tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18655776391938024752024-03-13T17:27:59.260+00:00KindlingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger71125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-35882140847660362132015-06-14T18:19:00.001+01:002015-06-14T18:19:40.588+01:00We've moved! <br />
Kindling has streamlined!<br />
The blog has now moved over to the website; <a href="http://www.kindlingplayandtraining.co.uk/the-tinder-box">www.kindlingplayandtraining.co.uk/the-tinder-box</a><br />
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Look out for latest blog posts on nature, theories, creative ideas and all the usual juicy goodness.<br />
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LilyUnknownnoreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-44767506219030806052014-10-18T18:45:00.001+01:002014-10-18T18:56:25.949+01:00Pewter<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhA6n8Or3SsvO-MQYs6eZUJhtZZW2Ns1gAxqztZcJTgIiitFq4b7Xc2fTwJ_yEcmZ8VQ__BbXuTiOzkR1hEDzRkbnQNaJs-OMcMQ9xpyOgmKuL3pWBMXTvtDveuyjHGRG0-sZJl9QCv8XuE/s640/blogger-image--778307752.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
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Here's a lovely thing to do over the fire. I did a bit of metal casting when I studied metalwork in my teens and it feels like alchemy every time you cast metal. </div>
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Pewter is a metal that has a low enough melting point to melt over an ordinary fire. Which just adds to the magic.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxmnuESRzc8NvW7pSGI5GeqkR9AYnkVjFji6TYXqjvUzEBpJZJebdzcq_6kFmlJwfNR-L4cANU7LVabrGuT60cd1PfsAKVY2_0QwRnPZ6NhcVa3RQah0ZCrExO8Hh9B0rPujgCKE2cpFH/s1600/2014-10-18+17.16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJxmnuESRzc8NvW7pSGI5GeqkR9AYnkVjFji6TYXqjvUzEBpJZJebdzcq_6kFmlJwfNR-L4cANU7LVabrGuT60cd1PfsAKVY2_0QwRnPZ6NhcVa3RQah0ZCrExO8Hh9B0rPujgCKE2cpFH/s1600/2014-10-18+17.16.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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If you are planning to do this with children then think carefully through the steps you put in place and practise the skill yourself first. </div>
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Hopefully you will get the idea from the following photos. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntMB5WUcuT2jTdXPSbAnPpZuOEA864sHl9eP0U4Px231RgtJ5Gwqqwwai0h2OtjO9MKRGPgUeQYDj73T-Hgyy8fl-1_iF5QS-aMNKMLlfBj3zPyaTrRy-fdbL3Fwori6MJ_u1rdA4H66a/s1600/DSC_0300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntMB5WUcuT2jTdXPSbAnPpZuOEA864sHl9eP0U4Px231RgtJ5Gwqqwwai0h2OtjO9MKRGPgUeQYDj73T-Hgyy8fl-1_iF5QS-aMNKMLlfBj3zPyaTrRy-fdbL3Fwori6MJ_u1rdA4H66a/s1600/DSC_0300.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">You can use anything to make a mold. I quite like using cuttlefish as it is soft and easy to carve even with a nail. It also leaves an amazing patterned imprint on the surface of the metal. </span></div>
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Remember whatever you cast will come out in reverse, This can be tricky especially with letters. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-lTzF-Unsca09rOizI61d9XIaKIp1FwpIolc0GOlkQbBI4QCpC9nJqLkkVtflawTjY7wMfH7abfpWVQP7opmGHRZZY6lQIpVm4detKkxLUFrvGLp9716Nllid7j-c2NufmnL7Y7IE6GS/s1600/DSC_0303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5-lTzF-Unsca09rOizI61d9XIaKIp1FwpIolc0GOlkQbBI4QCpC9nJqLkkVtflawTjY7wMfH7abfpWVQP7opmGHRZZY6lQIpVm4detKkxLUFrvGLp9716Nllid7j-c2NufmnL7Y7IE6GS/s1600/DSC_0303.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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A wall of clay around the cuttlefish will ensure the pewter doesn't roll off the sides and can be used to give a nice overall shape to the piece.</div>
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You'll need a crucible. Anyone who knows my love of a good contraption will approve Of this spoon lashed into a split green stick with some wire.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrQ_izdxwssg7MdxNAhFDj_dPV5dlXfIl_P9bMtGMpPI3YCVXfReSzIwnSeUonEh4XqG6I2OTIzQ4xVtTfCcagmEX26YhdIPBt8pxu50KHGSa6S8yEy8ydF7lStMJqfx0feu-Mjh6xz1H/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggrQ_izdxwssg7MdxNAhFDj_dPV5dlXfIl_P9bMtGMpPI3YCVXfReSzIwnSeUonEh4XqG6I2OTIzQ4xVtTfCcagmEX26YhdIPBt8pxu50KHGSa6S8yEy8ydF7lStMJqfx0feu-Mjh6xz1H/s1600/DSC_0001.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Striking the edge of the spoon with a screwdriver gives it a good pouring edge. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_9omPHEW4GrHuegItZlI18WSpk2puGMau5loLkZWGdraFT61d4ovYlV_K5ZsuoZteUD_RxBLanunWa6MJuXMH1yKO-Mom6pjJVK9CykuKYGCwsR2N3Ho_Ml8LIGvD1M3x5P8_hCSG3Mp/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu_9omPHEW4GrHuegItZlI18WSpk2puGMau5loLkZWGdraFT61d4ovYlV_K5ZsuoZteUD_RxBLanunWa6MJuXMH1yKO-Mom6pjJVK9CykuKYGCwsR2N3Ho_Ml8LIGvD1M3x5P8_hCSG3Mp/s1600/DSC_0002.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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These don't have as big a capacity as casting crucibles but it's easier to get hold of an old spoon. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2luWApklEEhxpyw3kzKNIQUkVMxCc8o5hxIQYN8dJAti8swX2viQTfdRwXprzuu54jz4LKAWKTZzS-NGbicCoCkgBCfwBki2-Dzy0uJNJsCQb8btkdr8EZWWc_eCLXggcIV6ogpSx7YA7/s1600/DSC_0304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2luWApklEEhxpyw3kzKNIQUkVMxCc8o5hxIQYN8dJAti8swX2viQTfdRwXprzuu54jz4LKAWKTZzS-NGbicCoCkgBCfwBki2-Dzy0uJNJsCQb8btkdr8EZWWc_eCLXggcIV6ogpSx7YA7/s1600/DSC_0304.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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The pewter I use is a fine grain lead free* casting pewter. Sold for fishing and craft work it's fairly easy to find online and it goes a surprisingly long way. *The lead free bit is important. Don't be tempted to reuse old pewterware by melting it down.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1LyOQ4stb19SqfKQtGDS0nXhubUB4uBphetj3zh0vIyfjmXvZ0Y3f2cYnbC9qcXYcPe04cH1gXXu-eBjLW1ejJQeGQn5IhN9r0sbZVgIGuGLz4escmCTKbFXxHhY2J2RbqERMq1ahoYp/s1600/DSC_0306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM1LyOQ4stb19SqfKQtGDS0nXhubUB4uBphetj3zh0vIyfjmXvZ0Y3f2cYnbC9qcXYcPe04cH1gXXu-eBjLW1ejJQeGQn5IhN9r0sbZVgIGuGLz4escmCTKbFXxHhY2J2RbqERMq1ahoYp/s1600/DSC_0306.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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There comes a point where the grains become liquid. It's important to watch for this stage as the pewter can scorch after it has melted and you end up wasting some. </div>
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Pewter has a low melting point, around 170-230 degrees C (338-446 degrees F) depending on the exact mixture of metals. It seems to work fine on a normal open fire.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fE3O8_FYnXU2hDlINMj6JIm9mE_665U1BXsxrZzzV69RuxsReHqJAwShmZnMWqc1llIgP1aO3FC1OnojRnjaNbwGren_0_aEflgw_5mHNG7rHJaNabM94gE5jpOND3OkJ01fd1UARYCR/s1600/DSC_0316.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2fE3O8_FYnXU2hDlINMj6JIm9mE_665U1BXsxrZzzV69RuxsReHqJAwShmZnMWqc1llIgP1aO3FC1OnojRnjaNbwGren_0_aEflgw_5mHNG7rHJaNabM94gE5jpOND3OkJ01fd1UARYCR/s1600/DSC_0316.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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See how the scorched pewter stays in the crucible and the lovely shiny metal comes out from underneath it. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsBjre7rqWntSk4auM29QMqjQJ9a_wN6rhj8CGT-LYtFAGOOA1bgWr-Iees-XQcPDYNYpyaY0xFYeTUOkXUK-EJq_z7QSnWa3_H1kPDerV0_X3_eYWF98yuutzBW0dsSo4JQCV82cLRD0/s1600/DSC_0322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbsBjre7rqWntSk4auM29QMqjQJ9a_wN6rhj8CGT-LYtFAGOOA1bgWr-Iees-XQcPDYNYpyaY0xFYeTUOkXUK-EJq_z7QSnWa3_H1kPDerV0_X3_eYWF98yuutzBW0dsSo4JQCV82cLRD0/s1600/DSC_0322.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is the trickiest bit; getting the metal to stay where you want it and filling the entire mold evenly. You have to move fairly quickly to make sure the metal stays molten. The results of partially filled molds can be quite interesting and if you don't like it then just melt it down and start over. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Kk6TrUxGTcDzT_jwnpTbJQqyTRidfd4nfryLFX0xQ9pVCz2g3Dgvg8QLjI1zo5PHIwdp-evrln7Hisvd3OoVrIsOU4180CvijlnuEbg7_-uI-1EvveMDD_Jww_6x_duuC5dmoXAgmWZl/s1600/DSC_0331.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Kk6TrUxGTcDzT_jwnpTbJQqyTRidfd4nfryLFX0xQ9pVCz2g3Dgvg8QLjI1zo5PHIwdp-evrln7Hisvd3OoVrIsOU4180CvijlnuEbg7_-uI-1EvveMDD_Jww_6x_duuC5dmoXAgmWZl/s1600/DSC_0331.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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Then the exciting part; sitting patiently while it cools. It stays hot for a while but will be ready to turn out after a few minutes. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdw1nY_0QCXeo34hoCNJVeQbCyg1Igg6FG1p9oAX3OYvFmRLG5SGMvlr1FoiD0CTMYLF2WkMzUOoiEkJfYoO7inqJKshIuvhml0fPlLjNyYBnlEa87-P2XVuF93QYM1rFMnoRPjrPq5NRQ/s1600/DSC_0333.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdw1nY_0QCXeo34hoCNJVeQbCyg1Igg6FG1p9oAX3OYvFmRLG5SGMvlr1FoiD0CTMYLF2WkMzUOoiEkJfYoO7inqJKshIuvhml0fPlLjNyYBnlEa87-P2XVuF93QYM1rFMnoRPjrPq5NRQ/s1600/DSC_0333.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></div>
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The mold can be reused again and again which gets some interesting results. These fish were made by my friend the artist<a href="http://www.jopolack.co.uk/home/shimmering-mackerel-shoals" target="_blank"> Jo Polack</a> who has a thing about mackerel. You can see the effect of the cuttlefish pattern on the surface. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50qDYYW4LMkzWKkpH-u7KFpRlzLm5F1Fnr_xN-rA5C0XNLDdlTppacTpu0265IOp3hwAVHEYvBXIjfYWYum0n0aWTXB2Uz2UTeV6fOWiFoCtj3fZZIuS4Q4pr6ZQCKvKlKnbDHllomajQ/s1600/DSC_0334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50qDYYW4LMkzWKkpH-u7KFpRlzLm5F1Fnr_xN-rA5C0XNLDdlTppacTpu0265IOp3hwAVHEYvBXIjfYWYum0n0aWTXB2Uz2UTeV6fOWiFoCtj3fZZIuS4Q4pr6ZQCKvKlKnbDHllomajQ/s1600/DSC_0334.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Remember to work out your own plan to make sure everyone can enjoy this safely. Let me know if you try pewter casting. I would love to see photos of the things you make. </div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-50218227501982248972014-09-03T20:10:00.001+01:002014-09-23T18:09:02.348+01:00Compound Flexibility <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">During my years as a Forest School leader one if the attributes that I find myself drawing on is flexibility. Being able to change plans, put aside my agenda because of the weather, a really interesting discovery in the woods, because of something a child needs or wants to do –my flexibility is core.</span></div>
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The flexibility of the environment, the range and diversity of resources, how they can be used in lots of different ways. This is what feeds the success of the children. It influences their ability to manage whatever
task they have set themselves. This success nurtures the child’s self esteem which in turn makes them more able to
interpret their environment flexibly.
