This is the sixth entry in a series of articles about preparing Generation Alpha boys for success in life.
Camping and related activities can provide a boy with valuable skills and traits his peers will never develop.
Modern urban and suburban lifestyles have neither the need nor the opportunity to learn much about nature. It is not overstating things to say that most services are created by professionals, arrive in boxes, and come at the push of a button.
In nature, whether at a roadside camp ground or a backcountry plateau, things are a bit more spare.
Most things must be prepared ahead of time and brought in. Getting there requires an understanding of maps & terrain and often requires measured exertion. Nature is omnipresent and must be respected and understood. Inconveniences must be surmounted or accepted.
Putting up a tent in the back yard is an adventure for small children. Older ones will get a kick out of a visit to a state park. With enough experience those ten and up may be ready to attack the back country.
Setting up a camp site and operating it for multiple days is instructive. There are dozens of tasks that need doing and children can be involved with most of them. Ground must be suitably cleared. Tents must be raised against the wind and possible rain. Clean water must be procured, food must be prepped, dishes must be cleaned. The stove will always be a challenge to operate. Batteries go dead.
Plant and animal identification is a dimension of experience most kids don't share. What plants are dangerous? What tree is this? What made this foot print? What built that nest? Unlike on television most animals are not friendly puppy dogs and kids need to learn that.
Hiking is a common past-time when camping and provides a number of skills to learn. Reading maps & correlating markings on paper with the features of real terrain is not as easy as it looks. Deciding on a route to take is a challenge particularly where there are no paths.
What is camping without a fire? Making s'mores, cooking meals, or simply enjoying the primal glow are very human activities. Getting the fire started and feeding it appropriately is a skillset all its own that most people do not understand at all.
The world is not a friendly place. Comfortable suburban environments allow us to cheat because they are designed to be safe and provide ready emergency services. The wild is another matter entirely. Teaching children to navigate a consequential environment will plant seeds that make a big difference in the real world.
Don't get cocky taking your children into the wild. What is dangerous to them is dangerous to you too. If you don't have experience with these things bring along someone who does, and listen to him.
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