Campward Ho! A Manual for Girl Scout Camps

Part 6

Chapter 63,444 wordsPublic domain

IX.

GENERAL CAMP ACTIVITIES

Outline

1. SPORTS a. _Water sports_ 1. Swimming (a) Classification (1) Groups or classes (b) Life saving 2. Boating (a) Rowing (b) Canoeing (1) Classification b. _Games_ 1. Major games 2. Minor games c. _Dancing_ 1. Types (a) Aesthetic or classic (b) Folk dancing (c) Social dancing d. _Horsemanship_ 1. Requirements 2. CRAFTS AND OCCUPATIONS a. _Crafts_ 1. Handcrafts (a) Kinds 2. Woodcraft (a) Nature Study 1. Ferns, Flowers, Trees, Birds, Stars, Maps 3. Campcraft (a) Making and breaking camp (b) Camp fires (c) Cooking (d) Trail making 3. ENTERTAINMENTS and diversions outside of the regular schedule a. Types 1. Dramatic 2. Miscellaneous 3. Celebrations and pageants 4. Inter-Camp frolics 4. SINGING a. Camp songs 5. ACHIEVEMENTS a. _Recording of achievements_ 1. Books 2. Chart system b. _Recognition of achievements_ 1. Points and honors 2. Girl Scout Merit Badges

1. SPORTS

Every girl who goes to a camp in the summer is interested in some form of sport. But perhaps swimming and boating head the list for popularity.

There are many interesting ways in which to run your swimming program so that it is taught systematically and leads to real progress and efficiency.

One method that has been tried successfully in a very large camp, but which would apply equally well in any camp, is the arrangement of the entire camp into groups designated as "Swimming Classes" and indicated by a special color bathing cap for each group or class so that they may be easily distinguished in the water.

_Class Number 4, Red Cap._--All who have not passed the canoe test which is explained under the heading "Class Number 3."

_Class Number 3, Green Cap._--Pass the canoe test which consists of swimming, floating or otherwise staying above depth for fifteen minutes, and swimming in from an overturned canoe 20 yards from shore.

_Class Number 2, Blue Cap._

_Strokes_: Breast stroke--25 yards Side Stroke--25 yards Back stroke--25 yards Single overhand--25 yards Double overhand--25 yards _Dives_: Standing or running dive from spring board (3 perfect out of 5).

Dive from a low tower 4 feet high. (3 perfect out of 5).

_Class Number 1, White Cap_.

_Strokes_: Crawl Trudgeon

_Dives_: From spring board, running plain From spring board, running jack knife From spring board, running angel From spring board, standing side From spring board, standing back From float standing from high tower (10) and 3 optional dives from the following: Hand stand (spring board, high or low tower). Back somersault, spring board Front somersault, spring board Sailor running, spring board Back dive, high tower Jack knife, high tower Double dive, high tower

Another method is to record the swimming achievements on a chart under the following headings:

Form swimming, ornamental swimming, speed swimming, canoe tests, life saving and dives.

Did you ever work to become a member of the Women's Life Saving Corps of the American Red Cross? The purpose of this organization is to train women in all coast cities, and cities bordering on lakes and rivers, to be able to meet emergencies in the water and save lives.

There are six tests which have to be passed before a girl is considered worthy of a W. L. S. C. certificate.

Test 1. Jump off a low dock dressed in bathing suit, shoes, shirt waist and skirt. Swim to a given point, (about 20 yards), there undress and swim in bathing suit to another dock (about 20 yards).

2. Swim down from surface in 10 feet of water and fetch up a 2-foot birch log from bottom.

3. Rescue a non-resisting person and demonstrate the "carries" (head, under-arm and side stroke) as you bring them ashore.

4. In deep water demonstrate the correct breaks for the wrist holds, and the front and back strangle holds around the neck.

5. Demonstrate resuscitation by Schaefer method.

6. Tell proper procedure in caring for patient after breathing has been restored.

Boating

Boating, of which we shall first consider rowing, may also be worked out according to classes, such as:

Second Class: Manoeuvre a row boat properly, i. e., unship, reverse, anchor, scull, make 3 perfect landings out of 5.

