Camping and trail skills with kids

Lay a trail with 1911 trail signs

45 min · $0 · Ages 5 and up

Print the skill card

Grab first

• Loose sticks and pebbles already lying on the ground
• A whistle for each of you
• A folded note and a small treat for the end of the trail
• Sidewalk chalk, for a trail on pavement instead

Before you start

• Stay within sight of each other the whole time. Every sign should be visible from the one before it.
• Agree on whistle calls first, including one that means "come back to me now."
• No route along roads, parking lots or water. Pick a lawn or a path you already know.
• Loose things only. Don't break branches, pull plants or lift rocks from streams or park beds.

The steps

1. Learn four signs

   Draw four signs from the 1911 book in the dirt or on paper: an arrow for "road to be followed," an X for "this path not to be followed," a square with an arrow for "letter hidden three paces from here this way," and a circle with a dot for "I have gone home," the end of the trail.

2. Set the boundaries and the whistle

   Walk the edge of the play area together and say where it stops: "The trail never goes past the fence or the big tree." Agree on your whistle calls. The whistle and hand signals plan has a set to borrow.

3. Dad lays the trail

   While the kid counts to 100 with eyes covered, lay 8 to 10 signs from loose sticks and pebbles, each in sight of the last. Put an X across one wrong turn. Near the end, lay a square-and-arrow sign and hide the note three paces that way. Finish with a circle and dot.

4. Add a water stop

   The 1911 book also had signs for water: a circle with wavy lines meant "this is good water," and the same circle with an arrow meant "good water not far this way." Scratch one in the dirt or draw it in chalk next to a water bottle halfway along.

5. Kid follows the trail

   The kid follows the signs while you walk a few steps behind. Don't point. If they stall, ask "What does that sign say?" At the square-and-arrow sign, they count three paces and find the note.

6. Take it down, then swap

   Walk the trail back together and undo every sign: scatter the sticks and set pebbles back where they came from. Then the kid lays a trail for you. Take that one down too.

When it goes sideways

• If the kid loses the trail, the signs are probably too far apart. Stand at the last sign and lay the next one where they can see it.
• If sticks are scarce, use chalk on a driveway or path and hose it off after.
• Let the kid's note say anything. A younger kid can draw a picture.

Read the full plan and its sources. Source dates stay with the plan; these are practice ideas, with no claim of a real-world test.

Try next

• A first campout in the backyard · Overnight
• Find north with a stick and the sun · 30 min
• Read tracks in mud, sand or snow · 60 min

All five Reel topics · Build a weekend by age and time