2011 ADF&G Youth Days June 13 - 15th

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game held an outdoor youth days camp last week and the week before in Anchorage. These two camps lasted three days each and were open for kids ages 10-14. The camp is design to promote awareness and respect of Alaska’s natural resources and outdoor activities. The three days were filled with fishing, hunter safety, survival skills, map and compass education, wildlife ID and tracking, boating safety, ecology, and lots more.

I helped out during the second week to teach the kids about animal tracks, scat, watershed ecology, and a little fishing too. Thirty kids were divided into three groups and spent about an hour and a half in each area. On Monday we met at the Rabbit Creek shooting range and I worked with Elizabeth Manning. The kids first made plaster replicas of animal tracks. We also had a game that helped the kids learn how to identify scat and a relay to see how well they knew their tracks. We also had the kids break up into small groups and conduct a scavenger hunt while they made their way down to a crime scene. Earlier in the morning Elizabeth set up an area with feathers, tracks, and fake blood so that the kids could figure out what happened. The small groups were let in one at a time to scan the area and then were given a wanted list to help them figure out who died and who did it. After everyone had a look they all got to share what they thought had happened and they all had a variety of ideas. It was a lot of fun!

I joined the camp again on Wednesday when the kids were learning about identifying fish, looking at macroinvertebrates, learning salmon anatomy and life cycle, and learning how to fish. The longest activities were fly fishing and spin casting. The kids learned knots, how to cast, and once they were all setup with hooks got to go out and do some fishing at the lake. Although no fish were caught the kids had a blast and could have spent all day out there with their poles.

This camp was a great way to get the kids outside while learning about different aspects of science. Plus the kids all walked away with loads of information and even got a fishing pole so they continue to practice their safe fishing skills.