The Eight Basic Skills

I found it interesting that when I was an Intermediate Girl Scout, there was no mention of the 8 Basic Skills in my handbook. Likewise, I looked at my First Edition Cadette Girl Scout Handbook (circa 1963) and found nothing in there. The Worlds to Explore Brownie and Junior Handbook of 1977 does; however, list these skills. But, if you look in any of today's handbooks, the list is not to be found! And furthermore, outdoor skills have been totally eliminated from the Cadette and Senior Resource books! But, in the opinion of this Girl Scout, outdoor skills are every bit as important today as they were in the past.

As with other things in Girl Scouting, progression is the key to being successful with teaching these skills. Always build on the skills the girls have, regardless of their age. In other words, a Cadette who has never had any experience with knot tying would not attempt a bowline first but should start with a square and an overhand knot just like a beginning Brownie would do.

A couple of councils have patch programs for the 8 Basic Skills. These programs can be found at:

The Eight Basic Skills Are:

  1. Outdoor Manners
  2. Dressing for the Outdoors
  3. Knots
  4. Knives
  5. Fires
  6. Outdoor Cooking
  7. First Aid
  8. Protecting the Environment

 

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Outdoor Manners

Manners can cover a variety of topics and I have chosen to cover the following:

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Campsite Courtesy

When you are camping, your campsite becomes your "home away from home". Since that is true, the following are some guidelines in order to respect that home:

  1. Teach girls respect for other people's campsites by not walking through them.
  2. Have girls ask permission or "knock" when entering another campsite.
  3. Respect quiet hours. Many public places have set quiet hours. If you are at a facility that does not, set your own quiet hours and then abide by them. Remember that adults need to abide by the quiet hours as well as the girls.
  4. Make sure that girls know not to wash hands, dishes, etc. at the water spigots or lavatories. Instead, make sure there is an appropriate place provided for this at your campsite.
  5. Take care not to create mud puddles at spigots by have girls use water bottles or cups rather than using spigots to get drinks. Providing a water dispenser at your campsite helps alleviate this situation.
  6. Respect your neighbor's wish to enjoy the out-of-doors and leave your radios at home. Instead, listen to the birds singing! Likewise, loud and boisterous behavior is inappropriate.
  7. Use bathrooms for intended use only, not for changing clothes, etc.
  8. Respect others in your cabin/tent by picking up your belongings.
  9. Leave your campsite cleaner than you found it.

 

Buddy System

Always use the buddy system when in the outdoors. This is used when someone wants to leave the group (say, to go to the bathroom, etc.). That person must take another person, her "buddy" along with her. The two are to remain together until they return to the group. A triple buddy system may also be used. This is when three leave together. This is also known as a "truddy". All three must remain together until they join with the group again. Good outdoor manners says that a buddy does not leave with the other person(s).

 

Kapers

A Kaper, simply put, is a job or chore that must be done. In Girl Scouting, this generally involves a "kaper chart" which indicates all of the jobs available and who is responsible for each one. This may be done with patrols or individual girls. Below is a sample of a weekend camp kaper chart. Each flower represents a patrol. Notice that each patrol gets a chance to do each job in this ideal situation.

Kaper Duties Sat. Breakfast Sat. Lunch Sat. Dinner Sun. Breakfast
Hostess

 

 Setting table, choosing & leading grace

Fire Laying, lighting, & maintaining fire, making sure fire safety eqpt. is present.

Cook

 

 Clean, prepare, & serve the planned menu

Clean-Up Put water on to heat before dinner, make sure dish- wash set-up is done, wash pots.

If the these patrols are only in place at camp, it may be beneficial to have a chart posted at camp with who is on which patrol such as the following:

Sally Sarah Melissa Kathy
Jessica Courtney Judy Marie
Jennifer Anne Megan Jane

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Dressing for the Weather

How you dress in the out-of-doors can directly affect whether or not you enjoy your experience. Being prepared for any contingency in the weather is of utmost importance. No one wants to get caught out in the rain without protection, etc. So, when planning an outdoor excursion, take the following into consideration:

  1. Layering is essential in any kind of weather. Choose appropriate fabrics to help keep you cool in the summer or warm in the winter.
  2. Head covering is important in hot as well as cold weather.
  3. Your footwear can make or break your outdoor experience. Remember that good sturdy shoes/boots are always a good idea when taking an excursion outdoors. And don't forget that the socks you wear also affect your comfort.

To learn more about how to dress for the weather as well as about the different fabrics, footwear, etc., see the following sites:

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Knots

Knowing what each type of knot is used for is as important as knowing how to tie them. A knot used for the wrong purpose may not hold and ultimately may cause more problems. The Internet has lots of wonderful sites on knot tying and here are just a few:

Make sure that you provide oppotunities for the girls to use their knots. They are easily forgotten when not kept in use. Games are a wonderful way to re-enforce these skills as well. Try some of the following:

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Knives

Knives can be an indespensible tool to use in the outdoors when used properly and safely. The main emphasis should be on the safety aspect. Here are some safety rules to consider:

  1. Make sure that the girls have a three foot safety circle. This is an imaginary circle drawn around them with a three foot radius with them in the center. It is their responsibility to respect each others "circle of safety" and to warm someone else when it is being compromised.
  2. Jackknives are the only appropriate knives to bring on a camping trip (other than kitchen knives).
  3. Never walk with an open jackknife.
  4. Whittling should be done in a sturdy, seated position with feet planted and legs apart. This way, arms can be rested on the knees and whittling will occur away from any body parts.
  5. Be sure to hold the knife firmly without placing the thumb on the blade (a common "bad habit").
  6. Always whittle away from you, never toward you.
  7. Make sure to open and close the knife with the blade facing up. Never "snap" a blade closed.
  8. When passing any knife, never release your grip until the receiver acknowledges receipt (eg., says "thank you").This way, a knife does not get dropped while in transit.

