Top 10 Places to Learn Survival Skills with Kids

By Rhonda Carrier

Modern children are better at programming Sky+ than whittling wood, and unless your kids are in the Scouts, they’d probably struggle to build a camp, make a fire or tie a Bosun’s knot. But you can change all that with a weekend or week-long bushcraft/survival camp. On the back of the success of Ray Mears and rise of the green and organic movements, bushcraft camps are flourishing.

Those in the UK tend to be gentle, getting-back-to-nature adventure weeks, but there are also more rigorous, character-building survival courses. Or, if your child shows Bear Grylls tendencies, think about sending them on a wilderness survival camp in the USA – when you’ve studied how to handle Grizzly Bears or stalk like a Navajo, learning how to make a fire out of bracken looks like child’s-play.

See also our feature on Forest Holidays' Forest Survival sessions. 

UK Bushcraft Camps

Ray Mears Family Bushcraft Course, East Sussex
This two-night course may not allow you to meet the man himself, but it is run on his principles and as a family you will learn a variety of skills designed to get you out of the city and enjoying the countryside together: fire-making, shelter-building and plant and tree lore. Children must be over 8; under-17s must be accompanied by an adult.

Natural Pathways Wilderness Family Camp, Kent
Natural Pathways' series of enterprising wilderness courses for all ages includes a three-day camp where the whole family gets trained in fire-making, shelter-building, knife skills and plant and tree identification. You're also shown how to make rope using some of the prickly plants of the woodland and even how to make your own utensils.  There's also a ‘mini survival adventure’ for younger kids and a variety of ‘touching the earth’ days specialising in wildlife or fire-making.

WildWise, Devon
One of the UK’s leading environmental education centres, set in beautiful countryside, offers a wide variety of camps and courses, including the Dangerous Weekend for Boys for ages 6+, Horse Power for Girls aged 11–15 and even Hunger Games and Mockingjay camps.

Wholeland, Devon
These bespoke family bushcraft camps come complete with a story-teller and willow-shelter building, plus accommodation in a wood-fire hostel, a tipi or a yurt, or for the truly serious, a hammock or a survival tarp in the woods. You can even get a specialist wild food chef to help you prepare your meals.

Field Studies Council’s Family Wildlife & Discovery, Various Locations
This established environmental education charity offers diverse courses for families, including Scottish Island Seaside Wildlife forages 4+, with a week of activities around the coastline of Cumbrae, including small mammal trappeing, crabbing and campsire. All adventures are led by professional tutors and scientists.

UK Survival Schools

Trueways Survival School’s Young Survivalist, Various Locations
This two-day course evolved out of a course for Scouts but has been extended and improved to offer survival skills for all the family.  You do need a certain level of skills, such as shelter-building and fire-making; techniques you’ll add are navigation, chopping specific wood for your fire, and water-filtering. It’s for ages 7+; guardians go for free.

Outward Bound for Teenagers, Various Locations
The UK’s largest and most famous environmental education trust offers teens 7-night Serious Adventures or the 19-night Ultimate Expedition through some of the UK's most spectacular and remote areas.

US Survival Camps for Teens

Lifesong Wilderness Adventure’s Teen Summer Adventure Camp, Northern California
On this week-long course in beautiful but rugged mountains, kids aged 14 and 15 are taught to fend for themselves, collecting food, hiking for water and building fires. The emphasis is on team-building and empowerment, conservation ecology and wildlife management.

Trackers Bay’s Teen Leadership Training Programme, Northern California
This 3-week course is for teens 13–17 who are fairly experienced at fending for themselves in the wild and want to take it one step further; successful participants earn the title of guild apprentice and are given First Aid and CPR training. They choose between the Ranger Guild, the Wilder (Hunter-Gatherer) Guild, the Mariner Guild, or the Artisan for the first week, then spend two weeks working with younger children and imparting the knowledge they’ve just learnt.

Wilderness Awareness School’s Wolf Tracking Teen Adventure, Idaho
This one-week advanced course for teens with some experience of wilderness survival takes place in wild back-country, with professional trackers taking kids out in small groups looking for wolves. The aim is to help children learn from and respect wild animals while exploring the mountains and forests of this spectacular part of the States. Children must be 14-18 and physically fit (a doctor’s note is required).

Check out our favourite family activity holidays with children of various ages.