Tag Archives: equipment

Camping? Nom Nom Nom

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camping nom nom nom

Pack your tents and hit the great outdoors with your friends Monster and Mouse. But keep an eye on Monster…he tends to eat the equipment!

We read Monster and Mouse Go Camping, written by Deborah Underwood, and illustrated by Jared Chapman (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018). Mouse is very excited to camp, but Monster is reluctant…camping seems a little scary. However, with the promise of food, Monster is happy to try. Except that he eats the lantern, sleeping bags, and tent. Another problem? Mouse forgets to pack the ACTUAL food. Now the two friends are quite cold and hungry. Then they spot another campsite. Polite inquiries are made…only to get a unexpected reaction that makes this one of the FUNNIEST read-alouds, ever. Highly recommended!

You’ll need:

  • 1 large tissue box
  • 1 box cutter
  • A selection of construction paper
  • 1 manila file folder
  • 1 toilet paper tube
  • 1 monster camping equipment template on 8.5″ x 11″ card stock
  • Scissors, tape, and glue for construction
  • Markers for decorating

front of camping monster

First, the monster! Use a box cutter to create a mouth in a large tissue box. Then decorate the box with construction paper (we also offered large eye stickers). While you are decorating, make sure to leave the tissue box hole hole open in the back. This will allow you to retrieve your camping food later.

back of camping monster

As you can see in the above photo, our monster is also sporting a backpack. Ours was fashioned from an old manila file folder using this template. Curl the wings of the template around the circle, then secure everything in place with tape to create a “cup” backpack (we used color masking tape to decorate the backpacks too).

Attach the cup to an extra strip of manila paper, then tape or glue it to your monster box. Add a toilet paper tube mouse if you’d like:

side view of monster backpack

Now for the equipment! Color and cut the items from the template, then feed each item into the monster’s mouth. Retrieve the items using the hole in the back of your monster box. And yes, we did make sure to include all the fixings for s’mores in the set:

monster edible camping equipment

One things I love about the simple and open-ended decoration projects is the styles and color combinations kids come up with. Here are just a few from story time!

Ever-Ready

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ever readyFrom sandwiches to personal flotation devices, we’re prepared for whatever picnicking perils come our way. We made a delicious paper picnic lunch for two, and then tested our emergency preparedness with a problem-solving card game. Bust out the marshmallows and the umbrella. Nothing’s going to get in the way of THIS picnic!

We read Ready for Anything! by Keiko Kasza (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2009). Duck wants to go on a picnic, but Racoon is feeling a bit paranoid. What if they get attacked by killer bees? Or fall in a river? What if a terrible storm blows in, they take shelter in a cave, and find a dragon inside?!? Duck counters his friend’s dire predictions with happier ones. What if it’s butterflies instead of bees? What if the river is cool and refreshing? What if they roast marshmallows with the dragon in the cave? Finally, Raccoon agrees to go, but he fortifies himself with all sorts of emergency equipment. At the picnic site, Duck realizes that he forgot the picnic basket. Uh on! A true emergency! Luckily, Raccoon is ready for anything. He’s brought a delicious back-up lunch.

You’ll need:

picnic basket with lunchFirst, the picnic lunch! If your box has a lid, cut the lid and tabs off (if you’re using a tissue box, just cut the entire top off). Decorate the box with patterned tape and color masking tape (or just markers).

To create movable picnic basket handles, punch 2 matching sets of holes in both sides of the box. Next, punch a hole at both ends of your tagboard strips. Curve the strips over the box, line the holes up, and use brass fasteners to attach the handles.

finished picnic basketIf you don’t want moveable handles, simply staple a tagboard strip to the center of the box.

Now for the food! Use construction paper to make two sets of the following picnic items: 2 slices of bread, 1 piece of lettuce, 1 tomato slice, 1 piece of cheese, 1 banana, and 1 cookie circle. Use markers to decorate the banana and cookie. Here’s what our pieces looked like (carefully arranged in what I’ve dubbed the “happy picnic food face”).

happy picnic food faceYou can simply glue the layers of the sandwich together. Or, if you want to add a bit of bulk to it, use little squares of double-sided foam mounting tape between the fillings. Here’s a shot of a square of tape connecting the bread and cheese:

taped sandwichTo make beverages, color the juice label template, then wrap each label around a toilet paper tube. Cut a drinking straw in half, and tape each piece inside a tube.

juice bottlesTuck your lunch in the basket (and don’t forget the napkins!). Your final step is to color the picnic emergency equipment cards from the template. You’ll notice there’s a blank card on the template. That’s just in case you’d like to add another piece of equipment. Like a big bar of chocolate. I’ve definitely had chocolate emergencies.

emergency equipment cardsAfter giving the kids a few minutes to play with their new picnic sets (and there was quite a lot of picnicking going on) I asked them to gather in the story time area. Then, loudly and with lots of drama, I read each scenario from the picnic emergency scenario sheet. The kids had to listen carefully and select the equipment card they thought would solve the problem best.

gameI kept the scenarios very simple, but feel free to create more complicated ones. Or write some that require a double card solution!