It’s a positive spiral.<br />
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It's an idea I explored in a series of drawings for the FSA newsletter recently and wanted to delve a bit deeper into the theory here , this was first brought together <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">by </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Fraser Brown’s</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> into a theory he called Compound Flexibility; </span></div>
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“This is not a simple interaction but a complex process wherein, flexibility in the</div>
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play environment leads to increased flexibility in the child. That child is then</div>
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better able to make use of the flexible environment and so on. There is massive</div>
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child development potential in a play setting.” (Brown, F. 2003, ‘Compound</div>
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Flexibility’ in “Playwork Theory and Practice, p56)</div>
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I really enjoy working in the woods as it is such a flexible environment. <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); text-align: start;">But what is meant by a flexible environment? Nicholson (1971) in developing </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">his theory of loose parts, explains it like this; “In any environment both the degree </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">proportional to the number and kind of variables in it”. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A ‘loose part’ </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">environment includes everything from the the branched trees of a woodland to the cones, stones, mud and twigs </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">that lie within. Nicholson also suggests that a beach is a good </span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">example of such an environment. The sand for shaping, the sea ever changing</span><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">, the rock pools whose life and form shifts with the tide. The flotsam and the jetsam. An environment f</span><span style="text-align: center;">ull of things that fulfil many different roles and functions. A place that can be adapted to our needs and ideas. This environment also needs the flexibility of the adults in it if children are to be allowed to explore the potential. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">This permission for exploration leads to experimentation. A wide array of elements means that children have the opportunity to combine things in different ways and find the space or material they require to fulfil the need and further the line of enquiry.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> Children develop by responding to a rich environment.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> The fewer elements there are to explore, the slower or more restricted the </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">development. The more stimuli, the broader the development. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">One of the key </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">factors in the compound flexibility process is that the child feels in </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">control. This is why self-directed play is so essential for a child’s development. </span><br />
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This combination of control and challenge is also what gives us good feelings! We try something, we find the resources we need to be successful. The people around us give us the time and space to work things out for ourselves which gives ownership to the success. There are things around us that suggest ideas to us.<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-align: center;">These are the perfect conditions for feeling really good about ourselves. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">These good feelings are critical to a child's development.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> Those good feelings mean a child is likely to take a risk and try something else.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> They are the sort of feelings that govern self acceptance. They are the feelings that contribute to self confidence.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;"> Good feelings will keep someone involved, interested and focused in a way no amount of cajoling, bribery or threat can manage. The child is at the centre of the process and wants to be there because it feels good. </span></div>
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Self confidence also means that a child will try and solve problems when they arise. Self confidence is a desire to keep experimenting even when something goes wrong, the belief that you are able to work things out when things get tricky. This is what we often describe as resilience. </div>
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This is where the cycle connects. The exterior becomes interior and the flexibility becomes part of the child's way of being. The successful experiments suggest new ideas. The problem solving suggests a new goal. The experience they have just encountered is added to the toolbox of the child's mind. The compounding aspect if this is that the more flexible the child is the more they see the flexibility in the environment.<br />
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Conversely a restricting attitude of the adult can shut down that extraordinary potential found in a flexible environment. T<span style="text-align: center;">he </span><span style="text-align: center;">compound flexibility process can stagnate if conditions are </span><span style="text-align: center;">unsuitable. Children who have little control over their world inevitably have </span><span style="text-align: center;">fewer positive experiences, which in turn slows the development of their self confidence. </span><span style="text-align: center;">Children who lack confidence are less likely to take risks or try out </span><span style="text-align: center;">different solutions to the problems they encounter. Which makes them less flexible and responsive. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">I find that thinking about how these elements interconnect really helps me think about my role and the role of the environment that the children are in and reflect on how these two elements can combine with the child's experience to create powerful opportunities for development. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="text-align: center;">Drawings taken from a doodle for the Forest School Association </span>Newsletter Autumn 2014</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-14292128985731028192014-08-27T18:48:00.000+01:002014-08-27T18:48:09.757+01:00Badges of honour.<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Many years ago I talked with my friend Martin about the idea of the badges of honour of outdoor play. Martin wrote about this in </span><a href="http://www.playengland.org.uk/media/130593/play-naturally.pdf" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; text-decoration: none;">www.playengland.org.uk/media/130593/play-naturally.pdf</a>, <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">that dirt, stains and smells can be treated like ‘badges of honour’, ‘evidence of successful outdoor play’ and learning. Like all good ideas I'm still mining it. </span><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNXvtk5blm3c_blOnPFiahxV6D0tOT61mP71bJFzKrG2eOLWjOCzWL9jYwPAhnTwndHRqCaihfNl_QAMxVoiCub3FGVmkTuykaRBW0gSh7L4eEjsvS6joqjZi6symaPC64EEptQGcJTgW/s640/blogger-image-1538613037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBNXvtk5blm3c_blOnPFiahxV6D0tOT61mP71bJFzKrG2eOLWjOCzWL9jYwPAhnTwndHRqCaihfNl_QAMxVoiCub3FGVmkTuykaRBW0gSh7L4eEjsvS6joqjZi6symaPC64EEptQGcJTgW/s1600/blogger-image-1538613037.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">I recently worked in the woods with groups of children and adults as part of a summer school of transitions. G</span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">roups came to me for a full day at a time. One of my challenges was setting the expectations with staff (who were only with me for a day) around allowing the children to get immersed in activities and reinforcing with the children that it is OK to get muddy and involved. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">This is when the badges of honour turned from a metaphorical notion to a literal tangible thing. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">I filled my pockets with them and brought them out at opportune moments, a girl who raced off and find the right sorts of sticks off the den she was making, met with an 'uuuugh' from her friends as she ran through a puddle. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">A badge of honour for muddy shoes changed the story and the girls raced off together. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8LgvRcVWrgIIHNwwit07ulOyaIP-5oyQURwQbNIlPPiaG46AdIEjX2jylBLGw2-0NJeoh5UrYbAvOf-o9uXovmk_dI64TSM0l19Db0v71vhm5tMQDwEkn7w1KDBYlOD2wGMwZidLy5O5/s640/blogger-image-647695148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG8LgvRcVWrgIIHNwwit07ulOyaIP-5oyQURwQbNIlPPiaG46AdIEjX2jylBLGw2-0NJeoh5UrYbAvOf-o9uXovmk_dI64TSM0l19Db0v71vhm5tMQDwEkn7w1KDBYlOD2wGMwZidLy5O5/s640/blogger-image-647695148.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">A staff member complaining loudly about getting mud on her leggings actually looked kind of proud to receive the first badge of honour off the day. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Sitting, quietly after putting a plaster on a cut, I shared with the child that he had a badge of honour too, that cuts sometimes happen because you are living life adventurously. </span></div>
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<span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">As the summer holidays come to an end and looking down at my own hands and legs I can recognise there are badges of honour here too. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-8137755542527065172014-08-14T21:18:00.000+01:002014-08-14T21:18:10.782+01:00What happens after you feel the fear? <div>
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I didn't know how much of this last week would be spent dealing with fear. Heights, the dark, spiders in the toilet, bigger kids. All normal parts of a week of play in a field on the edge of a wood. But what struck me again and again is the resilience and bravery of children who know they are afraid but refuse to let that get in the way of experience. </div>
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Jerry Hyde says there are some books which you only need to read, because it's all in the title; Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway. That sort of thing...</div>
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Choosing the forty foot tree swing, walking out in the dark, becoming so fascinated by the fact the spider has babies that you get over your fear and look through a hand lens. The tales of bravery I could tell you, and that's just one week.<br />
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It's normal to feel fear. It's part of what keeps us safe. It's part of moving out of your comfort zone. A way, as I've explored before <a href="http://kindlingplayandtraining.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/comfort-challenge-fear.html" target="_blank">here, </a>to help children (or anyone) move out towards those fears that won't case harm and to still feel safe is to help them see it as a challenge and to play with the idea. You can't simply tell someone not to be afraid. Something has to replace the fear. </div>
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We stepped out of the field, over the fence and into the dark dark woods at night. Nate said; "I'm scared!"<br />
What of? I asked. "Everything." replied the tiniest voice. Are you afraid of the clouds? I asked. "Yes." Are you afraid of kittens? "Yes" said a slightly bigger voice. Are you afraid of fluffy blankets? "Yes!" ...of baby chicks?<br />
"Yes!!" said Nate. "I want to hold Elliot's hand."<br />
Are you afraid of holding Elliot's hand? I asked "oh yes" Nate laughed and took Elliot's hand. </div>
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Sometimes it's a challenge to remember why you were afraid before. </div>
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Fear is an OK thing to feel, I tried hard to let the children know that it was OK and a normal thing for them to feel. The bodies way of dealing with fear is cortisol. The chemical trickle that, if turned into a flood will lead to a fight, a freeze or a flee. This stress response in it's trickle state gives us the adrenalised state of full attention, real curiosity and the learning sweet spot that comes with it. Too much adrenaline and the flood turns into a punch and kick, or a run from the scene. Or a shutting down, and a blacking out. Poppy's stress response is so extreme that she starts to black out if things get too noisy or busy or crowded around her. The doctors are still trying to work it out, but age 11 she manages it well, preparing an adult to take responsibility and notice the signs. Coming over and tugging a sleeve when she feels it start. Yet, the need to feel the fear and do it anyway is so strong she pleaded to be included "will I be still able to go on the swing and the night walk even though I have my head thing? Pleeeeeeeease" she refused to let anyone suggest she was not up for it.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMxTIDhyphenhyphen7jW_y2mp8ZqMA1i9UTprbH-12b6BUqnvvFUzSn2eMKtGUe3Ol-hKNz1QGnJd-wD0BIT1ljFvkqWwwth6CC2iVkeOqxNL34c9lPxT1DbjVc41_9d_dgPIpcv4YkzYN-SmN5jfK/s1600/swing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhMxTIDhyphenhyphen7jW_y2mp8ZqMA1i9UTprbH-12b6BUqnvvFUzSn2eMKtGUe3Ol-hKNz1QGnJd-wD0BIT1ljFvkqWwwth6CC2iVkeOqxNL34c9lPxT1DbjVc41_9d_dgPIpcv4YkzYN-SmN5jfK/s1600/swing.jpg" height="640" width="424" /></a></div>
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Clipped onto the swing and ready for her first attempt I could hear her rationalising under her breath; "my friend did it... all I have to do is is is is... if I step off here where will I go... and what if what if? So we talked about the special kind of fear that comes before you do something really cool and really safe and how that gives you an even more special kind of feeling afterwards. The feelings you have when you have overcome a challenge. "OK ready" she said and let herself go into a wild swing with a scream that could be heard across the valley. It ended in laughter. "I'm totally doing that again." </div>
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Bob Hughes in his Taxonomy of Play Types uses the phrase; Deep Play. It's one of the hard play types to describe, yet whenever I have helped people unpack the play types and we talk about deep play, "you know that sensation when you do something tricky and you feel it right here, under your ribcage. That's deep play." Everyone nods we all know that feeling, from balancing on a wall and wobbling just a little, from climbing a tree and losing a foothold, even standing on a stage and preparing to sing or take part in a play. It's different for everyone. Your deep play could be my everyday experience. My deep play could be your relaxation. The Swedes have a saying about that feeling; occasionally you have to feel the ice in your stomach if you are to feel alive.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-90629235144584322532014-06-22T21:32:00.000+01:002014-06-22T21:32:23.669+01:00Look after yourself, look after each other and look after the place we are in.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
