Skills for kids

Very few things are as important as getting kids outside. I'm a lucky man, in that I have two teenage boys who actually enjoy spending time with their dad. We have the most fun when we are out in the woods, and a big part of that is because I try to teach or practice a new skill with them every time we go. I'm a busy fellow, as I am a lawyer most of the time, but I'm also an Infantry squad leader in the National Guard. I got back from Iraq at the end of '08, and am getting ready to leave for A'stan near the end of this year. That means that I am trying to cram lots of time in the woods with my boys. Unfortunately, they are both in the high school marching band, and have camps and practice all summer.

What we do is to pick a particular skill, and then go camping for a weekend, or maybe a long weekend and work on that skill. Most recently, we worked on making a fire with flint and steel. My uncle is a gifted craftsman, and made us each a steel that is twisted into a dragon shape. He lives in Tahlequah, which is ground zero for good flint, and sent us each a nice piece to go with the steel.

Once to our camping area, I started the boys with some "modern" material. We used jute for tinder, and some char cloth to catch the spark. After they were comfortable getting the tinder bundle blown into flames, I had them collect kindling and start small fires with the jute. It didn't take long before they were ready to make their own tinder. I showed them how to strip out the cambium layer of several trees that would work, use some dry grasses, etc. Pretty soon, they were able to catch a spark on the first try, blow natural tinder into a flame, and start kindling burning with confidence.

Even though we only had a short time to spend outside, we made the most of it, and all had a wonderful time. It doesn't take a week in the woods to have fun with kids, so get out there and work on some skills!