A good progression for the use of knives is to start with cardboard knives carving soap and progess to real ones whittling wood.

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Fires

 

Although children need a healthy respect for fire and the damage it can cause, teaching them how to build a fire correctly and safely can prove be a life saver at some point in the future.

Let's start with the three components of fire:

  1. Fuel
  2. Air
  3. Heat

Fuel can be divided into 3 categories as well:

  1. Tinder (small bits of natural material that burn readily such as pine needles, dry twigs, wood shavings, etc.)
  2. Kindling (somewhat larger pieces of twigs no larger than your thumb in diameter)
  3. Fuel (the larger wood that keeps the fire going

To illustrate these different types of fuels as well as the components of a fire, you can teach the girls how to make an "edible" fire first,

Recipe for an "Edible" Fire

-Barb GSC of the Nation's Capital

REI provides valuable information for the outdoor person. A good introduction to building fires may be found on their site called Campfire Basics . In addition, check out the Outdoor Education in Girl Scouting publication.

There are basic "how to build" instructions along with pictures at Learn 2 Build a Campfire however be aware that minimal impact practices are not necessarily used here (for example, it is no longer encouraged to build a fire ring around the fire, etc.).

Above all, safety should be stressed. The following tips were submitted by a leader, Betsy, to the WAGGGS-L:

Here is how I teach firebuilding to Brownies and Juniors:

It's fine to start in Brownies with an edible fire, but you have to move on beyond that. Don't try it again in Juniors and wonder why the grumbling starts from both girls and parents. The girls need to be given a chance to grow.

Move on into the fire ring to teach fire building after the edible fire. At this point, the first things you need to teach is not *the match*, but how to prepare *yourself* before the fire is laid and the match is struck, etc.

  1. Tie back long hair, put through a cap, whatever. No one allowed in fire ring until this is done.
  2. Flapping sleeves rolled up, no long shirttails out, and NO NYLON ever in the fire ring
  3. Teach tinder, kindling, fuel needed for a fire and how to appropriately lay and stack the woodpile outside the fire ring. Have equipment nearby: 2 buckets of water, hoe, rake, etc.
  4. Teach simple fires to lay, such as A-frame, teepee, etc.
  5. Now you are ready to talk matches: Using wooden kitchen matches, teach the girls how to squat (not sit), strike away, and hold the match so it will burn correctly yet not burn them or go out.
  6. Place a couple of sturdy pillar candles just inside the fire ring and let the girls take turns lighting the candle, blowing out the match, and tossing it into the laid fire. I don't mean let them strike one or two matches, I mean LET THEM PRACTICE. The matches cost nothing and a box will last a troop for years. (When we began several years ago to go camping for 5 days each year over spring break, there were 3 favorite activities: whittling, practicing knots, and striking the match. Now they just whittle and tie knots LOL)
  7. Now they are ready to light a fire.

There are always a couple of pyros in the group who are in love with matches and have been striking them for years. But with training, all girls can learn safety and firebuilding.

Girl Scouting is part of being a girl, and camping is a tradition of Girl Scouting.

Betsy :)

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Outdoor Cooking

There are lots of great ways of cooking in the out-of-doors. My troop put together a cookbook two years ago as a fund-raiser for our upcoming trip to Our Chalet and Pax Lodge. Written by a fellow outdoor trainer and I, it covered cooking techniques from the simple Nosebag recipes all the way up to Solar, Box and Dutch oven cooking. It is posted on our troop website. Therefore, instead of re-inventing the wheel again, I will provide links below to that and other favotire outdoor cooking sites. Bon Apetit!!

Cooking Progression

Outdoor Odyssey

Packet Cooking

Troop 237 Dutch Oven Recipes

Jim Speir's Cooking Page

MacScouter's Cooking for Scouts and Scouters

Scout Hut's Cooking & Recipes

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First Aid

There is no substitute for a full certified First Aid/CPR course. Check with your council to see what courses are offered in your area and which course is required for the activities you will be doing. Girls should be exposed to First Aid practices at all age levels. Use their age level handbooks as a guide for what to cover. I generally encourage girls who are in 7th grade and up to take a certified course and being a Red Cross Instructor I teach Community First Aid and Safety to Cadettes and Seniors at least once a year.

The following site has lots of wonderful First Aid information as well as links Agencies dealing with first aid and emergencies:

First Aid & Safety Online

Here are some games from Becky's Guiding Resource Center to help girls learn about first aid as well as help develop their skills:

First Aid Games

 

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Protecting the Environment

In order for our children and their children and their grandchildren,etc. to enjoy the out-of-doors, it is imperative that we protect it now. Minimal Impact or Leave No Trace Camping is a way to achieve this. Our Outdoor Manners #8 above says "leave a campsite cleaner than you found it" but there is much more to minimal impact camping than that. GSUSA Just for Girls site has a good description of minimal impact camping. For activities to use when teaching minimal impact, see Leave No Trace, Teaching Resources.

Here are just a few things to consider in the outdoors:

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