Total Lesson Time: 45 - 110 min (45 min - 1 hour, 50 min)
Introduction
Imagine this: An earthquake has struck while driving along the coast, you get separated from your group on a hiking trip, your car breaks down on the side of the road. Do you know how to care for your basic needs? Do you even know what your basic needs are?
Humans and animals need: Water, Food, and Shelter. Quick Quiz: Do you know which of these you need the soonest? It’s not water or food, you can go days without those. It’s shelter. In extreme environments you may be able to go only a few hours without shelter.
Watch this video of Midnight making his own Blanket Fort!
Building a Blanket Fort (Part 1) What you’ll need:
Anything you use to make blanket forts. Blankets, pillows, and furniture are common items.
What you’ll do:
With your knowledge on shelter, try your best to build a strong blanket fort that supports your basic needs
When you think it’s done, make a sketch of it in your nature journal and label it well enough that you could rebuild it exactly.
Bonus Challenge: Complete the rest of this lesson in your blanket fort and make notes about what’s working about your shelter, and what’s not.
Why do we need shelter
Why do we need Shelter?
Okay, so we need shelter, but why? Watch the video from survival expert Bear Grylls and think about the questions: What makes a good shelter? What do I want a shelter to do for me?
Our basic needs include: water, food, and shelter in an emergency. You might understand water and food, but why shelter? Shelters keep us warm on cold nights and cool during blistering days by insulating us. Shelters protect us from wind and harsh weather like hail and snow by covering us. Shelters help keep us dry and prevent us from getting sick with hypothermia or pneumonia. The number one goal of a shelter is to keep you warm and dry.
Types of Shelters
In your field journal, draw a table with four columns like we’ve done, with columns labeled “Type of shelter”, “Quick description or sketch”, “Why it’s a good choice”, and “Why it’s a bad choice”. We’re going to look at just a few of the types and shapes of shelter you can build.Take a look at the two resources we have here (The Wilderness Guide to Natural Shelters) and 3 (More) Ways to Build a Survival Shelter. First, Read them and fill in your chart as you go. Then, put a star next to the one you think is the best or your favorite and put a triangle next to the one that most looks like your blanket fort.
Survival techniques: Knots
Knots and ropes are a great way to get a “peak” to your shelter. This makes one even high point and allows rain and snow to flow down each side, away from your dry sleeping area.
Did you have dips in your “roof”? Did your shelter have a hard time staying up? You can also use knots to secure your “poles” of your shelter, or whatever chairs or furniture you were using. Tying furniture together can help it from sliding and moving under the weight of the blankets. The next video shows how to make a lean-to structure.
Watch your Weight: Lightest on Top, Heaviest on Bottom
Another core principle of shelter or blanket fort building, is weight. Sheets and light large blankets make great roofs because they don’t sag as much as heavier or smaller blankets, and smaller blankets make good walls. Just like using a lightweight tarp for the top and boughs and branches for the walls of your survival shelter.
Heavy books can be used on the edges of the blankets to hold them taught in place, just like rocks can be used to hold tarps in place in a survival shelter.
Don’t have ropes? Tricks like sticks and clips can be used to hold everything together! The next video is a great example of this principle.
Build a Fort
Get off the Floor:
Why is being off the floor important? First, Watch this video from the BBC about how heat is lost to get familiar with the topic.
It’s so important to be as far off the ground as you can when building a survival shelter, so much body heat is lost through the moist ground. In our blanket fort, pillows and blankets on the floor make it that much cozier and an excellent example of what you would do to build a survival shelter! Now, watch the next video to see the specific ways we can lose body heat to the environment. Think about the question while watching the video: Did my shelter protect me from heat loss? What could I do to make it better?
Building a Blanket Fort (Part 2)
Now that you know all the secrets to build a successful shelter, put them to use!
What you’ll need:
Sheet or large lightweight blanket
Smaller blankets
Rope or a tall piece of furniture like a kitchen chair
Clips (clothespins, binder clips, chip clips, or barrettes work great)
Books or something else heavy to hold down the edges
Anything else to deck out your fort, such as: Pillows, snacks, board games, books, etc.
What you’ll do:
Take your furniture and arrange it first, tie up any lines if you will be using them. Make sure you have the floor space you want
Lay your blankets or pillows on the ground to get you up off the floor.
Take your large light sheet or blanket and place it first. Use clips to hold it in place if necessary
Take your smaller blankets and make your walls and sides next, use books to hold them at the bottom to form tight walls and clips (if necessary) to hold them to the top blanket roof
Deck it out with all your cool stuff
Update the first drawing you made in your nature journal of your first shelter with all the improvements you made!