First Class: Row singly for a given distance 1-1/2 miles in 40 minutes, or according to certain standards, such as:

Start Row forward Row backward Manoeuvre Good landing Fasten boat

Canoeing

Class II. Know how to paddle bow and stern with another girl in a canoe, and make 3 out of 5 perfect landings.

Class I. a. Handle a canoe singly in all weathers and make 3 out of 5 perfect landings, b. Climb into a canoe with another swimmer's help from the water in three consecutive trials.

In your own camp when grouping sports for classification although you may get good suggestions from other methods, it is best to work out a way which meets your own particular need.

Remember that the swimming and boating should be in charge of competent and responsible people or instructors and that every precaution should be taken against accident.

Remember it is better to emphasize good form rather than speed or long distance swimming and the ability to meet emergencies in the water rather than stunts.

Honors or recognition should be given for skill, form and improvement rather than for endurance.

The interest in Water Sports is further stimulated by weekly contests or a day set apart at the end of the season called the Water Sports Day.

In weekly contests enough competition takes place to keep the girls' interest in improvement constantly keen.

For Water Sports Day here is a typical and comprehensive program:

Canoe race 25-yard dash 50-yard dash Dives; an option of 2 out of 3 Boating race Relay swimming race Obstacle race Practical demonstration such as taught by the Women's Life Saving Corps of the American Red Cross.

If you do not wish to have too strenuous a time for Water Sports Day a carnival is suggested which is more festive and makes for a very gay and picturesque time. The carnival can be worked out in a variety of ways, but the main feature is the decking of boats and costuming of the participants, prizes being given for originality. A short program of water sports can be added.

Games

If there is adequate equipment Basket-ball, Baseball and Tennis become the outstanding or major games in a camp. These games should never be indulged in for the idea of winning at all costs, but for the fun that one gets out of them.

Of course there will be competitive games with qualified teams and high standards of playing, but there will also be the impromptu and unexpected challenge games played in fantastic costumes, accompanied by many antics and songs composed on the inspiration of the moment, games apt to be remembered long after the other kind of competition has been forgotten.

Baseball for girls or children who cannot get used to the paraphernalia of hard balls, bats and mitts, can be played with a softer ball such as a playground ball, a light bat and if necessary the simpler rules of Indoor Baseball can be adopted for out-door playing. In most camps, however, enthusiasm for real Baseball generally outweighs every handicap.

Tennis does not take in the same number of players at one time as does Baseball or Basket-ball, therefore in order that everyone may get a try at it a schedule may be made out so that the courts will not be monopolized by one set of players to the exclusion of beginners or other enthusiasts.

Ladder tournaments, both for singles and doubles, solve this problem somewhat and create interest, especially when the final try-outs are on.

There are any number of group games, Volley Ball, Captain Ball, Relay Races and Ball Games, which are played in camps when there is adequate equipment for Basket-ball and Tennis, but more especially where there is a lack of it.

Individual games, such as Archery, and Quoits make the time pass pleasantly and profitably for a few who like to go off by themselves.

Dancing

Dancing is an interesting pastime for camp and fills in many gaps.

It is a help in entertainments and if you are to have an end of the season pageant, it is well to hold dancing classes regularly so that there will not be endless rehearsing for the last days.

There are three types of dancing which can be presented. The Aesthetic or Classic, the Folk Dancing and the Social Dancing. For the most part, the Folk Dancing is freer, easy to learn and more suited to the community as a whole than the Aesthetic work.

It is better not to attempt much dancing in your schedule if you have no piano or stringed pieces, for although there are phonograph records to be had, the supply is too limited to be entirely satisfactory.

A collection of English Country Dances by Cecil Sharpe are dances that everyone can do and enjoy.

Horseback Riding

The joy of horseback riding does not find its way into every camp, mainly because of the expense and responsibility entailed, but if it does there are many facts to know and master in horsemanship. For instance, one should know how to take care of a horse, which means feeding, watering, saddling, grooming, shoeing, tying and general care necessary under different conditions.

