An Intro to Camping by Boy the Bear

		From his earliest days in the woods on, Boy has gathered an assortment of camping do's and don'ts. He has assembled some of these in hopes that one or two of them will help make your first camping experiences more enjoyable.
		PACKING Boy has some learned to remember a few items you may or may not have included on your CAMPING LIST. Check to see if any of these might be helpful on your outings.
Bass Pro Cabela's Campmor L.L. Bean		A whistling tea kettle is great for boiling water outdoors - bugs, leaves, etc. can't fall in the water - easy to pour from - the whistle alerts you when water is boiled - safer than a pan of water sitting on top of the stove. Bring assorted sizes of safety pins - beyond the obvious of holding something together they make great tools for a variety of tiny chores. Firestarter sticks are great for those rainy day fires - the wax & wood chip type mixture helps to make that stubborn fire ignite - the more you need a fire the more likely you'll need the boost they provide. Don't forget to grab a few of those old (but still safe) potholders, you'll need them for the same reasons you need them at home! An inexpensive plastic tablecloth can cover a multitude of problems on a very much used picnic table. Don't forget those metal clips which can hold a tablecloth on to the table even on the windiest days. A gallon of water can be a real lifesaver when one is unsure of the safety of the drinking water. A thermos in which to keep that delicious coffee piping hot through the cool mornings. Sandra Wright suggests that you always carry at least one plastic grocery bag for treasures. Sometimes it might be a cool looking stick or leaves, or rocks, but we find it is great when we are hiking to pick up the trash other campers have carelessly left behind. Always pack out what you pack in! D W recommends adding after tarps to the list, finding that people may want to use one over their tent as well in case of rain and then the inside of the tent won't get wet along with clothes and bedding.

CUBS WILL BE CUBS
Taking the kids camping won't take the kid out of the campers. It's important to allow young campers to enjoy the experience as only they might while still keeping them safe and you sane. Boy is no expert, but he has picked up these ideas:

Smokey's Coloring Pages
Children + camping = dirty clothes: Bring plenty of rough and ready clothes for the kids so that the young campers can enjoy the outdoors. If you don't take advantage of rummage sales for any other reason, it's a great way to pick up inexpensive camping clothes. Sweatshirts & sweat pants are great for layering during cooler weather and are ideal to let the kids crawl around in the dirt because they easily slip off when entering the tent or camper.
Don't forget that young children have short attention spans, even in the great outdoors. While you may enjoy the unique pleasures of camping, your junior partners may be ready for kid fun. Some special camping toys can help make the time pass on those rainy days:
* crayons and coloring books
* paper and pencils
* sticker books
* small blocks
* children's music cassettes
* playing cards
* books
Rummage sales can also be a place to purchase some inexpensive outdoor toys - balls, shovels, pails etc. Don't forget to bring along that special toy if your youngster has one.
Grandma Reni offers these ideas:
Always take a large American Flag and hang it high and prominently on a line between two trees to mark your campsite. Reni says it is the very first thing they do and before everything is unpacked, they all say the pledge of allegiance. The flag is easily seen by anyone who leaves and is returning to find the camp site, and the younger children are not allowed to wander any further from the camp than to where they have the flag in view, creating a friendly but definite boundary within supervision.
Reni adds that hanging on the line on either side of the flag like snowy banners, is one, inexpensive, plain white cotton pillow case for each of the camping children along. By the end of the excursion, each child will be able to finish decorating a pillowcase with special craft crayons that are permanent once ironed. She recommends they color on their pillow cases every evening, drawings of things they did, treasures they found, animals or natural features they saw, and signing each other's pillowcase, sometimes with a message or a drawing. In the morning the pillow case pennants can go back up on the line with the flag where the grown ups will enjoy watching them develop. When the trip is over, the very last thing to do is pass out the "Summer Dreams", each child taking home his or her uniquely personalized and quite useful memento of their time spent with family and friends.

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE
Telling tall tales and scary stories around the campfire is a fine way to top off the day but don't let that temptation to play with the fire let you forget about safety. As Boy's most famous relative stresses, only you can prevent forest fires.

