HS A Camping We Will Go

Interest Area Changes to Environment

Lincoln Logs

Tent (or large blanket to make tent)

Twigs

Pinecones

Sand

Leaves

Branches

Canteen

Flashlight

Picnic Basket

Book Bag

Pretend Fishing Pole

Small ​Cooler

Sleeping Bag

Pillow

Camouflage

Butterfly Net

Bug Catcher

Empty Bottle of Mosquito Repellent

Play Lantern

Orange, Red, Yellow Tissue Paper

​Paper Towel rolls

Fish

Ducks

Frogs

Dragonflies

Sand Bucket

Binoculars

Pretend Fisherman Equipment

Flowers

Forest Animals

Bugs

Tongs

Animal pictures with pictures of their tracks

Animal masks

Smokey the Bear

Pretend first aid kit

​Compass

**Set up a camp site in your room. Tent - a small real one or make one by putting blankets over a table, sleeping bags, flashlights, canteen, backpack, lantern, campfire - make one by using paper towel tubes and red or orange tissue paper.

Teaching Concepts for Large Group

1. Who has ever been camping?

2.  Where did you camp?

3.  How is camping different from a hotel or your house?

4.  What things do we need to take camping?

5.  How do you cook when you go camping?

6.  What games do you play when camping?

7.  Where do you sleep camping? Graph would you rather sleep in a tent, camper, your house or hotel?

8.  What animals would you see camping?

9.  What are safe camping rules?

10.  What are some fire safety tips? (Make Fire danger level cards - low, moderate, high, extreme)

11. Who is a Park Ranger, what do they do?

12. What is a habitat? 

Always wear a life jacket when on a boat (bring one to circle for them to try on).

Wear bug repellent and sunscreen.

Do not touch any bugs or snakes unless a grown up says it's okay to do so.

Do not eat anything from bushes unless grown up says it's okay-discuss poisonous berries, etc.

Campfires are fun, but we should not get too close and grown ups should always put the fire out before leaving the campground.

Teaching Concepts for Small Group

1. Stone Jar - For older children. Fill a small jar with large stones. Ask each child to guess how many stones are in the jar. For younger children, limit the number of stones to less than ten. Record each child's guess.  Allow the children to examine all four jars before they guess. Record the children's approximations. Count the stones.

2. After the Nature walk do a nature sort - Take a paper bag with you on your next nature walk. Encourage your child to collect leaves and small sticks, and acorns, and put them in the bag. Have the children sort the items they have collected. After sorting, they can order a few of the rocks from smallest to largest, and order the twigs from shortest to longest.

3. Who’s Sleeping in the Tent?

Trace or pre-cut a tent pattern (use large triangle shape, with tent stakes at corners) Let children decorate their tents, then cut a slit up the middle to make the tent flaps.You can also have the children draw a picture of themselves sleeping in their sleeping bags or use a cut out for them to color as themselves (use multicultural crayons). Attach the decorated tents to the bulletin board let children tape the “picture ” of themselves sleeping inside the tent flap. ( bend the flaps back so you can see inside the tent.) ** You could also use a small photo of each child’s face to hide inside the tents..change them around and let the children guess who is inside each tent. ** use left over scrap flannel material to make “camping pillows..small size 6″x 8″ let children stuff with batting or old nylons if you have enough.. Could also do sleeping bags by gluing a small rectangle of fabric stuffed with Kleenex onto a slightly larger piece of construction paper with the child’s picture at the top. As if to show child in bag sleeping.

4. Paint with leaves, flowers, or sticks.

5. Leaf rubbings.

6. Campfire Stories - Sit around the pretend campfire with your children and tell stories about camping adventures or forest friends.

7. Make a Story Wheel with camping items and environments.

How to make a Story Wheel -

Take a paper plate and glue small pictures related to camping around the outside of the plate.

Attach a spinner to the middle of the plate. (A large safety pin attached with a paper fastener works great)

Start a story about camping.

