Camping Safety Tips That Leaders Should Teach To Girl Scouts

Whenever summer comes, girl scouts look forward to their next adventure for the season. To illustrate, girl scouts from Pennsylvania state that they enjoy adventures like camping, backpacking, and canoeing. While these adventures are a great way to have fun with the scouts, they can also serve as a learning experience for girls who want to learn outdoor skills, like first aid and fire building.

However, leaders need to teach girl scouts essential safety tips before going on the camping trip. You can keep your troop safe by teaching them some of these basic safety tips.

Protect your eyes and skin from the sun
The entire troop will be exposed to the sun, as they play activities like water relay races or nature scavenger hunts. While this can sound like a lot of fun, Tulsa Kids warns that unprotected exposure to the sun’s UV rays can put kids at risk for skin damage, eye damage, immune system suppression, and even skin cancer. As such, you need to maintain their safety by asking them to bring sunscreen and sunglasses for the camping trip.

Tulsa Kids recommends using a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30 or higher to ensure they are protected from UVA and UVB rays. The girls can also cover up with clothes that have UPF protection to keep their skin safe from the sun. On top of that, they should also use sunglasses with polarized lenses to reduce the glare from the sun and improve their visual clarity while they’re exploring the camping grounds. Some kid sunglasses styles even offer premium lenses with UV protection, which can help lower their risk of getting eye damage during summer.

Exercise caution when you’re swimming

Swimming and water survival skills are essential outdoor skills that girl scouts should learn. Your troop will be safer around and in bodies of water once they learn about comprehensive water safety tips.

Even if the girls already know how to swim, they should still wear a life jacket when swimming or on a boat because the currents of these bodies of water can be quite unpredictable. They should also be aware of the water conditions before they enter because they may encounter unexpected dangers due to uneven surfaces and undercurrents. The girls should also know they must stay close to the shore and take a break whenever they feel cold or tired.

Practice campfire safety at all times
Fire building is an essential outdoor skill. However, the reason many girl scouts enjoy building fires is so that they can participate in campfire activities. Singing songs and making delicious s’mores as they gather around the warmth of the fire is a Girl Scout staple of many years, but you can’t do that without building a fire first.

Leaders can keep these campfire activities fun by teaching a few safety rules before the girls even attempt to build a campfire. First, you need to tell the girls that the fire within the campground site should be at least fifteen feet away from the tents, shrubs, and trees. The fire should also be kept small and contained in a designated area to ensure that it won’t go near the tents and the plants. Most importantly, the girls should ensure there is always a water bucket nearby, so they can easily put the fire out when needed.

Learn basic first aid strategies
Accidents can happen unexpectedly at the campsite. Thus, leaders need to teach first aid skills to girl scouts to ensure they will always remain safe.

You can help the girls earn their junior first aid badge by sharing the five essential items that should go into a first aid kit, such as gauze, antiseptic wipes, antibiotic ointment, band-aids, and a bottle of water. The girls should also bring an EpiPen if they have any allergies or an inhaler if they’ve been diagnosed with asthma. Once they have the basics with them, you can role-play emergencies with the troop to teach them how to use the items in their first aid kits. Through this activity, you can ensure that they know what to bring and what to do in case you encounter emergencies during the camping trip.

Your camping trip will be fun, especially if everyone’s safe from harm. Thus, you need to ensure that the girls will have a good time by teaching these camping safety tips before your trip.

Enjoy every minute being a leader and continue to inspire your girls!

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