There are many ways that I have used over the years to set ground rules with children. It always boils down to this though; </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bd3I5PkVIcYjBSUxE0VsnImd1FQKEmKC2TJeIbDWyfivaIoMuEmZi-rnH_wuja0j8TtqW0vpsis5Dvy0ExsgQeJbIkgucW5Hgn9_Kky7buwHgb-SuNjBqY-Z53HS2SJnXwauU1iBEUro/s1600/DSC_0112.NEF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Bd3I5PkVIcYjBSUxE0VsnImd1FQKEmKC2TJeIbDWyfivaIoMuEmZi-rnH_wuja0j8TtqW0vpsis5Dvy0ExsgQeJbIkgucW5Hgn9_Kky7buwHgb-SuNjBqY-Z53HS2SJnXwauU1iBEUro/s1600/DSC_0112.NEF" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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How this is works is negotiated as we need to know it, sometimes in the middle of a game we might need to stop and work out the rules and make sure they work for everyone. This process of making <a href="http://kindlingplayandtraining.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/making-weapons-and-group-agreements.html">group agreements rather than ground rules </a>is an important part of developing social skills and having empathy for other people's needs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhum3TKVIk_N5B0V7pTsMpxjR4eX-r-BqM-T105Vhyphenhyphenlf1XOsWav9K8Jn1aCvZ_n8RpzVEf9MlyUp_WnsDzLnGr_-dEehzBJhvRP1z99ND_xvKITY9EtlyW9AWuvZduIKzHFdjNGONiwqVFO/s1600/DSC_0113.NEF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhum3TKVIk_N5B0V7pTsMpxjR4eX-r-BqM-T105Vhyphenhyphenlf1XOsWav9K8Jn1aCvZ_n8RpzVEf9MlyUp_WnsDzLnGr_-dEehzBJhvRP1z99ND_xvKITY9EtlyW9AWuvZduIKzHFdjNGONiwqVFO/s1600/DSC_0113.NEF" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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With this comes an element of responsibility for your own self. Knowing where the boundaries are and making sure you stay with the group is important. As is the ability to notice your needs and do something about them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDFifbqbTbxm8FWW6hte9kaDuWK6KBj4N6SIuZ_H1zTahjOpHx4TkpCdLU4S8nwH0tzSKfALK4GwMaqvUz1QoR2jkalxhkAI2wa0K-rp4dMBAsEdNJnZyigisBMowkt6NczW7aAukIti67/s1600/DSC_0114.NEF" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDFifbqbTbxm8FWW6hte9kaDuWK6KBj4N6SIuZ_H1zTahjOpHx4TkpCdLU4S8nwH0tzSKfALK4GwMaqvUz1QoR2jkalxhkAI2wa0K-rp4dMBAsEdNJnZyigisBMowkt6NczW7aAukIti67/s1600/DSC_0114.NEF" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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This can't come at the cost of the place we are in. We should remember that we are visitors, in the home of the things that live in the woods and wilds. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWjTkbbIz2UvpoWHo3roUMePfeLJPJ9ZwNxFXB8tRKE76iabwG2oq_4pP_t83t3u26gMHxDGokb5OqY3pSPE1edhiZkia0JtQHlVqW4DIJvkuj8AiZBiz7ytHa_UPEhrUCs0LaDLzW-3w/s1600/DSC_0115.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHWjTkbbIz2UvpoWHo3roUMePfeLJPJ9ZwNxFXB8tRKE76iabwG2oq_4pP_t83t3u26gMHxDGokb5OqY3pSPE1edhiZkia0JtQHlVqW4DIJvkuj8AiZBiz7ytHa_UPEhrUCs0LaDLzW-3w/s1600/DSC_0115.jpg" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've been making some resources to help focus on these three responsibilities and I'm interested to hear how you start these sorts of conversations with the children you work with. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-32248783356996949082014-06-17T12:43:00.001+01:002014-06-17T12:54:32.694+01:00Wood cookies swinging in the trees make romantic braids...<div class="MsoNormal">
Occasionally I see a craft technique and think to myself
"I can't wait to take that to the woods!" So it was when I attended a
textile workshop with <a href="http://www.northhouse.org/courses/courses/instructor.cfm/iid/93" target="_blank">Larry Schmidt at the North House Folk School.</a> He
specialises in traditional Scandinavian textile techniques that were brought to
America by the first settlers and the have wonderful names like flettet snor,
frynseflet, bregdet band and rundflet snor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Af7jb6ABjM6ITfqot27CI6TQgwEyjWppgbXoUmfcnv_dj1mSFcItk5CA1mUBsprbF4cBOldRYzo-iKj5KAGto-JkS4sqeuhqo3caiuz77mVoLQjfoK2MZ6d0ocew7GvjJbN0_y3Gq1Wm/s1600/10251955_646939248724813_2134242747021910570_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0Af7jb6ABjM6ITfqot27CI6TQgwEyjWppgbXoUmfcnv_dj1mSFcItk5CA1mUBsprbF4cBOldRYzo-iKj5KAGto-JkS4sqeuhqo3caiuz77mVoLQjfoK2MZ6d0ocew7GvjJbN0_y3Gq1Wm/s1600/10251955_646939248724813_2134242747021910570_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I've shared this technique with various practitioners and children over the years, most recently when I was hanging out in the woods with the fabulous <a href="http://www.treecreepers.co.uk/">Treecreepers.</a> They have done what I have never managed to do and got some excellent photos that they allowed me to share with you. (Thank you Simon and Harry).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHnlrkhV9FXVyd5-h7KMTVO8mitsr6t1zynsLSbwxj-UkIYZfcYAyZkEQ54ZRxRpzSCPlHrfiknwD6MSkMhhyO1Mn8Q81PytDu5HCPQE13BIKrNwUZcNE2YO7w-jvFpeMTGp9Bnns5F6q/s1600/10349136_646939052058166_3660984031712316496_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHnlrkhV9FXVyd5-h7KMTVO8mitsr6t1zynsLSbwxj-UkIYZfcYAyZkEQ54ZRxRpzSCPlHrfiknwD6MSkMhhyO1Mn8Q81PytDu5HCPQE13BIKrNwUZcNE2YO7w-jvFpeMTGp9Bnns5F6q/s1600/10349136_646939052058166_3660984031712316496_n.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
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The technique is called a Nordic slinging braid. Also known as a romantic braid because it requires two people and good cooperation!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcjBlvI2QC2eLMvQAGbThQCLX_mHmezjF1S0pgZDj6v8J48GSnqdxziL_8rukoo8dtd7jKgZxNPY_Z981IXTjDQ7lyULvMaKX0JKykyZkW8EYy2pVM_E3fWxWiWF4vZRrHcbg-t2eTrFDc/s1600/wk+6+051614+(10).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcjBlvI2QC2eLMvQAGbThQCLX_mHmezjF1S0pgZDj6v8J48GSnqdxziL_8rukoo8dtd7jKgZxNPY_Z981IXTjDQ7lyULvMaKX0JKykyZkW8EYy2pVM_E3fWxWiWF4vZRrHcbg-t2eTrFDc/s1600/wk+6+051614+(10).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The first step is to hang weights off four strands of wool, string or thread. These strings need to be two different colours. Wood cookies or little branch slices are ideal for weights. Treecreepers used different symbols to help people who can't distinguish the colours as easily. This promotes thinking skills, trying to work out what things would work as opposites.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnHU6lumNxyZqwlnMJqs5v6tzibpVc8Aj0rxRbhWurCiACSlfM8bLS2A6yQyPL8E5Ud31quDmv-ddyVJyF4rT_CzoCeWo-y4jKV_c9SNFyawb-KSTsYnd1Gwkb8YkdM4iNkEHTBjGTB_h7/s1600/10416830_10204027854887839_1847114618_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnHU6lumNxyZqwlnMJqs5v6tzibpVc8Aj0rxRbhWurCiACSlfM8bLS2A6yQyPL8E5Ud31quDmv-ddyVJyF4rT_CzoCeWo-y4jKV_c9SNFyawb-KSTsYnd1Gwkb8YkdM4iNkEHTBjGTB_h7/s1600/10416830_10204027854887839_1847114618_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The strings need to be tied together then hung above head height. This is when I realised that the woods are ideal for this. All those convenient branches! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WOIwikYDv07QrIY-3BvwqwYih9fRabRmgL7RHrw67IYpvEl2ZgBvhzr1pn3Lj7UioRQ63ixuThaOXwTduCEUaoz3xobzWbCeL4BxsRPsgtt-8NncNCdcJISHvvXJZO7Ykk8fWaDqPN_J/s1600/10440945_646939098724828_2943244680790426252_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4WOIwikYDv07QrIY-3BvwqwYih9fRabRmgL7RHrw67IYpvEl2ZgBvhzr1pn3Lj7UioRQ63ixuThaOXwTduCEUaoz3xobzWbCeL4BxsRPsgtt-8NncNCdcJISHvvXJZO7Ykk8fWaDqPN_J/s1600/10440945_646939098724828_2943244680790426252_n.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Next stand facing opposite each other, each with two strings of different colours, one in each hand.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2aKsy-_bhc2VP4Yo1hv-LMjbOO5lpJVKzbWx-pEv0T51Q3ZALNC0lWC1RZEj7g9VRF8uTlJE510CbXmfEFwpubQZVW_hkStiLjKgcBqIqk7uc797JGKdYFMkeMZbdtctdnGtLrKxEdGD/s1600/1964988_646939145391490_7146871364984270063_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK2aKsy-_bhc2VP4Yo1hv-LMjbOO5lpJVKzbWx-pEv0T51Q3ZALNC0lWC1RZEj7g9VRF8uTlJE510CbXmfEFwpubQZVW_hkStiLjKgcBqIqk7uc797JGKdYFMkeMZbdtctdnGtLrKxEdGD/s1600/1964988_646939145391490_7146871364984270063_n.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The next bit is simple; take the string in your left hand and let it swing across and swap it with the string in your partners left hand. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJd-nxOWchAlZ4TzjcB_lZs0ej-DOlPAB9LKoYlzK-q0phNBUN6HmsVncwKq3pYccBI7Mw0oIkzNNP2WWfqrCsF1sS8z24Jkjbh1btKT9YWD6xht3Xn2Wm7HpQ3rlwINHeEBMN-8sHJT5s/s1600/wk+6+051614+(16).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJd-nxOWchAlZ4TzjcB_lZs0ej-DOlPAB9LKoYlzK-q0phNBUN6HmsVncwKq3pYccBI7Mw0oIkzNNP2WWfqrCsF1sS8z24Jkjbh1btKT9YWD6xht3Xn2Wm7HpQ3rlwINHeEBMN-8sHJT5s/s1600/wk+6+051614+(16).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now do the same with the strings held in both of your right hands. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYeZhyphenhyphenc3SAn4j23weePdg78hAInNZNjjzmdER2HLufDDyfiMvFZJcv4mGh_dSSbJjSOu0Ya6RLN66XmOlYf28xZnovJQ0QqoYv08dW7rhTjNbZ1wyJzZpNPsbW1d8hbrG-ugTMu0BvxsiD/s1600/wk+6+051614+(12).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYeZhyphenhyphenc3SAn4j23weePdg78hAInNZNjjzmdER2HLufDDyfiMvFZJcv4mGh_dSSbJjSOu0Ya6RLN66XmOlYf28xZnovJQ0QqoYv08dW7rhTjNbZ1wyJzZpNPsbW1d8hbrG-ugTMu0BvxsiD/s1600/wk+6+051614+(12).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Now repeat; left, right, left, right and... allow the rhythm to build, the strings to swing, from one person to the next, sometimes getting faster, or slowing down, stopping completely to untangle and laugh when things go awry. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcwtnuFsrtIvLMse8TJyULNuIBf1S6CfYda8rnPo1CUeZjc4pGRDKNps3Jps8OKt38EZhdsXLr1vAAOERETKi2d5PJarB9M4qwbYP_5AXDGgzqMa7wVxs1yB5uABMfqxdbmJSSdWCWy8v/s1600/wk+6+051614+(21).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmcwtnuFsrtIvLMse8TJyULNuIBf1S6CfYda8rnPo1CUeZjc4pGRDKNps3Jps8OKt38EZhdsXLr1vAAOERETKi2d5PJarB9M4qwbYP_5AXDGgzqMa7wVxs1yB5uABMfqxdbmJSSdWCWy8v/s1600/wk+6+051614+(21).JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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You will notice a braid starting to develop above your head and a pattern starting to develop in the braid. This pattern will be different depending on whether you both have the same colour strings in your left hand or opposite colour strings. You could try more than two colours when you get the hang of things. </div>
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They are called romantic braids because you can only really do them with another person, I like the way this appeals to very physical people, and people who like to get immersed in making things, as well as people who 'don't normally like this sort of thing' but think they will have a go. </div>
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Massive thanks to <a href="http://www.treecreepers.co.uk/about-us/">Treecreepers</a> for the use of their pictures. Check out <a href="https://www.facebook.com/treecreepers?ref=ts">their facebook page</a> for more inspiration (and probably some pictures of beetles). </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-52643869951432590262014-06-15T18:16:00.001+01:002014-06-15T18:18:04.576+01:00Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Doodle for <a href="http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/category/members-news/" target="_blank">http://www.forestschoolassociation.org/category/members-news/ </a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-78727301120172657092014-06-13T12:09:00.000+01:002014-06-13T12:58:57.042+01:00Bug book hotel<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I have spent an inspiring couple of days in <a href="http://sncg.org.uk/" target="_blank">Scotswood Natural Community Garden</a>. It's a stunnning place on so many levels; just two to three acres in very urban part of Newcastle, thriving with trees, flowers, birds, insects, foxes, ponds and people.<br />
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The garden is a real treat for the senses, with lots to discover. I was taken with these book bug hotels that <a href="http://hivearts.virb.com/" target="_blank">Hive Arts</a> made with the Garden for their <a href="http://creatingabuzz.wordpress.com/about/" target="_blank">Pollination Street project</a>. </div>
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So much so that as soon as I got home I started hunting through the bookcases and garden for suitable materials. </div>
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The first step was to drill a few holes into a log from the firewood pile. </div>
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I chose a few different hole sizes. This sort of habitat will be appealing to a range of small creatures like ladybirds, their larvae, lacewings and solitary bees. </div>
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Then I chose a book with a hard back cover. This was a really tricky thing for me. I'm a real book worm and was always told that you should never do bad things to books (or paintbrushes). But I overcame my conditioning, found a book on Ecology that was very out of date and I think the author would approve of it becoming a habitat!<br />
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The last ingredient was a bundle of hollow stems from plants that had died over the winter. When I tidy up all the dead stuff in spring I keep this for fire lighting so I still had a ready supply. You could use bamboo canes instead of hollow stems. </div>
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Using a drill I made holes in the spine of the book. Then got a stick with two pieces of long wire wrapped round it that would hold everything together. </div>
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Materials assembled! I used quite a lot of trial and error as well as some pliers to get the wire tight enough and to make sure everything was securely held together. I started by threading two wires through a hole drilled up through the log, then took both wires round the bundle and then through the book. Pushing extra stems through the bundle helped make everything tight and I could use the left over wire wound together to make a strong hanging hook. </div>
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With everything assembled it was ready to hang. I chose a sheltered spot in a tree out of the sun and weather. Hive Arts were inspired by Alec Finlay's<a href="http://www.ysp.co.uk/exhibitions/alec-finlay-the-bee-library" target="_blank"> 'Bee Library' at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. </a></div>
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I hope they like their new home.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-46780044066579840862014-06-09T11:01:00.000+01:002014-06-09T11:01:25.633+01:00Walking alongsideSitting around the fire at a recent Forest School conference a fascinating discussion developed about the nature of the pedagogy we employ. My friend Annie, of <a href="http://www.getoutmorecic.co.uk/" target="_blank">Get Out More,</a> remembered a conversation she and I had had a few years ago. We had been discussing the amount of knowledge that we feel we should have in order to help someone else learn. She had said to me that she had noticed something that had helped her, the realisation that you only need to be one step ahead of where the learners are. We laughed when she recalled that my answer had been "One step! As much as that?"<br />
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As I reflect on this conversation later I realise that there is a deeper truth in this idea, held in the approach to learning employed in Forest School. If we look at the word 'pedagogy' it's roots hold the secret of the skill we that we try and master, the "science and art of teaching"; </div>
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In Ancient Greek and Roman culture the pedagogue was the adult, often a trusted slave, whose role it was to walk with the child in the street, carrying their bags and modelling how to behave in a range of situations. He or she was not the teacher who directed the acquisition of subject knowledge. The pedagogue was literally the person who walked alongside the child to the place where they learned. Maybe one step ahead, if as much as that. </div>
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My husband and our long legged dog love to go striding out across the moors near our home. Both covering ground at great speed and exhilarating in the wild weather. I go with them sometimes but it requires careful negotiation. I have a tendency to get distracted; an abandoned egg shell from a moorland nest, a wildflower blooming in the moss, concentric circles of vivid lichens. Then, when I look up they are gone. Little specks away up the hill, (always uphill) and I have to really motivate myself to catch up. I arrive, out of breath as they wait patiently, ready to move on again.</div>
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When we try and keep pace with each other, it is much easier to get into the flow of walking. I have to walk a little faster and push myself. He has to pause and take notice of little things. The dog runs in circles around us both. But we are walking together, maybe one of us is one step ahead, if as much as that. </div>
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This is the ideal that I try and strive for in my own practise and in the sharing of my knowledge. I try to walk alongside the children. Delighting in the observations they choose to share with me, encouraging them to push themselves a little. Rather than rushing ahead, leaving them to struggle on their own, expecting them to keep up.</div>
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The more I think about this the more I appreciate the woods as a place of playful learning. Where we can create the time and space so children and adults can learn alongside each other. That learning and developing ideas with people does not mean that we are making it up as we go along, that we are lazy or unprepared but rather we use our skills and expertise to stay with the learners. Maybe one step ahead. If as much as that. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-11409761681796185872014-05-21T21:49:00.001+01:002014-06-22T21:16:08.465+01:00Char flowersThere is a really fascinating process you can do with fire that is basically making charcoal but without any wood...<br />
