"The Hunger Games" as a catalyst for bushcraft

[Sandcut]

Although this doesn't exactly constitute an "expedition" by any sense of the word, today appeared to be a bit of a turning point with my kids as far as their sense of enthusiasm for doing things "bushcrafty."

Up until today, most things that my girls have done in the realm of bushcraft have generally been as a result of dad's poking and prodding to some degree. Bushcraft/fieldcraft/woodscraft was something that was essentially dad's hobby that they would tag along with to spend time with me. However...

Yesterday we took the girls to go see the movie "The Hunger Games." It was actually my wife's idea since she recently read the book and promised elder daughter that we'd go see it over Easter break if elder daughter finished the book in time. In short, the protagonist/heroine of the story is a teenaged girl named Katniss who is forced to rely on her own survival skills in order to survive a barbaric, government sanctioned game. The girls absolutely LOVED it!.

I only realized just how much they loved it when, as soon as they got home from Easter church services, they quickly changed and went storming out of the house with their knives and younger daughter's hatchet. When I asked them what they were going to do, I was informed that they were going to "make some spears!" The little stinkers spent the entire day in the woods behind the house making spears, throwing spears, making bows, shooting bows, overturning logs to try to camouflage themselves or to make caches for their newly made weaponry and setting makeshift snares with 10 lb fishing line. They were out the whole day except for dinner and came in just before dark when the blackflies came out.

I started to think about it and realized that, up until seeing the movie, bushcraft was an "old man's" pasttime. It was something that your dad did, not something cool. After seeing this movie, they could envision themselves doing these things because they now had someone that is like them to emulate. Not an old man, but a young girl. And not just any young girl, but the heroine of the story.

It is my opinion that stories like this that portray young girls in a positive light are far too few and far between. For those of you that have kids, especially daughters, you may want to take them to see this movie. It may make all that stuff that you want them to do with you a whole lot more relevant.

Guess who is starting the book after the kids go to bed. The wife says the book goes in to much more detail about how Katniss finds food and shelter.

Here's my little spear makers.

IMG00589-20120408-1134.jpg

IMG00590-20120408-1135.jpg

[rotormedic]

I totally agree with you. My oldest daughter had shot her bow more these past few days than ever. She love s to watch Stroud and Dave/Cody's shows as well now. we are planning a overnight soon.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

[kgd]

Cool stuff. It was a pretty good movie too!

[drewhelean]

I took my kids to see the movie the weekend it opened. I just started the book.

[Mrwhitetailfanatic]

I think its was an awesome movie. If it gains popularity for bushcraft it's even more awesome. The books are a lot more detailed with skills than portrayed in the movie. That's what my wife tells me anyways.

[Sandcut]

I think its was an awesome movie. If it gains popularity for bushcraft it's even more awesome. The books are a lot more detailed with skills than portrayed in the movie. That's what my wife tells me anyways.

I aim to find out for myself.

[stienthor]

very cool story. love the pics

[Seeker]

It is my opinion that stories like this that portray young girls in a positive light are far too few and far between. For those of you that have kids, especially daughters, you may want to take them to see this movie. It may make all that stuff that you want them to do with you a whole lot more relevant.

thanks for sharing this. as a father of two daughters, now 17 and 21, i firmly believe what you say about strong role models. there just aren't enough available in the normal media/tv. do we really want everyone to be a NJ Housewife? or one of the Kardashians? or Whitney Houston? thank god my wife likes Dr Quinn, the Waltons, and Little House, and my daughters grew up watching with her, absorbing the lessons...

American Hunter (the NRA mag, March 2010 issue) had an article on a father who took his 18 year old daughter on a two week long brown bear hunt in AK, and the impact it had on her (found it in the barber shop last week). brought it home to my youngest, who is still reading the artcle, but my guess is she'll like it. we have yet another father-daughter canoe trip planned for this summer.

When they were little, my mom used to try to get them princess-ey stuff (clothes and toys). i made her take it all back. i can honestly say they never once wore a "princess" t-shirt. we saw all the kiddie princess movies, but i focused on Mulan and other strong female role models, and pretty much belittled the helpless princesses. my daughters are named after two historical queens. i've always made a point of taking them along on 'bring your daughter to work' day, and introduced them to female army officers or other managers, with particular emphasis on scope of work, education, and people skills needed to cope. i've always made them kill their own spiders... "you want it dead, you kill it." they learned.

when we went camping, i used to have to carry barbies or american girl dolls along... with outfits. but they were outdoors, with me, and loved it... not tomboys... just girls who liked to be out. oldest eventually gave it up, but the philosophy of 'do it yourself' lived.

mom told me a few years ago, after she'd seen my oldest reach majority and was back up in NY for college, that she now understood what i was doing, and that i had been right. my goal has always been to make them strong, self-secure, independent, women, who didn't NEED someone to take care of them. if they want a man around, it will be on their terms, because they WANT him, not because they NEED him.

btw, horses are good for girls too. never met a girl into horses who wasted time chasing boys... and i don't know a single woman who is into horses who can't handle her own pickup, trailer, and horse by herself, no matter her physical size.

You younger fathers, remember two things: 1) love their mother, and 2) you are your daughter's first boyfriend. How you treat her will set the standard for all other men in her life. Set the bar high, and your son-in-law won't be a disappointment.

[Sandcut]

thanks for sharing this. as a father of two daughters, now 17 and 21, i firmly believe what you say about strong role models. there just aren't enough available in the normal media/tv. do we really want everyone to be a NJ Housewife? or one of the Kardashians? or Whitney Houston? thank god my wife likes Dr Quinn, the Waltons, and Little House, and my daughters grew up watching with her, absorbing the lessons...

Testify, brother!!!!

In 17 years of being married I only ever excercised my spousal veto power once. That was when it was suggested by my wife that the girls had been asking for Bratz dolls for their birthdays. Call me puritanical if you will, but that just wasn't EVER going to happen while I drew breath.

She finally came around to agreeing with me.

[Seeker]

i just went over 25 years...

i hear ya... what's next? "Bitchez" dolls? or "Slutz"? Speaking of which, neither daughter has ever worn a pair of sweatpants out in public, least of all with something written across the a$$... who's the parent? you let your daughter buy what?! this applies to sons too... plenty of nasty slogans out there... sad thing is i see it on adults' clothing too.

one of the advantages of living where i do is that it's easy to point out the results of poor choices, quitting school, and being 'easy'... lots of examples, seen daily... my daughters want none of it. if you've not been there, a visit to "peopleofwalmart.com" will explain what i mean... i keep thinking 'hey, i've seen that guy/gal'.

I'd heard the story in Hunger Games was pretty brutal, but read a review saying that as it was directed at a tween audience, it couldn't really go past a PG-13 rating, so the actual blood and violence is more implied than visible... can anyone vouch for it? might be worth seeing (though i have to drive 20 miles to a theater!)