Children and campfires are a dangerous combination requiring constant attention. Do not leave a young camper unattended for even an instant because they are sure to try to imitate your fire tending activities. Create a safety zone around the fire that is wider than the height of the oldest child of concern where no one but parents are allowed to enter. Create a 'no running zone' at least as wide as three times the height of your children where no one is allowed to run or jump. Establish these zones using lines in the gravel, grass lines, small sticks or other (no trip) objects or visual indicators, and consistently enforce the rules.
The campfire that you let burn down last night may harbor embers well into the day. These buried embers can go undetected until little hands find them in the ashes. Besides having the makings for a big mess, a fire pit is never a safe place for little campers. Always follow Smokey's instructions for putting out fires.
Starting fires with gasoline is not only dangerous, it's also not the most effective way to get a good fire started. Build the fire using firestarter sticks or crumpled paper at the bottom, next small twigs, then continue up with larger and larger kindling through full sized pieces of wood. Be generous with the kindling and cross the pieces so that the fire can get plenty of air. The initial pile of wood will tend to have a pyramid shape. The fire will quickly expand upward from the smaller to the larger pieces. Have some firestarter sticks on hand and keep your kindling dry to avoid the temptation of using drastic measures.

OVER AN OPEN FIRE
Outdoor cooking and camping go hand in hand. Although there is nothing wrong with bringing the trusty grill, cooking over an 'open fire' is likely to be a tempting addition to the camping fun. Boy offers a few pointers to keep in mind as you first switch to camp fire cooking.

Unless you're roasting hot dogs, heating up something in an old pan or cooking meat protected from direct flames it's better to think of grilling over embers than cooking over a fire. A strong bed of coals will provide a great source of heat to broil your favorite cut of meat with the right amount of wood fire flavor. A flaming fire will turn your meat into a soot covered, smoke saturated, burnt on the outside and raw on the inside disaster.
Remember that the coals of a camp fire will be less stable and will lose heat faster than the charcoals you may be used to. Build a good fire with plenty of small to medium sized pieces of wood and collapse the fire when plenty of embers have developed yet wood remains to burn. Distribute the embers and unburned wood under the cooking grates as evenly and thick as possible. As soon as flaming and smoke is settling begin your demonstration of cooking talent. Ideally there will be unburned wood such that it fuels new heat while not creating too much flame or smoke as you cook. Waiting too long may result in too cool of a fire.
Keep your first choices of meat easy to broil. Stick with hamburgers, steaks, pork chops and other meats having a relatively uniform thickness. As you gain experience you may want to try meats such as chicken which will require protection from direct flame during a slow cook which can be done while still adding smaller wood to the fire.

TIME TO EAT
Although some of his relatives may be happy with dumpster a la carte, Boy prefers a tasty and hearty meal. HERE ARE SOME IDEAS he has gathered from his visitors and his own camping experiences for good camp site dining. Boy welcomes any more suggestion you may have.

		CUBS WILL BE CUBS Taking the kids camping won't take the kid out of the campers. It's important to allow young campers to enjoy the experience as only they might while still keeping them safe and you sane. Boy is no expert, but he has picked up these ideas:
Smokey's Coloring Pages		Children + camping = dirty clothes: Bring plenty of rough and ready clothes for the kids so that the young campers can enjoy the outdoors. If you don't take advantage of rummage sales for any other reason, it's a great way to pick up inexpensive camping clothes. Sweatshirts & sweat pants are great for layering during cooler weather and are ideal to let the kids crawl around in the dirt because they easily slip off when entering the tent or camper. Don't forget that young children have short attention spans, even in the great outdoors. While you may enjoy the unique pleasures of camping, your junior partners may be ready for kid fun. Some special camping toys can help make the time pass on those rainy days: * crayons and coloring books * paper and pencils * sticker books * small blocks * children's music cassettes * playing cards * books Rummage sales can also be a place to purchase some inexpensive outdoor toys - balls, shovels, pails etc. Don't forget to bring along that special toy if your youngster has one. Grandma Reni offers these ideas: Always take a large American Flag and hang it high and prominently on a line between two trees to mark your campsite. Reni says it is the very first thing they do and before everything is unpacked, they all say the pledge of allegiance. The flag is easily seen by anyone who leaves and is returning to find the camp site, and the younger children are not allowed to wander any further from the camp than to where they have the flag in view, creating a friendly but definite boundary within supervision. Reni adds that hanging on the line on either side of the flag like snowy banners, is one, inexpensive, plain white cotton pillow case for each of the camping children along. By the end of the excursion, each child will be able to finish decorating a pillowcase with special craft crayons that are permanent once ironed. She recommends they color on their pillow cases every evening, drawings of things they did, treasures they found, animals or natural features they saw, and signing each other's pillowcase, sometimes with a message or a drawing. In the morning the pillow case pennants can go back up on the line with the flag where the grown ups will enjoy watching them develop. When the trip is over, the very last thing to do is pass out the "Summer Dreams", each child taking home his or her uniquely personalized and quite useful memento of their time spent with family and friends.