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The process of making charcoal is to get something that is carbon based; so pretty much everything that was once alive, heat it up really hot without any oxygen until the water, the volatiles and the other impurities are burnt off and only the carbon is left behind. </div>
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So much for the science part! This is actually a lot simpler than it sounds. </div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Charcoal does this with wood, but what if you used flowers and seed heads, leaves and fronds....</span></div>
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The best way to create an atmosphere with very little oxygen is a treacle tin, or some other metal tin with a tight fitting lid. </div>
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This tin needs a single hole in the top. Made with a hammer and nail.<br />
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The tin then be filled with the stuff you want to char. This is the method for making char-cloth. This will catch a spark very easily and was used in tinder boxes. <span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">Leaves, flowers, seed heads and any other natural thing will also char. </span></div>
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The filled tin is then put onto the fire in a hot area. This will drive anything that isn't carbon out. You will see it coming out of the hole in the top. First as white puffy clouds of smoke with lots of water in, then the smoke looks dirtier with browns and eventually blues as all the other stuff is driven out.</div>
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The next stage after this is for the objects to catch fire and we don't want that. So remove the tin and poke a twig in the top to stop any more oxygen getting in and allow the tin to cool. </div>
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When you open it up inside are brittle black gothic versions of the things you put in. </div>
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These holly leaves were covered in beetle blues and purples. </div>
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We tried a dandelion head but I don't know if we were too impatient but the seeds never went really black. </div>
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It's a really interesting experiment and everything I saw for a couple of days afterwards I wondered what it would look like. It could be an engaging line of investigation for a Forest School programme. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-73955368832663176472014-04-25T14:02:00.000+01:002014-04-25T14:02:59.640+01:00‘I climbed right up to here’ or Risk and Challenge in a Forest School <div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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Risk taking
is widely understood to be a natural part of a child’s development. Adults
who work with children are moving on from thinking of risk only in the context
of ‘the risk assessment’ which decides those things are too dangerous to allow. But are rather looking at risk from a child’s point of
view, making an analysis of the risks and the benefits to create a Risk Benefit Analysis (RBA). Risks and risk taking is even better understood when re-framed as challenges.
Providing realistic challenges for children and allowing them to work through
the challenges they set themselves supports their development, actively engages
them and helps them better understand themselves and each other.</div>
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I am always
fascinated to watch groups of children climbing trees. I remember years ago working with a
little girl who was very risk averse, very challenge averse. She was part of a group of voracious tree
climbers and she would watch them, anxiously reporting to the adults just how
high the others were climbing. One day she stood on the lowest branch and,
reaching up, tied a string on the trunk. Each week she would climb up and touch
that string, until one day she felt ready to reach higher. She stood on a
different branch and moved the string further up the trunk. <b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Recently I
went out with a Forest School group who had been coming to the woods since the
previous summer. They still climbed to the same height limits that we had set together months previously. But there was a change in the amount of support
they required from the adults present. It had started with our active support
and encouragement when they wanted to climb, more often than not we would talk
them down when they climbed out of their comfort zone. This moved on to them
needing our presence nearby, just in case, to the point where now they were
climbing and moving around with ease. One of their classmates, who had not
previously been out to the woods with us, joined in the tree climbing. Within
moments had climbed higher, on different trees in a very different way,
shinning up the trunk rather than climbing branch to branch, wedging himself
comfortably, literally out on a limb.</div>
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Children’s responses to
risk taking are as diverse as the children themselves. Douglas
& Wildavsky (1982) have suggested that there are four kinds of people when
it comes to managing risk: Hierarchists, egalitarians, individualists and
fatalists. Mark Gladwin (2005)<sub>1</sub> linked these different types of risk
takers to the observations he made of children at play. You may recognise these
types of risk takers in the children you know and work with.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Hierachists </b>are those people who will naturally
follow the rules, who deal with risk by following the procedures. If these
procedures stress safety above all then these people are unlikely to find ways
to push themselves out of the comfort zone. These are the children that look to
you for permission before testing themselves and conform to set parameters, like
the little girl and her string.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Egalitarians</b> have strong group identification
and emphasise group solidarity at the expense of official rules. These children, like the group I was watching climb trees had developed a group norm. They had
set parameters for themselves as a group and no one person in that group was
likely to engage in risk taking behaviour that didn’t conform. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Individualists </b>are independent-minded and able to
defy official rules and group pressures to make their own decisions on risk
management. Like the boy who joined the
tree climbing group but went out on a limb, individualist children are the
likeliest to engage in risk-taking of the kind described by Hughes (2001) as
“deep play”. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Fatalists</b> are those people who submit
passively to external control without commitment to group norms or solidarity
and take no steps to either avoid risk or manage it. These children are the hardest to predict how
they will respond to a risky situation. I wonder if their response to risk is
borne out of inexperience in risky situations. Sue Palmer (Toxic Childhood 2006)<span style="color: red;"> </span>says “All real children’s play involves an element of risk, and the more real
play children are allowed the better they become at analyzing and managing
those risks. If, on the other hand, adults try to eliminate risk from their
lives they’re likely to grow up either unduly reckless or hopelessly timid.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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By observing
the children we work with and understanding their approach, our response to
their risk taking can become more informed. The risks we all take as humans
take are not only physical but are social and emotional. Forest School gives lots of opportunities for risk
taking and challenge. For some children just being in woodland, especially if
it this is an unfamiliar environment, is an emotional challenge. The
opportunity to climb, move tree trunks, run on rough terrain etc provides
endless physical challenges. Using tools and being around fire provides
opportunity for physical and emotional challenges for children. Being in a
group without the structure of a classroom and having to communicate with
others, talking with a partner when using a saw to cut wood provides
social, physical and emotional challenges. When someone overcomes a challenge, be
it one that is set by ourselves or by others and we are given chance to reflect
on how we feel, we offer the opportunity to build those critical qualities of self
worth and resilience. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It is too
easy under the guise of health and safety to try and remove the risks and
therefore take away any challenge in the activity or environment for the children
and it is worth noting that the child’s need for having a challenge, if not
met, will often express itself in other ways including what we call ‘challenging behaviour’.
The importance of a Forest school activity is in providing children the
opportunity to take risks and build their self-confidence.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Most
psychiatrists agree that mental health in adulthood springs from a successful
weaning of the child from its parents, an ability to deal with the outside world
confidently, without overdue dependence on adults. And making good
relationships can only come with practice. Through unstructured play with
others, children can work through their emotions and discover their identity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If they are never free from adult supervision,
they cannot internalise a parental voice or find a way of setting their own
boundaries. They have no chance to do mildly dangerous things and find out how
risks should be judged. They cannot chart their own course through the minor
hazards of everyday life. Nor can they explore the real bonds of friendship and
loyalty that are formed through common adventures with others their own age.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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(Sieghart, M. A. in the Times, 5 th August
1995)<o:p></o:p></div>
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References:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b>1 </b>Playwords
(Summer 2005 - Issue 26)<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background-color: #333333; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14.545454025268555px; text-indent: 0px;">*This post, written by Lily, was originally published on Outdoor Play and Learning.com in March 2011 and is </span><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18.18181800842285px; text-indent: 0px;">republished here with</span><span style="background-color: #333333; color: #cccccc; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 14.545454025268555px; text-indent: 0px;"> their kind permission. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-88253673714647489282014-04-02T21:42:00.001+01:002014-04-02T21:43:42.751+01:00Oak Apple InkThere is something about playing in the woods, exploring, experimenting that really stimulates discoveries.<br />
I remember when I was a teenager reading about oak gall ink in a book on art techniques but I hadn't tried it until today.<br />
<br />
Oak galls are fascinating little discoveries in themselves. Found on the underside of oak leaves the are created when a teeny parasitic gall wasp lays an egg on the leaf bud. The interaction between the leaf and the egg as they grow creates a gall, a little ball in which the wasp larvae can grow and eventually it burrows out and flies free.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9mFYyGYoMwo4jfYyA8acO1C8JCfNmzQmTy8AXHf-sk2cbQx6FUmRebDo_cpDwDVWemB2cGIVryPV3rXD9X1viGsTvi-8Ae1xOi8MvbbrGY3HzWlBEowoFxi591SU5Tpnr48-Q56R2xAJ/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9mFYyGYoMwo4jfYyA8acO1C8JCfNmzQmTy8AXHf-sk2cbQx6FUmRebDo_cpDwDVWemB2cGIVryPV3rXD9X1viGsTvi-8Ae1xOi8MvbbrGY3HzWlBEowoFxi591SU5Tpnr48-Q56R2xAJ/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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The wasps emerge in the autumn leaving the galls behind. Last week, I picked one off the forest floor and as I was chatting with someone about what it was I gave it a squeeze and brown water came out.<br />
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There are lots of recipes available on-line which involve grinding oak apples and adding iron but this water, just freshly squeezed, made me wonder if this would work as an ink. The oak is really high in tannins and it stains really well.<br />
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I got a feather and snipped it into a quill and it worked perfectly. Instant ink to be harvested from the woods.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4LzxYa0kqFxIbLGg1Y7bRHfFF-LX4U-RJWxlt9S1WW6Uivp8qy0m0xMnO1bj7mf11wcuqHNZkjMwYf2sPPbk7fs7hOIb0UQpvL-JQcuiEvrfYGmiq_p-GM2j5n2HmxvTx5vT0LYzC-Wp/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_4LzxYa0kqFxIbLGg1Y7bRHfFF-LX4U-RJWxlt9S1WW6Uivp8qy0m0xMnO1bj7mf11wcuqHNZkjMwYf2sPPbk7fs7hOIb0UQpvL-JQcuiEvrfYGmiq_p-GM2j5n2HmxvTx5vT0LYzC-Wp/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-3235205273198893972014-01-06T18:36:00.000+00:002014-01-06T18:36:04.414+00:00Maslow’s hierarchy of need or why, in winter, we always have hot chocolate..<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was just repacking and checking
through the safety bag that I take into the woods with me and I felt like
something was missing. There had been a lot more space in the bag over the
summer but as the weather changes so does the contents of my safety bag. So I added another bag, full of small gloves,
hats and scarves. There is a well known saying that there is no such thing as
bad weather, just the wrong clothes, but it is hard to really feel the full impact
of that saying until you see a child, he isn’t engaging with the woods around
him, but is stood, hunched, with his hands tucked under his armpits, watching
the others. “Would you like some
gloves?” He nods, chooses a pair and runs off to join in. True, it is another
thing for me to carry, but the difference it can make to a child’s ability to
join in is worth it. I hope most children come prepared to play and learn outdoors
but the reality is often they don’t. I think that part of my role as a Forest
School practitioner is to try and remove any barriers that stop someone from
being able to enter fully into learning, exploring and being in the woods. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuHvj8ubHHeCZmeHDorLpT_kBE88g1VKUUEVYC_OYy2CHD6hFV8qCG5KOF-3Ty-4e5lLoRrYdOZVhrxZfLZLit_oRUKWQwBbgvv0jpfQ7RwsxxygQTW-0cDxDChzj9dGMrSKCJolsMmRP/s1600/8+f.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGuHvj8ubHHeCZmeHDorLpT_kBE88g1VKUUEVYC_OYy2CHD6hFV8qCG5KOF-3Ty-4e5lLoRrYdOZVhrxZfLZLit_oRUKWQwBbgvv0jpfQ7RwsxxygQTW-0cDxDChzj9dGMrSKCJolsMmRP/s1600/8+f.JPG" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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Forest Schools are a place where
children can develop self confidence and self esteem and we aim for children to
be accessing deep level learning experiences, where they are immersed and in
the flow. But like that little
boy, people can’t access that powerful, playful learning state if their hands
are cold. The Hierarchy of Needs, as in
the theory put forward by Maslow, and extended in this diagram by the <span class="apple-converted-space">Australian</span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: #424242; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">
</span></span><a href="http://www.louiseporter.com.au/"><span style="color: #ee3224; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">child psychologist Louise Porter</span></a><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #424242; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span">makes it clear as to why.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyLiW0Xgx244DVM2xnKG-WZIGp5hUjiQUuCEQi_13487Wjb0mxaydq-O3uBo_HYYFtfi2OzMgurMZm986VEWzbAUWaGXo0mw9Zx9MLCsWIDp6TxmpyL8tb9xIFc7iEpTAHo11d4WoOwq0/s1600/tree.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyLiW0Xgx244DVM2xnKG-WZIGp5hUjiQUuCEQi_13487Wjb0mxaydq-O3uBo_HYYFtfi2OzMgurMZm986VEWzbAUWaGXo0mw9Zx9MLCsWIDp6TxmpyL8tb9xIFc7iEpTAHo11d4WoOwq0/s1600/tree.gif" /></a></div>
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: #424242; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span class="apple-style-span">Porter describes
how after survival and emotional safety, children look for belonging
(connectedness, empathy, acceptance) and autonomy (choice, mastery,
self-efficacy). Belonging is connected to fun, and autonomy to self-fulfilment.