Let your children take turns spinning the story wheel and then incorporate that item into the story. (If children are too young to participate in the story telling, just let them spin, then you continue the story, incorporating that item or element into the story.)

8. Flashlight Art - play with shadows

9. Read book with lights out and use the flashlight.

10. Go on a bear hunt theme box play.

11. Sequence story- What all does it take to camp? Packing, set up, camping!

​12. Make pet rocks.

**Additional Resources for camping theme here. Vocabulary words, tracing or cutting ditto sheets:

http://homeschoolcreations.com/files/Camping_Preschool_Pack_Part_1.pdf

Teaching Concepts for Music Movement Wellness IMIL

1. Camping Song

A Camping We Will Go

A Camping We Will Go

Hi Ho the Derry-O

A Camping We Will Go

We will pitch the tent right here

We will pitch the tent right here

Hiho the derry-o

We will pitch the tent right here

2. Going Camping

sung to "Mary had a little lamb"

I am going camping, camping, camping

I am going camping,

With my family

3. I’m Going Camping

(Tune: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star)

I’m going camping, yessireee!

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, yessiree!

I’m going camping, won’t you come with me?

Next we’ll cook on the open fire,

Then tell stories ’til we all get tired.

When the stars are twinkling bright

We’ll sleep in our tents ’til the morning light

I’m going camping, yessiree!

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, yessiree!

I’m going camping, won’t you come with me?

4. Cooking Marshmellows

(Tune: The Hokey Pokey)

You put the marshmallow in,

You take the marshmallow out.

You put the marshmallow in

And you turn it all about.

You put it by the embers,

Until it’s nice and brown.

That’s when you gobble it up.

Teaching Concepts for Fingerplays

1. Five Little Campers

Five Little Campers sitting in the sun.

The first one said, "Let's have some fun!"

The second one said, "Let's go for a swim."

The third one said, "I'll ask

a grown-up to watch while we go in."

The fourth one said, "Let's get our safety vests."

The fifth one said "We are the best!"

O-KAY said the grown-ups! YES said the kids!

And the five little campers began to swim!

Teaching Concepts for Outdoor Experiences

1. Nature Walk

2. Hungry Bear - Spread out a large blanket. Have your children sit around the outside edge. In the middle of the blanket, set four or five picnic, camping or food items. Point out each item and have children try to remember them. Have the children pretend they are on a picnic in the woods and get tired and decide to take a nap. While they are sleeping, along comes a bear (select one of the children to be the bear) and steals one of the items and drags it off.  When the children wake up, see if they can identify the missing item. When it is identified, the bear comes back and places the item back on the blanket. Another child is chosen to be the bear and the game is played again.

3. Hide and Owl Seek - Choose one child to be the owl. Have the other children hide their eyes. Then the owl finds a place to hide and starts softly “hooting”. Have the rest of the children open their eyes and try to find the owl.

4. Draw a campfire on the sidewalk with sidewalk chalk, and talk to the children about campfire safety. For example, a safe distance to stand away from it and what to do if your clothing catches fire. We also talked about how water can put the fire out. Have some water bottles and let the children take turn putting the fire out.

5. Go fishing!

6. Scavenger Hunt!

CLASS Concepts 

Start by asking if anyone has been camping.  Ask the children to describe or define camping.  How is camping different from home?  How is it the same?  What kinds of things do you do at home that you have to do differently when you’re camping?  Why?

Provide two or three pieces of large fabric like sheets and allow the children to divide up into teams.  Tell the children that they are going to pretend to be on a camping trip and they must get their tents set up before nightfall.  Encourage the children to brainstorm ways to build the tents using the materials they have in the classroom.  When the tents are complete, turn out the lights and let the children use flashlights to take turns reading or telling stories to their group under their tent.

Teaching Concepts for Distance Learning

Campfire Stories - Sit around the pretend campfire with your children and tell stories about camping adventures or forest friends.

Create an indoor tent, using a sheet and two chair. Bring pretend fire and talk about things you would see if you were on an actual camping trip. Write down things that are being said, create a list of things that if you were able to go what you need to bring and let the student help.