Getting Campy

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inside the tentAre you ready for the great outdoors? Enjoy a day of hiking, roast marshmallows over an open fire, and snooze under the stars in a tent. All you need is a sturdy backpack, a few camping essentials, and a couple of awesome outdoor badges!

let's campWe read When Daddy Took Us Camping by Julie Brillhart (Albert Whitman & Co.,1997). One fine summer day, a Dad and two kids go on a camping trip. They set up their site, go on a hike, dine in the great outdoors, and drift to sleep amid the glow of fireflies. The next morning, still in their pajamas, they hike waaaaaay across the backyard to enjoy a pancake breakfast in the kitchen of their home. A small camping trip no doubt, but still tons of fun!

We made backpacks, loaded them with supplies, and then completed 3 camp activities to earn badges. I used recycled 9.5″ x 14.75″ archive folders to make the backpacks for this project, but you could also use legal-sized manilla folders.

You’ll need:

  • 1 legal-size manilla folder (approximately 8.5″ x 14″)
  • A selection of color masking tape
  • A box cutter
  • 2 poster board strips (approximately 1.5″ x 28″)
  • Hole punch
  • A 23.5″ piece of ribbon
  • 1 large button
  • 1 camping supplies template, printed on 8.5″ x 11″ white card stock
  • 3-4 paper towel tubes
  • Red, yellow, and orange construction paper
  • 1 wooden dowel
  • 1 white cotton ball
  • Optional camping badges (more on these later!)
  • Scissors and tape for construction
  • Markers for decorating
  • Hot glue

You need a backpack to start everything off, so here we go! First, cut the tab off the folder. 

backpack step 1Next, open the folder and cut a rectangle off the top left side (my rectangle was approximately 8.5″ x 5.75″).

backpack step 2Set the rectangle you just cut out aside (you’ll need it later). Use the box cutter to make 4 horizontal slits on the lower right side of the folder. Each slit should be about 2″ long (sorry, they’re a little hard to see in the photo).

backpack step 3 fixedNow cut a “scoop” out of the right side of the folder,

backpack step 4Close the folder,

backpack step 5And fold the top flap down over the scoop. You can also shorten the flap if you like (I cut about 1.75″ off mine).

backpack step 6The main part of the backpack is done, now for the straps! Run a piece of patterned tape down the middle of each strip of poster board (I used white poster board, but any color will do). To conserve tape, I only decorated the outside of the strips.

strapsOpen the folder and slide the straps through the slits, just as you see in the photo below.

backpack step 7Close the folder. Staple the open side and bottom of the folder closed, then line the sides of your backpack with masking tape. It’s important to use the masking tape to cover the staples on both sides of the backpack (because no one wants a staple scratch!).

Remember the rectangle you set aside earlier? This will now become the back pocket of your backpack. Cut the rectangle down until fits on the back of the backpack (mine was 3″ x 5″). Decorate the edges with a little patterned tape and then hot glue (or tape) it to the backpack.

pocketA few kids elected to tab their backpack’s pocket, making it stick out slightly from the rest of the backpack. This made it easier for some of them to load and unload the pocket. Here’s an example of a tabbed pocket:

another pocket Finish by hot gluing a button to the flap of the backpack. So here’s what the backpack should look like now: stapled, lined with masking tape, attached back pocket, and a button on the flap.

backpack final stepIf you’d like, you can also add a masking tape loop to the underside of the flap to keep it from flying open while you’re hiking. Now for adjusting those straps! Press the backpack against your back. Curl a strap over your shoulder and under your arm. When the strap feels comfortable, staple it and cover both sides of the staple with color masking tape. Repeat with the other strap.

securing strapsLast but not least – the chest strap. The chest strap really helps keep the poster board straps from constantly slipping off. Punch a hole on the outside of the left strap.

punched holeThread a piece of ribbon through the hole…

ribbonThen circle the ribbon around both straps and tie a bow in the front.

chest strapThe backpack is finished, now for the supplies! Color and cut the items from the camping supplies template and load them in your backpack. You’re ready to go!

I explained to the kids that they were going to earn 3 badges: “Hiking,” “Fire Starting,” and “Overnight Camping.” I whipped up the badges using Microsoft Word clip art and Avery sticker templates. I also used markers to add dotted lines around the stickers so the badges would look like they were “sewn” on the backpacks.

badgesThe kids double-checked the supplies in their backpacks, secured their backpacks to their shoulders, and got in line. I donned a floppy hat and old fishing vest (many thanks to Katie’s grandpa) and lead the campers on a hike!

going on hikeWe went outside, circled the library plaza, walked across a grassy area, and rested on some long stone benches. When the hike was finished, I stuck a hiking badge on each backpack.

In the meantime, Katie and Miss Joani (our recently returned student assistant) were back at the library setting up the fire pit. Basically, this was a ring of rocks (made from big pieces of crumpled paper) surrounding paper towel tube “logs.” Initially, we had planned to have kids tape orange, yellow, and red construction paper “flames” around the tubes like this:

fireBut we were running short on time. So the kids simply grabbed handfuls of construction paper flames and tossed them onto the logs, thus “igniting” the fire. Then we speared cotton balls on wooden dowels and “roasted” marshmallows!

roasting marshmallowsI doled out the “Fire Starting” badges and we proceeded…to the tent.

tentKatie’s family does quite a bit of camping, so she brought in one of her tents (complete with authentic campfire odor) for the kids to try. It was a 3-man tent but I we squeezed about 14 kids (and me) in there! We zipped it up and started snoring – thus earning our third, and final, badge for “Overnight Camping.”

The campers then departed, proudly displaying their badges. They got to keep the marshmallow on a stick too. Mmmm. Roasted marshmallows…

little camper