But critically the survival needs; warmth, shelter, food and drink; are at the
root of all progress towards self actualisation. If we are concerned or
distracted by those needs, we cannot focus on our self-fulfilment or on having
fun. </span> <o:p></o:p></div>
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Children, even quite small
children want to look after their own basic needs, they need to know what
resources are available, how to use them and have the confidence in you to want
to ask for them. The process of meeting
those basic needs can be a vehicle for having fun and feeling proud of your
achievements. If you have ever put a temporary shelter with a group of children
you soon learn there is lots of fun to be had, shaking the tarpaulin, rolling
and wrapping yourself up in it, winding the strings around trees, running
through a tunnel like half built shelter. Then, the fleeting moment of pride
and satisfaction when the shelter is up and we are ready to get stuck in to our
adventures.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For children to be given the language and opportunity to name their needs, and be given the resources to meet those needs is also very important. This little doodle that went into the recent Forest School Association newsletter explores this idea in reality; </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWWWVL-TuKvDpCgdBGW3gh8duLB_E1P6p_1AYiHu9WMna1MFAC-rofnKjrdEm0eR7Cd5cvHpmS3RmzTqPfbMvVX6lvVxI2vkj37LmH-oyOv_4LKoUkgsWM2qJk6xZP3qHqwSBAIo-duB_/s1600/DSC_0227+copy.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmWWWVL-TuKvDpCgdBGW3gh8duLB_E1P6p_1AYiHu9WMna1MFAC-rofnKjrdEm0eR7Cd5cvHpmS3RmzTqPfbMvVX6lvVxI2vkj37LmH-oyOv_4LKoUkgsWM2qJk6xZP3qHqwSBAIo-duB_/s1600/DSC_0227+copy.gif" height="640" width="400" /></a></div>
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I have noticed that the amount of
effort and the designs that children organically come up with for their
shelters reflects the weather and their needs. A group of three and four year
olds on a snowy morning made a shelter that wrapped them all up, cocoon like
inside, protected on all sides. No room for any adults in there though, apart
from just enough space to pass in mugs of hot chocolate. On the same afternoon,
when the sun had come out and the snow was melting a group of their classmates
made a shelter that was entirely different, much more open and spacious, no
need to huddle together for warmth any more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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That is why as the weather turns
I am checking the supplies of hot chocolate, rinsing out the flask and packing
the little gloves into my Forest School safety bag.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.545454025268555px; text-align: start;">*This post, written by Lily, was originally published on <a href="http://forestschools.com/">forestschools.com</a> in Jan 2011 and is </span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 18.18181800842285px; text-align: start;">republished here with</span><span style="font-size: x-small; line-height: 14.545454025268555px; text-align: start;"> their kind permission. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-19731575174371478122013-11-26T12:51:00.004+00:002013-11-26T12:51:50.166+00:00Child led learning or how it feels to not be in charge<div class="MsoNormal">
Giving control over content and intent of play and learning
to children<o:p></o:p></div>
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Child-led learning sounds like it
should be easy, just see what the children are interested in and excited by and
then follow it. Actually, when you put it like that it is easy and in the
context of outdoor learning allowing the
children to lead can be wonderfully simple to implement. There is so much to
discover and interact with. It is hard NOT to be learning. Where child led learning becomes more
challenging is in the personal internal battles you face as a practitioner.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am thinking for example about a
time when a group of children decided they would have a ‘bug market’ where they
could trade things with each other. They decided they could bring things from
home, or trade conkers, interesting leaves and other found natural things. They asked us to provide materials for signs,
sheets to set things out on and they left the session really excited about the
upcoming Bug Market.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It was only after they left that
we started to realise the gaps we had left open, what sort of things would they
bring from home? What were the ethics of trading live insects? Who would decide
what trade was fair? How would we agree the rules?<o:p></o:p></div>
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One of the key lessons I have
learnt over the years is to never imagine that I am in charge. It can be a real
challenge to master my ego, not listen to the voice that says “Well, I know
best because I am an adult.” Or allow
the part of me that already sees how this could go horribly wrong to be too
dominant. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aaNIiwxJv6V5_T05_b6K6zGhyphenhyphenivsOhcLrOrzn3MueDgVY-byNAiNzAelpqohJ3e2r08_XMUA8417V8S7lkjv3Pnm_gWmaOb_O1a4blkKynzxZtNxuVhoOYLul1-pF3NgpSeJFBdnoAFX/s1600/bug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7aaNIiwxJv6V5_T05_b6K6zGhyphenhyphenivsOhcLrOrzn3MueDgVY-byNAiNzAelpqohJ3e2r08_XMUA8417V8S7lkjv3Pnm_gWmaOb_O1a4blkKynzxZtNxuVhoOYLul1-pF3NgpSeJFBdnoAFX/s400/bug.jpg" width="400" /></a>When the children arrived for the
Bug Market it seemed that the children had all understood what the rules were
to be without me having to get them into a discussion. No-one brought their
favourite toys to swap, you don’t have insects in a bug market, (and apparently
I should have know this!) and the adult role seemed to be to keep currency
moving around as more people wanted to be stall holders than to barter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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But child led learning doesn't
start the moment you decide to step back. When I walked into a woodland with a
group of nursery children, most of whom had never been in a woodland before,
it’s almost like they couldn't see the potential, and didn't know yet how to
interact with it. It took a few sessions of going
back to those same woods, with practitioners and staff providing encouragement
and permission to the children to collect things they saw, asking them to
describe their finds and to interact with them, to follow trails of feathers
and touch mossy stumps and smooth leaves. Then the children started to notice
and to lead. A long worm stopped us in our tracks as we walked up the path. The
children are acutely observant, “it is coming towards me,” “now it is going to
you,” “it is a letter C for Callum” “it feels sticky, like a fish” They put
things in its path to see if that changes the direction it goes in. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJflUQBJNfXVnF75EgNpBnaNk2OVQgVa0gIwrrrpZG3iKnuSw5CzphooOWTi9guYyfO6P1MVBxeSsyA0eUbF5jwfbnwtX5CQ5dXS0QeWYtD4dnb5LHlVUBRJsAZC-Vh-apXYGP7tOwY23/s1600/worm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXJflUQBJNfXVnF75EgNpBnaNk2OVQgVa0gIwrrrpZG3iKnuSw5CzphooOWTi9guYyfO6P1MVBxeSsyA0eUbF5jwfbnwtX5CQ5dXS0QeWYtD4dnb5LHlVUBRJsAZC-Vh-apXYGP7tOwY23/s400/worm.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When, during the following session we brought magnifying
glasses and pictures of the minibeasts they could find they responded really
positively and were quickly immersed and interested. Child-led learning can
take time to emerge, as group dynamics settle and the children gain the
confidence to lead and to believe their ideas will be listened to. This is one of the reasons why effective
outdoor learning takes place over time.</div>
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They start to see your role as a <span class="apple-style-span">provider of resources, ideas, ways and means rather than
the instructor, which can often run counter to the normal relationships they
have with teachers and other adults.</span></div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The natural environment is an unpredictable place, you never know what
you will find. You can plan and prepare for certain learning experiences to
take place, and they may happen, but what you cannot plan for and only be
receptive to, is the unexpected. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>"In preparing for battle, I have always
found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable."</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>–General Dwight D. Eisenhower</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i><br /></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-DxfGkoGxQaashL8WI3GRblX4HiTbCS6T-zehJhPhoCIInTRLLqQ1cVYuAAg6B0kn-87H0h2W8oHOaFtB5qHI4e6FMYHEnk-FEDNoKYWaGT_Mb0-Vc4uul-y6miS6tXGD6knKXSfQvmT/s1600/whittle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-DxfGkoGxQaashL8WI3GRblX4HiTbCS6T-zehJhPhoCIInTRLLqQ1cVYuAAg6B0kn-87H0h2W8oHOaFtB5qHI4e6FMYHEnk-FEDNoKYWaGT_Mb0-Vc4uul-y6miS6tXGD6knKXSfQvmT/s200/whittle.jpg" width="133" /></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;">Sometimes
like with the Bug Market, the children are explicit about the direction they
want to take, sometimes child-led learning comes about by following a
particular line of questioning and sometimes an observation is the key. In the
first week in the woods with another group, William picks up a sharp stone and
uses it like a tool; another child watches him and copies, using a stick with
the same motion. It occurs to me they are whittling. Even though I don’t
usually bring tools in this soon, their behaviour intrigues me
and I bring potato peelers for them to whittle with for the next session. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY2vDLaT7OEBo2eq-1Ehc2IxwNfGhMgaQnOYDjFNNZfXz-1E3yjmjZ7_kwlCVPTmPWHa0tLs9lJM_1dkb3iO_c9rWnBNAfVkSqhixF9BR3oAoXQ5OULaRXfgvQSOI0Uq8UvtLbyYjv4Cwx/s1600/whittle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;"><br /></span></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Outdoor play and outdoor learning provide enough
scope for each child to be following his or her own line of enquiry </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">and for them to collaborate with other children and
adults. But those internal battles I mentioned... how do you feel about how you
are perceived in your role? Not by the children, but by other practitioners,
visitors, parents and parent helpers, a passing head teacher or an Ofsted
inspector. What happens when the lines of enquiry that the children choose to
follow includes squishing living things, making weapons, having battles....? </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">*This post, written by Lily, was originally published on <a href="http://forestschools.com/">forestschools.com</a> in Oct 2010 and is </span><span style="line-height: 18.18181800842285px;">republished here with</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> their kind permission. </span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-60915814311451147722013-11-17T19:07:00.000+00:002013-11-17T19:09:06.169+00:00Only made from wood; a daily advent of festive winter crafts part 2<br />
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Last year I set myself a creative challenge over on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Kindling1" target="_blank">facebook page</a>. Every day in December so far I added a new winter festive craft made from things from the woods to a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151166560528722.441638.179281098721&type=1" target="_blank">folder full of photographs. </a>Well, now the nights are drawing in again I thought I'd collect some more ideas up for you. <br />
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the red of the rosehips sing out of the hedgerows even more. I collected a few
