Here is a fun activity to do with your kids on a weekend and it can be quite educational for them too. I did this little exercise on hard mode and decided to do it with a whole group of kids visiting as well.

The idea is to start teaching the kids just some of the basics, even at a young age on how to fend for themselves with little or no amenities. Sure, these kids are not ready for a Bear Grylls adventure or a post-apocalyptic world, but after this experience, their basic skills have definitely increased!

So what did they do?

Fire-making

@merenludick had to make a fire. No help from dad. We have firewood and there are dry sticks and cardboard and a lighter. No help with the construction. What you see there is braai-style wood stacking that I use when getting the coals ready for some braai-vleis.

What is great here is that he has been watching and learning and here he is doing it by himself. The satisfaction on his face says it all! Super proud!

Stake-sharpening

While @merenludick got the fire ready, @aimeludick had to find long sticks in the garden, shed by the trees. She then had to prune off all the branching parts and knobs, clean and sharpen them.

Finally, she had to clean and harden them a bit over the flames.

Cooking some bread

I mixed up some flour, water and salt to make a simple dough. This was then powdered a bit and made into long thin worms. Next time, @aimeludick can make it herself.

The bread then goes around the sticks and each child has to take their stick and go turn it over the fire until their bread is cooked.

Success to those who listened to instructions and could go do what they were told. While those that were irritable, impatient and did not listen had a hard time doing this.

Eventually, they all managed to make at least one roll. One of the kids had managed to do three rolls in the time the others did one each and one of them did 2.

Incidentally, the same person who did well at the bread, did well in the next part.

Meat cooking

By now, night had fallen. Due to the embers getting cold, the little team had to add more wood and get that to burn through till they didn't have to sit in smoke to cook.

The kid that had done all the rolls was done at this point and the last stragglers needed to be coached induvidually on how to be patient with their cooking. These were the kids who spent the least time, in other braais, watching what the adults do when making food. They were usually the kids that were stuck on their phones and not taking part in the food-making process.

@matthew-williams also learned that day that the coals in the fire are hot... He had dipped his bread into the coals and then tried to remove the coal by hand and scorched his thumb. No lasting damage, thougn he did run up and down screeching for a while. 😅🤣 It was educational...

Writing this post makes me want to arrange another of these events.

Next time

Next time we do this, I would like for the kids to camp out in the garden. There is a tent there somewhere and it would be cool to see if they can manage that.

We are heading into winter now and I am not sure if we will have dry nights to try it, but we shall see. Perhaps just our three kids can do THAT exercise!

If you have suggestions or similar experiences to share, please feel free to do so! This is the first time doing this kind of thing but I believe the experience was invaluable.