Cub Spring Fun Day - Playing With Fire & Water

The date was Saturday, April 28, 2007. The leaders & Cubs were gearing up for an exciting time at the group camp on the shores of the Maitland River. Just this past Monday Cub meeting we had spent time making fire starters. And now, just 6 days later, we were going to get to use them! (in a monitored & safe environment, of course)

As any camp with our leaders, it started off with us going over the rules of engagement - er, the code of conduct & what was expected of us. And then we were split into to sixes & we were off on a scavenger hunt. What was that count down again? Oh yes: As a Six, find
Five leaves from different trees & identify them.
Four insects.
Three animal tracks.
Two nests.
And One DEAD BODY! Hey Bagheera, can it be an insect?

Okay, so now what? Fire? You got my interest! So what do I need first when planning to light a fire.... wood - no; match? No; a place to make it... Oh right, A way to put it out! What are the three things a fire needs... hmmm, something that burns - that's obvious. A match or lighter - oh anything that will make it really hot - heat. Okay. Now the third one. Um. Bigger wood? A second match? Oh yeah, Baloo mentioned this one before - air! Okay, now we got that stuff out of the way, in our teams we're going to lay & light a fire & cook our lunch over it. Cool! I bet our Six will get our fire going faster!

All this fun is making me hungry. Baloo - what's for lunch? Hot dogs & Pepperettes in a blanket of Bannock. Way cool. First, I mix up the bannock batter - kinda like thick pancake batter into a nice dough. Wrap it around a stick & toast it. Then I put a hot dog on the wooden skewer sticking out the end of my toasting stick & cook it. Then I just grad the bannock, pull it up off the stick & grab the hot dog on the way off... and do it again! These are great, & wait until you try it with a pepperette! No mustard or ketchup required for these puppies!

Okay, I'm full. Now what? Make MORE fire starters? Alright! So Bagheera, I take 6 parts dryer lint and 1 part Vaseline, rub it together & make a ball out of it. And then I stick it in this film canister. And repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat. Er, no that was this morning in the shower.
Um, my hands are all sticky. Now what?

Off we go to the river to wash our hands. Yep Baloo, I remember last spring when we got out of the canoes here. When do you think they'll fix the bridge across the river and really make it the GART (Goderich Auburn Radial Trail)? Oh, sorry Bagheera, you were talking about the water cycle. Yeah, I understand. Rain comes down, hot weather makes the water turn to gas and go up & then the cold temperature way up there turns the water vapour into clouds & back into rain.

And now we move on to... more fire! Sure I'll get our campfire going again. And while you leaders get the snack ready, I'll watch Scout Andrew demonstrate other ways to light fires. Andrew - could you show me the thing with the battery & steel wool again? Thanks, that's neat!

Oh yeah! What's going to camp without Smores? Can I toast another marshmallow, please?

I've been trying not to think about the end of the day, but when you start talking about no trace and minimal trace camping I see the writing on the trees. Time to look around & make sure we haven't left anything on the ground we shouldn't have. And into our parent's cars and home we go. Hey, I remember the Winter Fun Day we had out hear a few months ago. THEN we had to walk all the way in from the road and back out again through all that snow. And 'Me' kept falling in the snow on the way out. Now THAT was funny!

Thanks a lot Baloo & Bagheera for a great day!