handfuls to see if there is enough to make rosehip syrup. The frost had got to
most of them but there were enough to make these sweet wreaths for the doors. I
used a bodkin (a blunt needle) threaded with some paper coated florists wire
which helped it hold it's shape.<br />
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A really simple one this; cutting slices from logs then
sanding them smooth is something I have done lots of times with groups of
children. We have used them for medals or name tags or tokens. Here I used a
pyrography tool to make a little robin decoration.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is such a great idea and uses another small wood
slice. I picked up this idea from
Magaret. It's really quick and simple to make, but there are lots of ways you
could decorate the base or the tree. The fir twig has just been trimmed a
little to make it more 'tree' shaped.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As this time of year is the time for freezing weather it
inspires lots of ice sculpture posts across the pages I folllow. I really love
the combination of ice and fire. Putting one pot inside another as they freeze
makes these beautiful candle holders that would be perfect for an outdoor
winter party.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These reindeer are lovely to make, with drilled logs and bits of twig to connect them together they can be in lots of different sizes. This little fella even has a red rosehip nose. </div>
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This idea was shared with me by Kelly from <a href="http://www.facebook.com/alcester.nursery" target="_blank">Alcester nursery</a>,
what a fantastic idea! I'm always surprised by how many green leaves are still on the trees in winter, they have been threaded onto a skewer with an elder bead trunk. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I was in the woods when I noticed
the honeysuckle plants winding around themselves. I have really come to love this plant
for its pliable stems. I added a few stars snipped out from leaves, which is an
idea I developed when I got home using different shades of birch bark.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Part 1 of this round up of crafts is <a href="http://kindlingplayandtraining.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/only-made-from-wood-daily-advent-of.html" target="_blank">here</a>. I'd love to see what you are making. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-64312610408023996772013-04-26T20:26:00.002+01:002013-04-26T20:26:27.167+01:00Sweet little alder bee craft<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbt4gE9Vx-hdZyOzn_GvEnw77LKn6lMS1piAEIIkVcR2uOpBKGfxQWlBp6qkKwMfws7QKB6w7GsGQcP5lgbLrt3aLqkTOQNA4oZoMABOLifAUqM0lGtnjQdUEzi6L_8WgpgG_6jigcbYp6/s1600/DSC_2857.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbt4gE9Vx-hdZyOzn_GvEnw77LKn6lMS1piAEIIkVcR2uOpBKGfxQWlBp6qkKwMfws7QKB6w7GsGQcP5lgbLrt3aLqkTOQNA4oZoMABOLifAUqM0lGtnjQdUEzi6L_8WgpgG_6jigcbYp6/s400/DSC_2857.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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I was asked to bring something to share at my recent visit to Wood School. I haven't made these alder bees with a group for years despite having all the bits in a nice little cigar box ready to go.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQorkpMIYJupx_zvrDV7Zbhyphenhyphen-98nst03Z_07vyEOMCt0xGUYo8E2XhR5-SbFNbcGeguTxY-sLvYDTnjIQzEiq25dP2GuNCUY0eFW_cDFJ4DEljfmqk_lSUJFVLXnFshP2e3cSxgm27MUw/s1600/DSC_2827.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaQorkpMIYJupx_zvrDV7Zbhyphenhyphen-98nst03Z_07vyEOMCt0xGUYo8E2XhR5-SbFNbcGeguTxY-sLvYDTnjIQzEiq25dP2GuNCUY0eFW_cDFJ4DEljfmqk_lSUJFVLXnFshP2e3cSxgm27MUw/s400/DSC_2827.jpg" width="265" /></a></div>
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Normally when I'm working with groups of children who don't spend much time in the woods I like any craft I introduce to be much more open ended and exploratory. The children at wood school are seasoned creative woodland explorers and this is such a pleasing little craft and fitted the season so well. I couldn't resist and neither could the kids (and adults) at Wood School.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIntCTzDxpLvEwjnSd9wdOlWmxor1i2BZD0_yB3xEQ2mZ3k7d6FvFD5qUVHMZBgvJFQ1VzAB7q35HO8l9k-RTXxmGOT9Ww9le7fNS-V5cYOQHwJL_GdvTl09T479VDNTTk6ziiEo8qW7ZE/s1600/DSC_2820.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIntCTzDxpLvEwjnSd9wdOlWmxor1i2BZD0_yB3xEQ2mZ3k7d6FvFD5qUVHMZBgvJFQ1VzAB7q35HO8l9k-RTXxmGOT9Ww9le7fNS-V5cYOQHwJL_GdvTl09T479VDNTTk6ziiEo8qW7ZE/s320/DSC_2820.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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It only relies on 3 elements; the little cones from the <a href="http://www.british-trees.com/treeguide/alder/Alder" target="_blank">alder tree</a>, white plastic carrier bags and yellow embroidery thread. I tried using full sized cones once, but the result wasn't the same. I think the teeny scale is what makes them work.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BUzDOSJpY15B3TP0GoMSnAZQ5Uam4rGSQPdHK4hNDErWvKvEf4NOcdt_wMry0h_YFjaqIQ9Bd2aKoTglwco4yy3DLSgbX3mwoOCAujgtmaY3K3Mqb3iIu8SNtblhQIIuG9WgceYeXqN0/s1600/DSC_2828.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2BUzDOSJpY15B3TP0GoMSnAZQ5Uam4rGSQPdHK4hNDErWvKvEf4NOcdt_wMry0h_YFjaqIQ9Bd2aKoTglwco4yy3DLSgbX3mwoOCAujgtmaY3K3Mqb3iIu8SNtblhQIIuG9WgceYeXqN0/s320/DSC_2828.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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A piece of thread about a foot long, and a circle cut from the carrier bag. We folded the bag in half and cut out semi circles. This really pleased one of the smaller girls who enjoyed noticing how the half circle became a full circle.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36cZQKGxRBlYKCfguhYnmxadTZCqjW6BhglHdJ4TJ2S66F4GFKQalyPVHhw5w887kfveAGvUPm48bPfi3uekw50MxOphC_qWo-1e1P688YiUOWnpXqvzDwq6vzNBHx44yZpzZGST6sULV/s1600/DSC_2799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi36cZQKGxRBlYKCfguhYnmxadTZCqjW6BhglHdJ4TJ2S66F4GFKQalyPVHhw5w887kfveAGvUPm48bPfi3uekw50MxOphC_qWo-1e1P688YiUOWnpXqvzDwq6vzNBHx44yZpzZGST6sULV/s320/DSC_2799.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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The thread is tied round the bit of carrier bag with a single simple overhand knot and pulled really tight. This makes the bit of carrier bag turn into two wings. The children really enjoyed practicing the knot and helping each other keep the wings in place for someone else tying the knot. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxtVnV2xN2Ytqnm5VVwBsF7pEKPHOlM91Hyt260EzDYcLB45TG5YL5mFmCGlSJpRUwtwwrHPT5aQK2rHj5nuPWEL-G8ELn59NVUoq5KpF5wD5YdDNLOfrIq8oPYg23mjEfvb0yCi2CmmL/s1600/DSC_2805.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxtVnV2xN2Ytqnm5VVwBsF7pEKPHOlM91Hyt260EzDYcLB45TG5YL5mFmCGlSJpRUwtwwrHPT5aQK2rHj5nuPWEL-G8ELn59NVUoq5KpF5wD5YdDNLOfrIq8oPYg23mjEfvb0yCi2CmmL/s400/DSC_2805.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLOBeNc9VPISn51QdxrU9tvTYEbG49oYCTDtVf83nixi2fz_p3anbCxxtoYxW-S6qdU_Y8hleoe-vx8-BAkxFOjsK0JBVKB5qmYw3fGeDotFHoNs-8Y8hz7Ohyphenhyphenow-hulCdoz7fTLOAiYR/s1600/DSC_2836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRLOBeNc9VPISn51QdxrU9tvTYEbG49oYCTDtVf83nixi2fz_p3anbCxxtoYxW-S6qdU_Y8hleoe-vx8-BAkxFOjsK0JBVKB5qmYw3fGeDotFHoNs-8Y8hz7Ohyphenhyphenow-hulCdoz7fTLOAiYR/s320/DSC_2836.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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The end of the thread can be put on the cone and wound round and round until the wings are close up against the cone. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWr3-ImTkfVKy2T6RxnxrhlZVi5KXqmpgIg2q8JxubT81ekUc_5m1hlebXYh67vbmGIrr_mdNjDrUDhpuu3tOaq6HbU8hQ5Sg7cxlQIaSEKq5OjxqajD4d-7OX_papz33CmYaiEtcDTNL/s1600/DSC_2801.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUWr3-ImTkfVKy2T6RxnxrhlZVi5KXqmpgIg2q8JxubT81ekUc_5m1hlebXYh67vbmGIrr_mdNjDrUDhpuu3tOaq6HbU8hQ5Sg7cxlQIaSEKq5OjxqajD4d-7OX_papz33CmYaiEtcDTNL/s400/DSC_2801.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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You can keep winding it up until the thread is all wound round. Just make sure the thread it is poked between the scales of the cone by pulling it every so often. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaM2UtPg1GXeeF9pm5AbfdAOK5zqXTUl8O99iTUHABaY-3ArMGAgwkX2G7E5ZBwTZaLcyF2nvLhEgNv0x_o7ZArO8exReF50JaHzeFTeZUsxkyYijW-5taiCRouIAWXtZJfNaqA0buzhN/s1600/DSC_2798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaM2UtPg1GXeeF9pm5AbfdAOK5zqXTUl8O99iTUHABaY-3ArMGAgwkX2G7E5ZBwTZaLcyF2nvLhEgNv0x_o7ZArO8exReF50JaHzeFTeZUsxkyYijW-5taiCRouIAWXtZJfNaqA0buzhN/s1600/DSC_2798.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEaM2UtPg1GXeeF9pm5AbfdAOK5zqXTUl8O99iTUHABaY-3ArMGAgwkX2G7E5ZBwTZaLcyF2nvLhEgNv0x_o7ZArO8exReF50JaHzeFTeZUsxkyYijW-5taiCRouIAWXtZJfNaqA0buzhN/s400/DSC_2798.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This one had a little loop in it by accident, but that meant it could be worn as a ring. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1CoPeOoNgELWCq0ZsbOUkqvv3n-vfKcvyC4lJhiJM0s5cwircqmCXOY8YCPU7g7OywU4-B6N0-s0fTnR0TD8jgd2aW0BRH3pBMASm1g4ZqJkOcblP0Povyg0b8dMJHsPdN1jgMQR6akn/s1600/DSC_2806.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1CoPeOoNgELWCq0ZsbOUkqvv3n-vfKcvyC4lJhiJM0s5cwircqmCXOY8YCPU7g7OywU4-B6N0-s0fTnR0TD8jgd2aW0BRH3pBMASm1g4ZqJkOcblP0Povyg0b8dMJHsPdN1jgMQR6akn/s640/DSC_2806.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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Or leave the thread long and hang them from a tree.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw7x7a7Q1FKfJAWHMoJlv7xgv7YOLCgYXSAKTzP0ovMbCA-7QkO6X61tq8GpVbSkv8svuw8pA9B9D45fqS7DhN_TZmwykruQyIt-pr55U0OGwBxElNl1r0d3N6UhPtHYIBfGd7MxDasf-U/s1600/DSC_2822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw7x7a7Q1FKfJAWHMoJlv7xgv7YOLCgYXSAKTzP0ovMbCA-7QkO6X61tq8GpVbSkv8svuw8pA9B9D45fqS7DhN_TZmwykruQyIt-pr55U0OGwBxElNl1r0d3N6UhPtHYIBfGd7MxDasf-U/s640/DSC_2822.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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More than once while we were making these a bee flew by. Spring is well and truly here (for now) The bluebells are opening, the blossom is on the trees. Let's hear it for bees and the vital work they do! Yippeeee!</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-41888371690665856422013-04-09T13:42:00.001+01:002013-04-09T13:43:05.582+01:00Coppice birdsLast year I learnt to make these little wooden birds from a local coppice worker. They are made from a single carved forked stick.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAulsp4U2zTWFEBd0_BhhyphenhyphenCyZ5EpOOOTfwbcGdBd5AfRo_62Ig7Ar1FFcaJYZMAesARCIHV8y9iwTgc8uqNbrs5mml2FubBPlVrGDpZkH2Moy_f9ad7q6WGqnTsnwwJB2IXyyEpYfOlmG/s1600/coppice+bird.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcAulsp4U2zTWFEBd0_BhhyphenhyphenCyZ5EpOOOTfwbcGdBd5AfRo_62Ig7Ar1FFcaJYZMAesARCIHV8y9iwTgc8uqNbrs5mml2FubBPlVrGDpZkH2Moy_f9ad7q6WGqnTsnwwJB2IXyyEpYfOlmG/s640/coppice+bird.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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These children made their own, apparently she was so pleased with hers she took it to bed with her! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTPz3K5rGxtkaTntDiDQ23gGsg8ru3kYCH7WmCGWjL0621yAewvKzEomIAxKj0T8xCpAYNnwoWotbCP7ufE0WhmxoGYWZo4zK5FDqGFBR8OnIYV3F0L1hdkpE_bEDwhLAwYXbNvbMtsjL/s1600/DSC_0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzTPz3K5rGxtkaTntDiDQ23gGsg8ru3kYCH7WmCGWjL0621yAewvKzEomIAxKj0T8xCpAYNnwoWotbCP7ufE0WhmxoGYWZo4zK5FDqGFBR8OnIYV3F0L1hdkpE_bEDwhLAwYXbNvbMtsjL/s640/DSC_0133.