The requirements for riding are to know:

1. How to mount and dismount correctly

2. To be able to demonstrate riding at a walk, trot or gallop

3. To be able to jump a low hurdle

The requirements for driving are:

1. To learn how to harness correctly in a single and double harness; and

2. How to manage a horse on the road

2. CRAFTS AND OCCUPATIONS

But sports are not the only side to the camper's program. Another very large and absorbing part is the Crafts, inclusive of Handcrafts, Woodcraft, Campcraft, and the distinct Scout occupations, such as First Aid, Home Nursing, Gardening, Signalling, and Homemaking, treated in the Girl Scout Handbook.

Handcrafts

The handcrafts are more numerous than your fingers and can be defined as anything that is done with the hands. It is possible to have almost any branch of the Fine Arts and the Applied Arts as dyeing, batik, stenciling, woodblock printing, pottery. Then there is basketry, weaving, rug-making, leather work, and metal work in copper, or jewelry in silver, woodcarving and carpentry. The first problem is: "Who will teach it?" The choice of what handcrafts you will have then, depends somewhat on whom you can secure to present them properly.

But closely allied is your second problem, "What can we afford?" Jewelry, metal work and leather are the most expensive. Pottery is fascinating, but you must have a kiln to finish the product.

Try to choose the crafts which will suit the capacities. It is better not to attempt jewelry at the outset.

Relating your craft work to the camp makes it doubly interesting. So much can be done in this way with carpentry which produces anything from docks and canoe paddles to furniture and toothbrush holders.

Delightful problems in the interior decoration of a camp living room can be worked out by combining the efforts of all the craft workers. The carpenters build the furniture; the weavers make rugs and materials; the dyers dip the materials and carry out the color scheme and other workers supply the accessories.

It is well to have an exhibition to look forward to for the end of the season when appointed judges decide upon the merit of the work.

Woodcraft

_Night is a dead monotonous period under a roof; but in the open world it passes lightly with its stars and dews and perfumes, and the hours are marked by changes in the face of Nature. What seems a kind of death to people choked between walls and curtains, is only a light and living slumber to the man who sleeps a-field. All night long he can hear Nature breathing deeply and freely; even as she takes her rest, she turns and smiles; and there is one stirring hour unknown to those who dwell in houses, when a wakeful influence goes abroad over the sleeping hemisphere, and all the outdoor world are on their feet. It is then that the cock first crows, not this time to announce the dawn, but like a cheerful watchman speeding the course of night. Cattle awake on the meadows; sheep break their fast on dewy hillsides, and change to a new lair among the ferns; and houseless men, who have lain down with the fowls, open their dim eyes and behold the beauty of the night._

_At what inaudible summons, at what gentle touch of Nature, are all these sleepers thus recalled in the the same hour to life? Do the stars rain down an influence, or do we share some thrill of mother earth below our resting bodies?... Towards two in the morning ... the thing takes place._

_Robert Louis Stevenson_ _From "Travels With a Donkey."_

Woodcraft in the beginning was the first science of man. As applied to camping we most frequently think of it as anything which pertains to the woods or forests and as a turning away from the more artificial side of camping, and as in pioneer times learning to do everything ourselves, which is after all the keynote of real joy in camping.

To acquaint ourselves with the woods we can begin with our immediate surroundings. Short walks to search for flowers or ferns and to know the different varieties of trees, or early morning trips to a bit of swamp land where we can study the coloring and habits of birds or sit quietly while patiently listening to distinguish them by their songs.

We can lie out on the grass when the stars have come out, and study the heavens or take trips at night with an experienced woodsman, who perhaps shows us that Nature by night is very often different from Nature by day, or of how we can find a trail through a dense wood by the light of a star--the North Star.

Woodcraft includes what we may merely for convenience classify as campcraft, which is to know all there is to know about camping in the open.

For most purposes a good knowledge of how to make out-door fires; (both from the standpoint of heat and the kind of food to be cooked) cooking; trailing; and how to make and break a camp, are sufficient.

Beginners in this lore would do well to get a thorough knowledge of campcraft by going about it one step at a time. For instance, it is advisable to confine oneself to short trips at first and learn about the sensing of directions, trail cutting and blazing, cooking, pitching tents or building lean-tos; thus taking the various branches which are preparatory to the actual experience and real adventure of a camping-out party, and it is then and there that our real knowledge is tested.

