Campfire Treats and Activities
Campfire Treats
BANANAHALA'S OR BANANA BOATS
A recipe that is easy and inspired by the Nantahala Gorge area of western North Carolina.
Ingredients:
1 slightly ripe but firm banana
A
handful of chocolate chips
A
handful of mini-marshmallows
Aluminum foil
Directions:
Take a slightly ripe banana, peel back just one part of the skin leaving the other part of the skin intact. Scoop a trough with a small spoon. Keep the meat of the banana and set aside. Fill the trough you have just made with mini-marshmallows and chocolate chips. Mash the banana you set aside and place on top of the chocolate chips and marshmallows. Replace the banana skin and wrap the whole fruit in foil. Put into the campfire coals for about 7-10 minutes until the fruit is roasted and the chocolate and marshmallows melt. Pull out and eat with a spoon. Delicious!
SHAGGY DOGS
These are truly messy camp desserts-real outdoor material.
Ingredients:
1 marshmallow
A small bowl of chocolate syrup
2 to 3 tsp. shredded coconut
Directions:
Roast the marshmallow on a stick until golden.
Carefully dip it into the chocolate syrup to cover and then roll it in the coconut. Enjoy straight off the roasting stick. Makes one serving.
MINI-PIES
An easy alternative to chocolate, sweet desserts
Ingredients:
1 ready made pie crust roll
1 can fruit pie filling
Iinstant tapioca
Sugar
Aluminum foil
Directions:
Roll out pie crust, fill it with fruit pie filling mixed with some instant tapioca and a bit of sugar, seal the crust, wrap in foil and place it in the coals (this can be prepped 1-2 days ahead of time with fresh fruit). Cook for 10 minutes turning once.
HOBO POPCORN
Ingredients:
Popcorn
Oil
Aluminum foil
Directions:
In the middle of a 18 inch x 18 inch piece of aluminum foil, place 1 teaspoon of oil and 1 tablespoon of popcorn. Bring foil corners together to make a pouch. Secure the edges of the foil but leave plenty of room for the popcorn to pop. Tie the pouch to a stick and hold the pouch over the hot coals. Shake constantly until all the popcorn has popped. Add butter and salt to taste.
Camp Activities
One Square Foot Explorers
This is a variation on the scavenger hunt but no list of items to find is required. Individually or as a team, head out into the woods and pick a 1 square foot area to explore. Gather the things that catch your eye, surprise you, or have a unique feature to them. You and your children will be amazed what you can discover in a small focused spot in the woods. Either collect samples or list what you find. You can then regroup with the other explorers and share your discoveries.
One Step Further: Use the items you have discovered to create a story about how they got there, how they were used by animals or imaginary creatures, and what they tell you about the area. Perhaps provide clues about what you found and then see if your other explorers can find your “One Square Foot.”
“Everyone is IT” (Also called “Paranoia”)
This is a fun game that combines flag football and freeze tag but only requires a small space and can be played with almost any group size. Each participant needs a bandana or similar size piece of fabric. Take the bandana, fold it from diagonal corners to create a triangle and then roll it as if to make a headband. Fold the band in half and tuck it into your back pocket (or waist band if you have no pockets.) Leave a reasonable length (about half) hanging outside the pocket or waist band. Define a small area that is “in bounds,” the smaller the space, the harder it is to survive. You can not block a grabber by swatting at them but you can twist and spin and run away (inside the boundaries.) The object is to steal and drop everyone else’s bandana without getting yours taken away. Last one with a bandana wins. Stepping out of the boundaries or excessive blocking looses your bandana.
One Step Further: When you pull a bandana, drop it on the ground. The person must stand “at” their bandana but can reach from that point and steal other peoples bandanas. They can either remain frozen in that spot or they get to put their bandana back in their pockets and can move freely again (advanced version.)
“Meet a Tree”
This also works best with a bandana. Pair up with another family member or friend. Gently blindfold one person in each pair. Carefully lead the blindfolded partner on a short walk to a tree. Let them feel the tree and around the tree but make sure they stay safe. When they are done, lead them away from the tree. Take the blindfold off and see if they can find the tree they just “met.”
One Step Further: To increase the challenge, choose a heavily wooded area and as you lead your partner around, turn them several times, have them duck under “imaginary” branches and/or step over imaginary logs or rocks. Have them turn sideways and “squeeze through” an imaginary narrow opening.
Nighttime Spider Hunt (“Spider Sniffing”)
The name is a joke but the activity offers an amazing discovery. You will need a flashlight with a strong defined beam of light. Small flashlights rather than large lights with broad based projection work better. Hold the flashlight up to your forehead pointed away from your face. Shine the beam in areas you might expect to see a spider. Be patient. Watch for a bright reflection that looks like a small prism. Keep the beam near your forehead pointing at the prism and slowly walk toward it. You will soon discover that prism is actually the eyes of a spider. You can spot tiny spiders as far away as 100+ feet.
One Step Further: Practice at home by finding a spider on your porch, etc. during the day. Return in the dark to see the spider by flashlight. You can act like you smell something and indicate you smell an “apple spider” or “stink spider” and walk right up to it moving the light from your forehead to the actual spider. Those not “in the know” will think you sniffed it out vs. “caught its eye.”
The Candle Trick
For this activity it needs to be dark and you will need a small source of light (a candle works best but you can use a flashlight). Have everyone sit around the light source, looking directly at it and tell them to keep one eye covered for about 10 minutes. While you are sitting in a circle you can tell a story about Pirates and why they wear a patch over one eye (so that at dusk they can switch the patch to the other eye and have better eyesight than the ship that they are attacking) or a young brave who had to complete a night time task in order to become a warrior (he failed at his task until he figured out that he needed to sit quietly in the dark for 10 minutes prior to trying). Be creative with your story! At the end of the story extinguish the light source and have everyone switch the eye that is covered. Switch back and forth between eyes and you will be amazed at the difference in what each eye can see.