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-33391627874819592772012-12-29T11:32:00.000+00:002012-12-29T11:32:01.999+00:00The adventurer's essentials <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnw7IeFW_lNEtgUGR_x2_8SAFZWkhD422cwJRPMulgYjTK0ratCZryLVA_M2LTOhbGZsQzDdp7ZeFCYTK5lgwLZFbiDBByf89n7aH-Rcr3kwWE2OpFC3OI_ET0CGUMNm72_d1aoavh7ePy/s320/5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Every year we had make most of our Christmas gifts. My </span><span style="text-align: left;">nieces</span><span style="text-align: left;"> and nephews are getting to an age where we can really really enjoy making stuff for them. I wanted to make a den building adventure kit for my oldest nephew. I had some ideas but I knew the </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/101821253217957/?fref=ts" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Forest Education Initiative Facebook page</a> would come up with more<span style="text-align: left;">. They are a real source of inspiration and support for lots of people who work outdoors with children. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">I didn't use all the ideas they came up with as I would have needed a truck rather than a bag to put them all in, but check out </span><a href="http://www.facebook.com/groups/101821253217957/permalink/438541402879272/" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">the thread here</a> if you would like some ideas too. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_7vFKIcvOAPFrnXoiS5d0Pg1H_wQyQ3Y_pWIsPhlSSWIN5H1QOAIolVq4prT0k7PJgtGgcG52tzPxcQaR2Ke3WvqH6qH0YwvssBjccoGq88U1gWfH4cMnapxKr5SB_OjqaWk9INlHXv9/s1600/11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF_7vFKIcvOAPFrnXoiS5d0Pg1H_wQyQ3Y_pWIsPhlSSWIN5H1QOAIolVq4prT0k7PJgtGgcG52tzPxcQaR2Ke3WvqH6qH0YwvssBjccoGq88U1gWfH4cMnapxKr5SB_OjqaWk9INlHXv9/s640/11.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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But what's in the adventure bag?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Cemyo3kI-6zMf6iHUYTdy99RO9_avm9Pu3CkKEapOSPci4Nds38nW_mwLtz-Fq1FNV1YYSUpryjnjNtPYQyjFtMUw6sUanN0A_U8YA6l2hfF_qgll6r7EKxAr-p0XtW-Q9V9bQEXjxuQ/s1600/12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Cemyo3kI-6zMf6iHUYTdy99RO9_avm9Pu3CkKEapOSPci4Nds38nW_mwLtz-Fq1FNV1YYSUpryjnjNtPYQyjFtMUw6sUanN0A_U8YA6l2hfF_qgll6r7EKxAr-p0XtW-Q9V9bQEXjxuQ/s400/12.jpg" width="352" /></a></div>
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Every adventurer needs a wind up torch...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyt6WMYiM0JpXPBZc_QxouNLtHfZIeZZZcrkxMhRw0AIiWCY7vhrqicsFzYQGsZh69WHvsdyUQjReJ45thkLhEd7GP0SA8jfW8kDIkgITvHKxjCzlpfIy5LNHLdAD8TGXzLQDfFckFPIT5/s1600/13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyt6WMYiM0JpXPBZc_QxouNLtHfZIeZZZcrkxMhRw0AIiWCY7vhrqicsFzYQGsZh69WHvsdyUQjReJ45thkLhEd7GP0SA8jfW8kDIkgITvHKxjCzlpfIy5LNHLdAD8TGXzLQDfFckFPIT5/s640/13.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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...and some binoculars. We made these binoculars together on Christmas eve.</div>
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To go with the note book and twiggy pencil</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5Y3VoYsblxzxlEf5sppL0j-BpAE-gcIPmyeSUgA2U5jpDbTbtMG324wOLcJiBWWuwvn-TsghKGW22pObbiOV1h2n6lpsnRmlJ68WlSo1OsvWQAF7RCV1pO_ABXiBHnd8RSFuRWyj1jmR/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim5Y3VoYsblxzxlEf5sppL0j-BpAE-gcIPmyeSUgA2U5jpDbTbtMG324wOLcJiBWWuwvn-TsghKGW22pObbiOV1h2n6lpsnRmlJ68WlSo1OsvWQAF7RCV1pO_ABXiBHnd8RSFuRWyj1jmR/s640/3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Some flags to decorate your den,</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUY7Cqfkq23Lw_eUtl6Tzjz5iFsW6pbqGWxOPIQ-MQLjxeqfeFoOg6s7HzyVr9Tyh54M0UA3LxXmGse1orvt69zLM07fg1gGE8XvuhulTD9wkBy7MZN8zS28IDh1A9UqPcFqAEB-R93Kp/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNUY7Cqfkq23Lw_eUtl6Tzjz5iFsW6pbqGWxOPIQ-MQLjxeqfeFoOg6s7HzyVr9Tyh54M0UA3LxXmGse1orvt69zLM07fg1gGE8XvuhulTD9wkBy7MZN8zS28IDh1A9UqPcFqAEB-R93Kp/s640/4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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A really wide selection of fastening; like ropes and pegs, carabiners and those really practical bungees with bobbles on the end. These are just some of the selection. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6FdwcetvitklFNpPQiJqXNWb9PZOm1kNsvX07TpPU-3heq6m6dsjdlcyDuCnnfxojwoSwI6xj2qjSpNn7FW9X_Kr4ocxabgtkPwJmjlG9zdDtcj8hTlKphU6ofrQiVoNvKSREvzCyHp0/s1600/18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl6FdwcetvitklFNpPQiJqXNWb9PZOm1kNsvX07TpPU-3heq6m6dsjdlcyDuCnnfxojwoSwI6xj2qjSpNn7FW9X_Kr4ocxabgtkPwJmjlG9zdDtcj8hTlKphU6ofrQiVoNvKSREvzCyHp0/s640/18.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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A really useful tarpaulin made from half of an old tent. It already had lots of zips and eyelet holes, hooks and Velcro fastening points. I added a few more eyelets to make it even more flexible and it is waterproof too, which is a bonus. I also added a piece of parachute silk which was a drogue from a larger parachute. I added lots of eyelet holes to make good fastening points. You can also see the 'instructions' and the corner of the fleecy sit-mat I made using a bit more of the tent as waterproof backing.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilN7njqeiPS41FL2sZ357pDxcWECTmCZ9l9pe_q5QUsQAn-G5QmiWq4N6jWOw3ygdiiMR0mlXEN4okrIr-inJVy4qOoLwiVUcuZpkFRY5WPhBN4FyitkbAjn5C0Q1MVTutcSFBQB96FUOn/s1600/6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilN7njqeiPS41FL2sZ357pDxcWECTmCZ9l9pe_q5QUsQAn-G5QmiWq4N6jWOw3ygdiiMR0mlXEN4okrIr-inJVy4qOoLwiVUcuZpkFRY5WPhBN4FyitkbAjn5C0Q1MVTutcSFBQB96FUOn/s640/6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Every explorer needs a treasure map. This one was embroidered with my sewing machine. </div>
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We made an indoor den on Christmas day and cooked the dinner on the fire...</div>
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...and we hung up this sign until dinner was ready. </div>
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Luckily it is a reversible sign so we could welcome people in too. </div>
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Of course any adventurer needs a useful bag to keep all his supplies in... </div>
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...and interesting things to discover.</div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-17503254569106670062012-12-09T13:06:00.000+00:002012-12-09T13:06:49.435+00:00Only made from wood; a daily advent of festive winter crafts part 1I have set myself a creative challenge over on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/Kindling1" target="_blank">facebook page</a>. Every day in December so far I have added a new winter festive craft made from things from the woods to a <a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151166560528722.441638.179281098721&type=1" target="_blank">folder full of photographs. </a><div>
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Here's a round up of my daily ideas so far. </div>
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<img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdxFTGGsAx96X9N7cmCaiUh6QVuIP7ANgquS3q0Dni6pEtOTOejPlyuECIIoYxpDLdAgv1481LJZWnvBEblW2mdyp7sNzjI09FTi7ekcTVvJeyaUD7RG34L0Fg6o1YAAb4OBGgR0wGIhG0/s400/156982_10151183524083722_1181467220_n+(1).jpg" width="400" /></div>
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I got this lovely idea for a tree made from threaded sticks from <a href="http://www.michelemademe.com/2011/07/twiggy-christmas-trees-in-july.html" target="_blank">'Michelle made me' </a> this is now hanging in my office and looks great! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBcztJohjLX2c7i8Fww3T-SppUpH6-l0Tf4Dd-Lulrll_-p8jguME8_xNXpPWPDheN743xgcO4IMG7cfDWpe0YrPzUy-t4NS9sdW2uJ-H0L1nt0HsDTYY9QlTrsAcycGsjfsLR9OVhT9F/s1600/261473_10151191302183722_558849163_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtBcztJohjLX2c7i8Fww3T-SppUpH6-l0Tf4Dd-Lulrll_-p8jguME8_xNXpPWPDheN743xgcO4IMG7cfDWpe0YrPzUy-t4NS9sdW2uJ-H0L1nt0HsDTYY9QlTrsAcycGsjfsLR9OVhT9F/s640/261473_10151191302183722_558849163_n.jpg" width="425" /></a></div>
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I learnt to make stars from bendy willow withies a few years back, I saw Alan from <a href="http://birchforestschools.com/" target="_blank">Birch Forest School </a>make some of these stars from bramble which works really well and helps clear some of the bramble from the woods. I love making baskets out of bramble and it weaves really well as these stars show. </div>
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I saw this idea for a Christmas tree on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/HomemadeLF" target="_blank">Handmade Living Frugally</a> and I really wanted to try it this year. It looks really effective and doesn't fill my living room! I also love that it acts like little shelves for some of my favourite things like the little wooden horse and some of the keys I got in a recent freecycle triumph. </div>
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I've been making little versions of these gnomes with different colours, These festive ones have just gone to live in a school where I was working last week. I found it was much easier for children to carve if you leave the stick longer and cut it to length after the whittling is done. Inspiration for these came from <a href="http://gardenmama.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/12/-carving-gnomes-.html" target="_blank">GardenMama</a>.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsZSjpSiOWIxHHbU_NNqAFwU9P7ATiu_um2-TKqj_4sHlVQHNI4o2uXIVfvwT-JWZrnjrfit9H97ZAPaDfeSzH4pIXWvvzhg3u-OeprxTmE1PjARy-tUdVTKxOkeBknl-UDbS3w1h_WSa/s1600/47312_10151184407173722_1792379460_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPsZSjpSiOWIxHHbU_NNqAFwU9P7ATiu_um2-TKqj_4sHlVQHNI4o2uXIVfvwT-JWZrnjrfit9H97ZAPaDfeSzH4pIXWvvzhg3u-OeprxTmE1PjARy-tUdVTKxOkeBknl-UDbS3w1h_WSa/s400/47312_10151184407173722_1792379460_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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When I made the two trees above I was left with lots of the really fine birch twigs. When they are fresh they are so bendy and I we playing with a pile of them. They are twiddled together to hold this decoration in place. The random weaving is strong enough that I could poke fairy lights through from the back. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6wswYFuVTKl1OEPGpSI0J8ZNidQif7tqhvgdPK7FvRAHNf9qN0ISAxJhSnni1gL1Y-DdbXuBDw_Z-5dobyJ_HWrAoPP0RO1zeDX3Thi148J6Bl6mxyLsNlO8ckQPVKfh0ItWYMgs7H-1/s1600/479777_10151185764608722_1783506168_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6wswYFuVTKl1OEPGpSI0J8ZNidQif7tqhvgdPK7FvRAHNf9qN0ISAxJhSnni1gL1Y-DdbXuBDw_Z-5dobyJ_HWrAoPP0RO1zeDX3Thi148J6Bl6mxyLsNlO8ckQPVKfh0ItWYMgs7H-1/s400/479777_10151185764608722_1783506168_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here is one of the decorations from my tree, this is made out of woven birch bark. There are some<a href="http://www.toppartyideas.com/craft-woven-paper-heart-baskets/" target="_blank"> great tutorials</a> out there, they are quite fiddly to make but so worth it. Look out for fallen birch trees to take the bark from. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUQD-fVi_8h4JzNYP5QUP9jjBbG-Zl0vMCRAWXVOTRkzMtaHrg3syXG2mJjHnx9mE-9mW6U-1lrFfyoapm8oBXATaWR182XffIab09Pi_WW76UDriPDNxPD2aOcF3zkaL8TuLodDqP9Te/s1600/479971_10151188533248722_1021113251_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUQD-fVi_8h4JzNYP5QUP9jjBbG-Zl0vMCRAWXVOTRkzMtaHrg3syXG2mJjHnx9mE-9mW6U-1lrFfyoapm8oBXATaWR182XffIab09Pi_WW76UDriPDNxPD2aOcF3zkaL8TuLodDqP9Te/s400/479971_10151188533248722_1021113251_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I managed to get other people involved in my advent challenge. Hannah was one of the participants on my most recent <a href="http://kindlingplayandtraining.co.uk/training/forest-school-training/" target="_blank">Level 3 Forest School training course</a>. She was exploring the potential of the woods for creativity and found that dead bracken makes an excellent base for wreaths. