What to teach a 7 year old (girl) from the suburbs

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KaosX

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Jan 3, 2011
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I'm not ultimate outdoorsman. I've been camping, hunting, fishing etc but I don't really get to do it anymore. I'm 26 years old now - I have a 7 year old daughter. While I did a lot of outdoors stuff befor she was born - the fact that we had kids so young really lead to me "manning up" and getting through school and working and generally learning to be a good father (it doesnt just happen!).

I'm in a much more comfortable position now to ease up a bit and do more fun stuff (yay for my degree scoring me a decent job!).

There are some woods nearby that we can go out into and I was thinking of taking her out to teach her some stuff where mom can't disapprove.

What would you do if you had about 3 hours out in the woods for the first time?

I was thinking basic fire and shelter but not sure.

I've got a little survival bag I keep in my car but that's mostly meant for making it home from the city should I have to.

I have a little swiss knife she can use. I have a flash 2 folder (not too fond of it but it's held up for about 3 years now) and a rusted machete as far as blades go at my disposal.

Gear I might need to look into?

My kit has the following for firemaking -
lighter, matches, 9v and steel wool.

For lashing I have around 100 feet of paracord, a printout of some basic but useful knots, and a roll of electrical tape.

We could do firemaking in our outdoor fire pit as well...or hell...even in the fireplace I guess. Could always tell mom it's for smores!
 
First time out, I would make her learn much of anything. Just see if she wants to go for a walk, let her look at whatever interests her and go from there. 3 hrs might be too much for her first time out. I had to break myself of that when I took my wife shooting for the first time, kids are the same way. I might like shooting all day, but an hour or so might be plenty for her.
 
I have no kids, but the old north, south, east west...sun rises in the east, sets in the west info should be taught. And how to read a compass and how it works. Nothing too in depth with that though, it would get boting for a 7 year old:D

Seven year olds of any gender like fire though.
 
adaman04 said:
First time out, I would make her learn much of anything. Just see if she wants to go for a walk, let her look at whatever interests her and go from there. 3 hrs might be too much for her first time out. I had to break myself of that when I took my wife shooting for the first time, kids are the same way. I might like shooting all day, but an hour or so might be plenty for her.
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+1

God bless,
Adam
 
Maybe you should do some prep work before you bring her out? Let her familiarize herself with some tools and proper usage? Just a suggestion. :]
 
When I was that age, I soaked up any information on local wildlife I could get, try to find out what she likes best, and expand from there.

Just having a fire can be cool, or just whittling for the first time ...
 
Well, she's been camping before, and we've been through the woods on walks before - but she's just starting to have information cling to her like a magnet (I'm teaching her kickboxing and some jiu-jitsu and my friend teaches her formally) so I figured it was time for some more stuff in the mix and see if she's interested. If not, I tried.
 
adaman04 said:
First time out, I would make her learn much of anything. Just see if she wants to go for a walk, let her look at whatever interests her and go from there. 3 hrs might be too much for her first time out. I had to break myself of that when I took my wife shooting for the first time, kids are the same way. I might like shooting all day, but an hour or so might be plenty for her.
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+1. i would say just going out for a little while will probably be good. the first time i went out with my dad, he didn't try and teach me anything except to be quiet and enjoy the woods. i ended up walking over a snake that i didn't even see (luckily, i wasn't bitten) and my dad ended up catching it and lettinge get a good look at it. i'm not saying you should try that, but just getting out and experiencing the wild goes a long way. if she doesn't develop an appreciation for it first, survival won't be 'fun'.
 
I just got an Adventure Medical survival pocket kit recently. I have a 4 yr old and we went thru everything in it. I just basically showed it what everything was for. I let her look at stuff and hold stuff. She messed with the compass and mirror and stuff. I sometimes just talk outside stuff with her while driving or hanging out. I took her out for a hike today. Its really just fun to get out with them.

Instead of teaching you could do some things while she is around. Go outside and build a fire in the pit? Just walk in the woods and point out tracks? Really just get her interested in the outside.

Hope that helps and I am no expert. my oldest is 4 and they are both girls so I still have alot to learn.
 
Go have a picnic. Maybe make a small fire and roast some hot dogs. You can teach some basic firemaking skills as well as knife safety.

Paul
 
Just show her the woods first. The skills come later.
At most, use it as a time to show safe knife use.
 
Might I suggest looking online at the Girl Scout Handbook and there course descriptions for the different badges...You could uses their information as a guideline for you own type of outdoor skills "patch" program with your daughter. Have fun taking your child outdoors, sadly there are allot of parents today that do not. She will always remember it.
 
Try to gear it towards her interests, but above all, keep it fun. Try to get a bit of safety instruction in there to. Try to structure your outing so that it can be cut short if need be. Maybe get your daughter involved in the planning stages...it makes it more of "her" trip.

Kudos to you on your parenting, etc.

Chris
 
My daughters 6, and when I first took her out I gave her a whistle. I explained to her what it was for and how to use it. Then from there she learned how to read trail markers and the color coded maps allot of the trails here in CT have. I would let her lead me, and along the way she would pick up flowers or leaves on trees. I would explain to her what they were and any uses for them.(If I knew them..)

I pretty much, would teach her things that she wanted to learn. Yup, fire was in there too...
 
I agree with keeping it simple and making it her time. Maybe take a few field guides and binoculars and teach her about wildlife and vegetation. A few books I would recommend are Stalking the Good Life and Stalking the Wild Asparagus by Euell Gibbons. Another one I remember as a child was My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George. Its about a boy who learns about nature and himself in the Catskills mountains. All great books. Its really all about your time with your children and cultivating a love for the outdoors. Enjoy it while you can ...they grow up fast.
 
Idea of a whistle is a very very good idea, i would say this is a great first for obvious reasons in the woods. I remember my dad showing me how to make tea from different things, what stuff was poisonous and what wasn't, animal droppings/marks of all kinds, orienteering and sheltercraft. Mind you i was abit older than 7 but as long as you are out with her and the negatives (mosquito's, hunger, too much sun etc) are kept to a minimum i would say it should be a great experience for all brother!
 
What ever you pack let her help you... if she is interested. Bring something to eat and something to play with in case serious boredom sets in. All you have to do is take her out and have fun, playing eating and generally having a good time. Lessons can be taught in short doses. I think when it comes to what to teach the youngsters I think it best to disect the list of ten essentials and start with the most basic things. Let us know how it goes!
 
Ask her what she might want to do out there. There are lots of great ideas already, main thing is keep it fun. I dont have kids of my own but I run a wilderness program for 7-14 year olds.
To get some of the young girls into spending a few hours in the woods we had a tea party with the local wood fairies. They made a little fire with my firesteel and we made some tea. Now whenever we go for a hike we have to make sure the wood fairies are invited.
 
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