The topics to be considered either when learning about campcraft or when actually doing it, are briefly:

1. _Trip Planning_ Use of maps Provisions Clothing Railroad connections

2. _Trail Making_ Survey for trail Blazing trail Cutting a trail

3. _Selection of Camp Site_ Location as to supply of fuel, water and fairly high, well-drained land. Shelters, tents or lean-tos Bed-making

4. _Camp Discipline_ Working squad Toilet facilities Exploration parties

The basis for quite a comprehensive knowledge of woodcraft in all its branches, camping and Nature Study, is to be found in the Girl Scout Handbook, "Scouting for Girls."

3. ENTERTAINMENTS AND DIVERSIONS

Entertainments or shows of which there are an overwhelming variety are a great aid in keeping everyone in a cheerful frame of mind.

In the dramatic line we have the play, pantomime, vaudeville, minstrel, "take offs," charades, the circus and dramatization of stories.

With musical talent in a camp it adds much zest to form an orchestra and then there is the possibility of musical evenings and concerts. Added to these are the Stunt Parties, Dances and Masquerades, Marshmallow and Corn Roasts, and if it is a seashore camp, the clam bake.

The play requires an amount of preparation and time not always to be spared in a camp unless the season is long. The most enjoyable shows are bound to be the more spontaneous expressions in the form of impromptu affairs.

There are celebrations which take place on particular days such as the Fourth of July or any other event which you wish to commemorate, just as the pageant can be presented to display your camping or community activities.

One of the finest things to cultivate if you are in close proximity to other camps is an inter-camp relationship, either in the forms of inter-camp contests or frolics, or any demonstration which you think betokens friendship. This may even go so far as the building of inter-camp shacks and the making of inter-camp trails.

It is not only illuminating to come into contact with another camp besides your own--it is a source of great diversion and enjoyment, if there is plenty of fun and friendship, and an absence of group jealousy.

4. CAMP SINGS

Singing is a great and important part of camp life, for it reflects every phase and meets all the situations of that life.

Songs are generally composed by the individual or by groups, being the expression of their feelings, or results of their experience in camp. The songs are quickly adopted by the camp as a whole because people like to sing their own songs, especially songs about fresh, actual happenings.

Some of the songs which reflect universal experience live on through the years and become traditional, while others drop out and are never heard of again. The following are Girl Scout Songs that have weathered more or less satisfactorily.

THE VICTORY GIRLS

(_Tune_: "K-K-Katy")

G-G-G-Girl Scouts! You Victory Girl Scouts! You're the only Victory Girls that get our votes. And when you march by, Under your troop flags, We'll be cheering for your K-K-K-Khaki coats!

MARCHING SONG

(_Tune_: "Where Do We Go from Here, Boys?")

Where do we go from here, girls, where do we go from here? Anywhere (our Captain[B]) leads we'll follow, never fear. The world is full of dandy girls, but wait till we appear--Then! Girl Scouts, Girl Scouts, give us a hearty cheer!

[B] Supply Captain's name.

WE'RE COMING!

(_Tune_: "Old Black Joe")

Camping Song

Come where the lake lies gleaming in the sun, Come where the days are filled with work and fun, Come where the moon hangs out her evening lamp, The Scouts are trooping, trooping, trooping, back to Camp.

CHORUS:

We're coming! We're coming! to the lakes, the hills, the sea. Old Mother Nature calls her children--you and me!

II.

Come where we learn the wisdom of the wood, Come where we prove that simple things are good, Come where we pledge allegiance to our land, America! you've called your daughters--here we stand.

CHORUS:

We're coming! We're coming, till we spread from sea to sea, Our country needs us--wants us--calls us--you and me!

RALLY SONG

(_Tune_: "Smiles")

There are girls that make you gloomy, There are girls that make you gay, There are girls forever hanging backward, There are girls who like to lead the way, But that girl that's always at "attention!" That her Country cannot do without, That we know the world can always count on-- She is my girl--the good Girl Scout.

THE LONG, LONG LINE

(_Tune_: "The Long, Long Trail")

Recruiting Song

Do you feel a little lonely? Are your friends too few? Would you like to join some jolly girls In the things you think and do? Don't you know your Country's waiting? Have you heard her call? See, the Scouts are crowding, crowding in, Where there's room for one and all!

CHORUS: