatever. The most important thing is to keep them engaged.

Ironraven; excellent idea about the use of the trash bag,
Let Nature Decide where best to use it.

"You recall your victories, you REMEMBER your mistakes!"

I have never met the kids I am about to instruct but I was told they were the best behaved of a much larger group (this trip is like a reward for them). My normal group have their good days and bad but I can usually keep their attention for an hour before they need a break. I actually have 4 hours to work with each group of 12 kids but figure I will loose an hour to breaks and blowing off steam.

LED, I agree with you about having to keep the kids engaged or you will loose there attention. I thought about teaching the bow drill but it can be a very frustrating procedure the first time. In the field exercises the kids are really just going to practice with the items they have in their new Survival Kit (extra items, not the actual ones).

The entire exercise is set-up for them to succeed, therefore building their confidence.

Thanks fellows,

Mike

In my limited experience, the most distracted, video-game-addicted kid on the planet will stare with rapt attention as you assemble tinder and make a fire with a ferro rod. I saw it just a week ago, when my nephew with confirmed ADD actually spent 20 consecutive minutes watching us light a bonfire and asking questions about tinder, wood, etc.

Small groups are easier to keep involved than larger ones. Glad to hear you broke them into groups of 12.

Hands on instruction helps enormously. The more they get to touch and work with new or unusual items, the more engaged they will be.

The lecture portion will probably be the toughest. Visual aids will be critical there, especially since it is apparently at the beginning. Don't get me wrong, that makes sense, but beware of them starting to zone out before you get to the "fun" stuff.

I think it's a wonderful thing to do, and I applaud you for it!

Frank2135

Here is our program for teaching 4th graders.

http://www.tahoenordicsar.com/Education/4thGradeProgram.html

It takes 3 hours using 3 stations of 2 trainers at each station.
Usually can get about 6 classes through each station.

We pre-build some shelters on site using Christmas trees, snow
and other materials we bring or find.


We teach using the trashbag as a vest (holes for arms and head)if moving or as a hooded
bivysack if stationary (1 hole under one corner for face).

I would suggest that you talk to them like they are Young Adults not children. Nothing P.O'ed me faster at that age than been treated like a child. It's something that I always try to avoid. There are somethings that you cannot, for obvious reasons, tell children and there are certain limits on what gear they can have. When I run into a limit, I always make it clear that it is a limit imposed on me by law, custom or whatever and that I have to respect it. Being individuals, there will be a wide spectrum of ability. Some will take to it like ducks to water, some will struggle. Helping the ones who struggle is the best part of a challenge. The only other thing that I can offer is that you tell a lot of related jokes and story's. They are great for making children remember.

Good Evening,

Frank2135, Clearwater, NightHiker and Leigh, Thank You all for taking the time to assist me in the creation of this lesson plan and for the links to useful information on other sites, I appreciate it.

I have the house all to myself tomorrow and I hope to merge the ideas I have recieved on the Forum with my current lesson plan and finally complete this exercise (it has been 2 months in the making), I deliver the presentation on Friday.

Take care,

Mike

P.S. Scouts seem to have gotten tougher since when I was a kid?

Aloha Mike,

You have to post more pictures to make our summer cooler!

Good luck.

Make it fun and interactive and the kids will get it better.

Hi Members,

I said earlier that I would post how my Basic Survival Lesson went yesterday (Sorry, this is a bit of a long post).

My partner and I arrived a 1/2 a day early to recon the area and prepare our teaching sites, this worked well.

We ended up with 20 inner city kids between ages 12 and 17 years and 4 counselors. The kids were very interested and well behaved during my program but because my session was on the 4th day of a 5 day trip they were very tired (sleep deprived). Everything was new to these kids, they had very little previous outddoor exposure. The group was split into 2; morning and afternoon.

My session was scheduled to start at 8.00am but never got going till 9.00am as the group was slow getting up, they were really played out. The Camp Hosts were great and moved lunch back 1/2 an hour so I would not loose as much teaching time.

I started with a group of 10 kids in the lecture portion of the course and had good interaction with the students throughout. Some of the terminology I usually use with rural/outdoor exposed kids I had to explain in greater detail and I had to use more urban type examples than normal. The lecture was about 45 minutes and they were attentive throughout.

After this was an exercise on the 10 essentials where they had 3 minutes to select 10 items from a list of 40; we made-believe that they were on a sinking boat, and I counted down the time to add to the stress! This went well but it I think I will develop my own list as "The Mountianeers" had sunglasses and food on theirs and I think Signals and Shelter are more important.

The kids then assembled their own Mini-Survival Kit and were very good at fitting everything in the small container, proabally my best group yet.

The kids had a break for 15 minutes and were then further split into 2 groups of 5 each (1 instructor, 1 counseler and at least 1 helper with each group).

My partner lead a brief field lecture session on shelter building (a debris hut using natural materials and a lean-to using man-made materials. He found the kids far more interested in the natural type shelter and focused mostly on building it. The kids were excited about their finished product and wanted their photos taken so they could show their families back home. The key to this session was having all the material collect and pre-cut (a pickup truck load of spruce boughs and poplar poles) waiting on site, if the kids would have had to collect their own in the bush they would have lost interest for sure.

I then lead a mini-lecture on fire-starting (wildfire safety, 4 components of fire, and how to build a fire), the kids then each lit their own fire (using a lighter and fire-starter packet). A funny thing then happened, these normally talkative kids became really quiet as they toasted marshmellow over their own fire, quite neat. We discussed it and decided fire was like "Natures Television".

This is where I have to give ETS Member Frank2135 credit for his suggestion; I told the story of "Otzi the Iceman" and about his Survival Belt that contained Iron Pyrite, Flint and Tinder Fungus. I then told the kids that we were going to step back 5000 years in time and lit a big piece of Tinder Fungus with a Ferro Rod and Knife blade; the kids were in awe! We talked about the importance if fire in survival and in society and how we depended on it now just as much as we did in past history. We duplicated this event using a Fresnel Lens with the same positive response. I know I cheated a little using the Ferro Rod instead of a more traditional fire kit but this is the first time I have tried demonstrating this before a group and wanted to be sure it would work!

My afternoon group was just as good as the morning but a few students (and one Counsellor) dozed off near the end of my lecture (we had a big walleye fish fry for lunch).

The day ended with me doing a field presentation on Emergency Signals (smoke, mirrors, bright coloured attractants) and ended with a group competition on which of 12 survival whistles was the loudest (Storm Whistle won). They REALLY enjoyed this, my ears are still ringing!

When I do this activity again I would change a few things:

- Schedule my teaching session earlier in the week so the kids are not so worn down.

- Do not assume that the kids are at all familar with the outdoors and use more urban examples.

- Use examples from history more to capture the kids attention.

- Play a movie the night before with a survival theme (e.g. The Edge, Two Against The North, Castaway ...)

In summary this was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again.

Thank You to all the ETS Members who helped me develop my teaching plan for this event.

Mike

Very cool. Hopefully then never need it, but is better to have and not need than need and not have.

Hi Members,

I said earlier that I would post how my Basic Survival Lesson went yesterday (Sorry, this is a bit of a long post).

My partner and I arrived a 1/2 a day early to recon the area and prepare our teaching sites, this worked well.

We ended up with 20 inner city kids between ages 12 and 17 years and 4 counselors. The kids were very interested and well behaved during my program but because my session was on the 4th day of a 5 day trip they were very tired (sleep deprived). Everything was new to these kids, they had very little previous outddoor exposure. The group was split into 2; morning and afternoon.

My session was scheduled to start at 8.00am but never got going till 9.00am as the group was slow getting up, they were really played out. The Camp Hosts were great and moved lunch back 1/2 an hour so I would not loose as much teaching time.

I started with a group of 10 kids in the lecture portion of the course and had good interaction with the students throughout. Some of the terminology I usually use with rural/outdoor exposed kids I had to explain in greater detail and I had to use more urban type examples than normal. The lecture was about 45 minutes and they were attentive throughout.

After this was an exercise on the 10 essentials where they had 3 minutes to select 10 items from a list of 40; we made-believe that they were on a sinking boat, and I counted down the time to add to the stress! This went well but it I think I will develop my own list as "The Mountianeers" had sunglasses and food on theirs and I think Signals and Shelter are more important.

The kids then assembled their own Mini-Survival Kit and were very good at fitting everything in the small container, proabally my best group yet.

The kids had a break for 15 minutes and were then further split into 2 groups of 5 each (1 instructor, 1 counseler and at least 1 helper with each group).

My partner lead a brief field lecture session on shelter building (a debris hut using natural materials and a lean-to using man-made materials. He found the kids far more interested in the natural type shelter and focused mostly on building it. The kids were excited about their finished product and wanted their photos taken so they could show their families back home. The key to this session was having all the material collect and pre-cut (a pickup truck load of spruce boughs and poplar poles) waiting on site, if the kids would have had to collect their own in the bush they would have lost interest for sure.

I then lead a mini-lecture on fire-starting (wildfire safety, 4 components of fire, and how to build a fire), the kids then each lit their own fire (using a lighter and fire-starter packet). A funny thing then happened, these normally talkative kids became really quiet as they toasted marshmellow over their own fire, quite neat. We discussed it and decided fire was like "Natures Television".

This is where I have to give ETS Member Frank2135 credit for his suggestion; I told the story of "Otzi the Iceman" and about his Survival Belt that contained Iron Pyrite, Flint and Tinder Fungus. I then told the kids that we were going to step back 5000 years in time and lit a big piece of Tinder Fungus with a Ferro Rod and Knife blade; the kids were in awe! We talked about the importance if fire in survival and in society and how we depended on it now just as much as we did in past history. We duplicated this event using a Fresnel Lens with the same positive response. I know I cheated a little using the Ferro Rod instead of a more traditional fire kit but this is the first time I have tried demonstrating this before a group and wanted to be sure it would work!

My afternoon group was just as good as the morning but a few students (and one Counsellor) dozed off near the end of my lecture (we had a big walleye fish fry for lunch).

The day ended with me doing a field presentation on Emergency Signals (smoke, mirrors, bright coloured attractants) and ended with a group competition on which of 12 survival whistles was the loudest (Storm Whistle won). They REALLY enjoyed this, my ears are still ringing!

When I do this activity again I would change a few things:

- Schedule my teaching session earlier in the week so the kids are not so worn down.

- Do not assume that the kids are at all familar with the outdoors and use more urban examples.

- Use examples from history more to capture the kids attention.

- Play a movie the night before with a survival theme (e.g. The Edge, Two Against The North, Castaway ...)

In summary this was a great experience and I look forward to doing it again.

Thank You to all the ETS Members who helped me develop my teaching plan for this event.

Mike

Sounds like ya done good!!!

Hi,
I found this site and it looks pretty good (www.scoutingresources.org.uk). I hope that you can use it.

Thanks Flashman,

I have checked out the Scouting sites in the USA and Canada but not the Uk.

I appreciate the link.

Mike