		AROUND THE CAMPFIRE Telling tall tales and scary stories around the campfire is a fine way to top off the day but don't let that temptation to play with the fire let you forget about safety. As Boy's most famous relative stresses, only you can prevent forest fires.
		Children and campfires are a dangerous combination requiring constant attention. Do not leave a young camper unattended for even an instant because they are sure to try to imitate your fire tending activities. Create a safety zone around the fire that is wider than the height of the oldest child of concern where no one but parents are allowed to enter. Create a 'no running zone' at least as wide as three times the height of your children where no one is allowed to run or jump. Establish these zones using lines in the gravel, grass lines, small sticks or other (no trip) objects or visual indicators, and consistently enforce the rules. The campfire that you let burn down last night may harbor embers well into the day. These buried embers can go undetected until little hands find them in the ashes. Besides having the makings for a big mess, a fire pit is never a safe place for little campers. Always follow Smokey's instructions for putting out fires. Starting fires with gasoline is not only dangerous, it's also not the most effective way to get a good fire started. Build the fire using firestarter sticks or crumpled paper at the bottom, next small twigs, then continue up with larger and larger kindling through full sized pieces of wood. Be generous with the kindling and cross the pieces so that the fire can get plenty of air. The initial pile of wood will tend to have a pyramid shape. The fire will quickly expand upward from the smaller to the larger pieces. Have some firestarter sticks on hand and keep your kindling dry to avoid the temptation of using drastic measures.

		OVER AN OPEN FIRE Outdoor cooking and camping go hand in hand. Although there is nothing wrong with bringing the trusty grill, cooking over an 'open fire' is likely to be a tempting addition to the camping fun. Boy offers a few pointers to keep in mind as you first switch to camp fire cooking.
		Unless you're roasting hot dogs, heating up something in an old pan or cooking meat protected from direct flames it's better to think of grilling over embers than cooking over a fire. A strong bed of coals will provide a great source of heat to broil your favorite cut of meat with the right amount of wood fire flavor. A flaming fire will turn your meat into a soot covered, smoke saturated, burnt on the outside and raw on the inside disaster. Remember that the coals of a camp fire will be less stable and will lose heat faster than the charcoals you may be used to. Build a good fire with plenty of small to medium sized pieces of wood and collapse the fire when plenty of embers have developed yet wood remains to burn. Distribute the embers and unburned wood under the cooking grates as evenly and thick as possible. As soon as flaming and smoke is settling begin your demonstration of cooking talent. Ideally there will be unburned wood such that it fuels new heat while not creating too much flame or smoke as you cook. Waiting too long may result in too cool of a fire. Keep your first choices of meat easy to broil. Stick with hamburgers, steaks, pork chops and other meats having a relatively uniform thickness. As you gain experience you may want to try meats such as chicken which will require protection from direct flame during a slow cook which can be done while still adding smaller wood to the fire.

		TIME TO EAT Although some of his relatives may be happy with dumpster a la carte, Boy prefers a tasty and hearty meal. HERE ARE SOME IDEAS he has gathered from his visitors and his own camping experiences for good camp site dining. Boy welcomes any more suggestion you may have.

PACKING

CUBS WILL BE CUBS

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

OVER AN OPEN FIRE

TIME TO EAT