Field plans for dadsOne page per plan · Friday letter

Home / Start here / Print pack

Your print pack

1 field card, one per page: Lay a trail with 1911 trail signs.

Back to Start here

Each card prints on its own US Letter page. No printer? Choose Save as PDF in the print screen (on an iPhone, tap the Share icon there, then Save to Files) and print it later. If the button doesn't work, use your browser's Print.

Dad Field Manual · Field card 89 · Classic Field Skills

Lay a trail with 1911 trail signs

Forty-five minutes in a yard or park. Lay a short trail of 1911 trail signs from loose sticks and pebbles, let your kid follow it to a hidden note, then swap and clear every sign away.

Time
45 min
Cost
$0
Ages
5 and up
Where
Yard or park

Since 1911: The 1911 signs are the same, but laying them is not. The National Park Service's Leave No Trace principles say to leave rocks, plants and other natural objects as you find them, and to use a map and compass or GPS instead of rock cairns or flagging. Lay signs flat from loose sticks and pebbles, never stack rocks or break branches, and take every sign down when the game ends.

What you need

  • 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.

Steps

  1. Learn four signs. Learn four signs: arrow (follow), X (not this way), square with arrow (note three paces away), circle with dot (end).
  2. Set the boundaries and the whistle. Walk the boundary together and agree on whistle calls before anyone lays a sign.
  3. Dad lays the trail. Lay 8 to 10 flat signs in sight of each other, one X at a wrong turn, a hidden note, and an end circle.
  4. Add a water stop. Draw a 1911 water sign next to a water bottle halfway along the trail.
  5. Kid follows the trail. The kid follows the signs to the note while Dad walks behind without pointing.
  6. Take it down, then swap. Walk back and undo every sign, then the kid lays a trail for Dad and you clear it again.

If it stalls

  • 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.
Signs read correctly · signs taken down
Signed off: can do this.Signed by Date