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscIZk0PhEnlsaqeJjD_B7jDI_6wEUVJLfx6Sw_3_465VXqc1bEXwESADz_4Zmit7REEH3GjlsF837PHg4miOEQkn2u6uYnNW8HSmT6aYZ8h_t4QlJp67KhbpaY_p4Xho9H9CrqLCTXkmD/s1600/65015_10151187237333722_1371084578_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjscIZk0PhEnlsaqeJjD_B7jDI_6wEUVJLfx6Sw_3_465VXqc1bEXwESADz_4Zmit7REEH3GjlsF837PHg4miOEQkn2u6uYnNW8HSmT6aYZ8h_t4QlJp67KhbpaY_p4Xho9H9CrqLCTXkmD/s400/65015_10151187237333722_1371084578_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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This is another skill I teach on the Forest School course, lashing and knot tying. For smaller children I sometimes give them elastic bands to hold sticks together with instead of tying knots. These stars do look great with a bit of extra festive foliage.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUg1hGbc_Q_yyJG3-oUD4i7O58RbuoMWo2ec8-YUgLe0Gf5-2oCw3oiMjrW0TSiEOJapC47M9V4QmiZp2uROyHwD-ie5-OrJdLFKHpnbREJm4bUBvaeaNiBKzatUYjpVCQEwbGAeSRL-d/s1600/6627_10151192602063722_1290476604_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitUg1hGbc_Q_yyJG3-oUD4i7O58RbuoMWo2ec8-YUgLe0Gf5-2oCw3oiMjrW0TSiEOJapC47M9V4QmiZp2uROyHwD-ie5-OrJdLFKHpnbREJm4bUBvaeaNiBKzatUYjpVCQEwbGAeSRL-d/s320/6627_10151192602063722_1290476604_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There was a thread about festive ideas on the FEI facebook page recently where I read the phrase 'elder candles' I found some red bramble leaves which inspired me to have a go at trying to work out what an elder candle would look like. The leaves stuck into the soft pith of the elder and with some of the bark peeled away they look quite effective. You could press the leaves to make them last longer.</div>
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I hope some of these ideas have inspired you to have a go at making something this winter. Look out for the next few advent crafts coming up. </div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-60407962754879994912012-11-28T11:46:00.001+00:002012-11-28T11:47:12.192+00:00Squirrel Fishing<div style="text-align: justify;">
I thought I'd share with you a little doodle I had in the last edition of the <a href="http://www.outdoor-learning.org/Default.aspx?tabid=336" target="_blank">Forest School Association </a>newsletter. This is based on something that happened with a group I was working with a few years ago. </div>
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When you follow the children's ideas you end up in very interesting places! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvdXm2W93DayuvPASUt0HazX7b-gcCTcnlPmMh04-yyhfMKp96XBaz-KTMUoabakgAOgAAdcVNndnHOPHqlcuH70Blr0RU8DStwFAo_BNHx9Y5cY_2F7DCH3Glp5_bs2TaxOraXOMVT7g/s1600/DSC_8731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="forest school, forest schools, outdoor play, nature, children" border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXvdXm2W93DayuvPASUt0HazX7b-gcCTcnlPmMh04-yyhfMKp96XBaz-KTMUoabakgAOgAAdcVNndnHOPHqlcuH70Blr0RU8DStwFAo_BNHx9Y5cY_2F7DCH3Glp5_bs2TaxOraXOMVT7g/s640/DSC_8731.jpg" title="Squirrel fishing" width="408" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-9071157219936007452012-11-18T17:25:00.002+00:002012-11-18T17:34:10.983+00:00Sweet treats; Baking in the woods<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Well-being is really important, especially if you are working outside all day in the cold and rain. So with that in mind I thought I would share with you some of my favourite outdoor cooking treats, suitable for a day on the woods or a Forest School. </div>
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You'll notice there are no times for any of these recipes, that's because fire baking isn't as consistent as using an oven. I've found the best guide is my nose. As soon as the smells start wafting, I start checking! </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSNps_EBJEfyYg59KdZX7sAOD5ZfeYAnP5nx7bZJsiHlTIm9_GYNePTd508GwZ9Txazn0g8KvzNeuiH93jgtZGWf8SbFKxp97L9e3GgdL6UNEz_d_Sc7YSoVVTeUrpzRVVX8MI57R8rWv/s1600/cardimg+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqSNps_EBJEfyYg59KdZX7sAOD5ZfeYAnP5nx7bZJsiHlTIm9_GYNePTd508GwZ9Txazn0g8KvzNeuiH93jgtZGWf8SbFKxp97L9e3GgdL6UNEz_d_Sc7YSoVVTeUrpzRVVX8MI57R8rWv/s640/cardimg+1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">The cake in the picture is cooked in a dutch oven, which is a big cast iron pot with a lid. The lid is designed so you can put embers on top and heat it from above. You don't need to have a special dutch oven, any pan that is suitable for the fire can be used with an oversize lid (to stop ash dropping in). One good tip is to turn the pan lid upside down. The lid then stops the small bits of embers falling off. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipbLd_dGh0A27CBfiwzajMG3DaIjNCPw3y4hyphenhyphenck1DIbikRXYvL0LtyZ0evFB9yr8bJSkeAX4sZdHOkA-_Pq4l0wek9cSvsdTqczymCE-190U1aUiHPyX73JFS2dixAhOMJHa2gQC-w_a2q/s1600/392459_10150869697968722_1362969602_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipbLd_dGh0A27CBfiwzajMG3DaIjNCPw3y4hyphenhyphenck1DIbikRXYvL0LtyZ0evFB9yr8bJSkeAX4sZdHOkA-_Pq4l0wek9cSvsdTqczymCE-190U1aUiHPyX73JFS2dixAhOMJHa2gQC-w_a2q/s320/392459_10150869697968722_1362969602_n.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: justify;">Heat the pan over a fire first to get the temperature up.<br /> This is just like heating the oven before you put a cake in. <br />Then put the embers on top with some small sticks to keep<br />the fire going. </span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUh_8t-Aq6NTrbleiXvA6IvXLt1d2DroxyWTpgvqfZ6JP7CgSJMMEhQHiLLNQYknWpaUDj9qU5UM4pRGWbEqURGGEbpI0EMSJMyTw9bzIhRY_hyphenhyphengQEPymx9k_OLZy-ZspzOFw1vWdnPZI/s1600/564346_10150869698598722_2069859119_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKUh_8t-Aq6NTrbleiXvA6IvXLt1d2DroxyWTpgvqfZ6JP7CgSJMMEhQHiLLNQYknWpaUDj9qU5UM4pRGWbEqURGGEbpI0EMSJMyTw9bzIhRY_hyphenhyphengQEPymx9k_OLZy-ZspzOFw1vWdnPZI/s400/564346_10150869698598722_2069859119_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One thing I'm gradually discovering is if you put all the heat from the top when<br />
baking you are less likely to burn the bottom. </td></tr>
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You can use this technique to bake any kind of cake, biscuit or bread. On a recent Kindling training course Cheryl and Belinda brought a ready made cake mix along to try that.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0zHoXnLm9gxAJWvoBkFo1u8XmKYpAFhakRSGUqVU-sEN-h__RSZygcc9B8OBk40nbcgl45IMb8_hJYOHCrGMETTc61fFRf9Cx7T5Cyi0o9RQODe2gY5G2zatU9_RgSU5WrookZwUxmo8/s1600/579648_10150869699258722_1352974762_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF0zHoXnLm9gxAJWvoBkFo1u8XmKYpAFhakRSGUqVU-sEN-h__RSZygcc9B8OBk40nbcgl45IMb8_hJYOHCrGMETTc61fFRf9Cx7T5Cyi0o9RQODe2gY5G2zatU9_RgSU5WrookZwUxmo8/s320/579648_10150869699258722_1352974762_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="color: #cccccc;">The result was really tasty! </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5LXadW4SGG-JJ3QoR5DyYwmeYwsug0PcrFBjzPxj3FKwsNKj_zpwcIyIlLl5pdEogeiKfNJGaSgxhkM_VgtArbkLZ664hAScaj0UYzmUbwlTEziKBOezGm7sbTS4pRg-XbSwhTYodrW2/s1600/551806_10150869699958722_1344574405_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh5LXadW4SGG-JJ3QoR5DyYwmeYwsug0PcrFBjzPxj3FKwsNKj_zpwcIyIlLl5pdEogeiKfNJGaSgxhkM_VgtArbkLZ664hAScaj0UYzmUbwlTEziKBOezGm7sbTS4pRg-XbSwhTYodrW2/s320/551806_10150869699958722_1344574405_n.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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Bannock: This is a very traditional way to make unyeasted bread and is very flexible recipe.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTceOC0u4givRh8lHC8BUSSQAtamUQanrQgE4iGYhcLPdJaiZ5z2v6H7HdGrAjf76UV9ZYRJ6nr5upR7tJ3oMYglcrjswX8Euc9ce95YSJ6gJCWxDYuAE50SCB3j91VBKlw-grKjNOVEKa/s1600/DSC_3104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="512" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTceOC0u4givRh8lHC8BUSSQAtamUQanrQgE4iGYhcLPdJaiZ5z2v6H7HdGrAjf76UV9ZYRJ6nr5upR7tJ3oMYglcrjswX8Euc9ce95YSJ6gJCWxDYuAE50SCB3j91VBKlw-grKjNOVEKa/s640/DSC_3104.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This bannock had buttermilk and egg in it which is what made it rise so well. <br />
Chris and Gerard baked this on a Kindling training course. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionnrsaUYLEw7t28g3LhpK24J884gk9PysrFFg1uSgIO64n5rsNVoHfq1usgACkceLJIafZO_kNVz3tlTYOpJZfnxYUOQPsgC-vZGRHIH5nfPj_q7qbDTLmayStF28E2PWBA8YwMgpvf2p/s1600/DSC_3108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionnrsaUYLEw7t28g3LhpK24J884gk9PysrFFg1uSgIO64n5rsNVoHfq1usgACkceLJIafZO_kNVz3tlTYOpJZfnxYUOQPsgC-vZGRHIH5nfPj_q7qbDTLmayStF28E2PWBA8YwMgpvf2p/s320/DSC_3108.jpg" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chris and Gerard</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec8Bx1F_Ke4eoXgm5nUDOoUGWi_SxOu2-F4mq4d6uALy1fCi9B9W_vtYN10gzGLBemQc4PBoaCpaMSLXfdBNy85j6zeUIb-Ug6g5uZYpfNX6fPzY-R4sNhSRXYQz7iWdcvbdM6gvFLSRX/s1600/307276_10150320098809232_420850956_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjec8Bx1F_Ke4eoXgm5nUDOoUGWi_SxOu2-F4mq4d6uALy1fCi9B9W_vtYN10gzGLBemQc4PBoaCpaMSLXfdBNy85j6zeUIb-Ug6g5uZYpfNX6fPzY-R4sNhSRXYQz7iWdcvbdM6gvFLSRX/s320/307276_10150320098809232_420850956_n.jpg" title="" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yeasted bread, <br />
sourdough baked in a dutch oven</td></tr>
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You can also bake without lugging pans around. I've been baking using hazel leaves to wrap a little bit of biscuit dough or cake mix and then pop the parcels onto a hot stone or pan for 10- 15 minutes or so. </div>
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This macaroon recipe also works really well cooked this way. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJ6IqjfIkESjyn4eTmDruc3_HWWrjzmdc2LKaRck1uD3gwNaSYHCNKggcHOjkyLAefna7yrr_vv0yUPXh4GMt3eu7rzY-kOI-MKgAC8x95nj34NJBuEDcY6x8gYQby6ZV1yMNbwP9B5uE/s1600/cardimg+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="390" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJ6IqjfIkESjyn4eTmDruc3_HWWrjzmdc2LKaRck1uD3gwNaSYHCNKggcHOjkyLAefna7yrr_vv0yUPXh4GMt3eu7rzY-kOI-MKgAC8x95nj34NJBuEDcY6x8gYQby6ZV1yMNbwP9B5uE/s640/cardimg+3.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXc_Z-Z3JNHLxrZvLfQAF4fDKeXA-ntQjoFqW45HCRTnIK2dq9_1AP4BAhnKD-7m82G4H0iN7KIkpFGNXdbUiZQ9a7U2D0Ktim80EZVMNqeIKyTC86uS31Zh7VCYZfIvDxhyphenhyphenAPcg2ssHe/s1600/DSC_8597.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXc_Z-Z3JNHLxrZvLfQAF4fDKeXA-ntQjoFqW45HCRTnIK2dq9_1AP4BAhnKD-7m82G4H0iN7KIkpFGNXdbUiZQ9a7U2D0Ktim80EZVMNqeIKyTC86uS31Zh7VCYZfIvDxhyphenhyphenAPcg2ssHe/s640/DSC_8597.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These leaves will be used to cook a bit of cookie dough</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9Uo8SvcIZqzsmB4vUZjTosbeBPoFgNARCJB-YBdgZMOA6rQh76gEWllmz9IkIa7K2_m3Y0kFBwhpkSYnD-S9CUq6kjzAIp0ezpCLnzh1RxeHrJDWg_jh78etVUJjNoJm74yAQSupG7jS/s1600/DSC_8600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht9Uo8SvcIZqzsmB4vUZjTosbeBPoFgNARCJB-YBdgZMOA6rQh76gEWllmz9IkIa7K2_m3Y0kFBwhpkSYnD-S9CUq6kjzAIp0ezpCLnzh1RxeHrJDWg_jh78etVUJjNoJm74yAQSupG7jS/s640/DSC_8600.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrap up like a little parcel, and with the ends tucked underneath,</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATOlz4NamJvQiowNI7ufXfSzZCayDKlGb5IiHR1-SSg7U6KRBZhfk7g-5XK3d9WdD9YsFuEtrGnixThlCM4eOMlwtfvi97e8OYjR7abHoWlp1FIjMjTBKw8umWunW3BFH51A3YN_gkNwR/s1600/DSC_7037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgATOlz4NamJvQiowNI7ufXfSzZCayDKlGb5IiHR1-SSg7U6KRBZhfk7g-5XK3d9WdD9YsFuEtrGnixThlCM4eOMlwtfvi97e8OYjR7abHoWlp1FIjMjTBKw8umWunW3BFH51A3YN_gkNwR/s640/DSC_7037.jpg" width="512" /></a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCj3w2KgFQ60Xh860GHDdzjmSpuPt15prAcX7WoHz0tOW3pnnjMTdEFzeIgds8ntRrmSSdwAlaJX0_bs7ryTTYA4yzukoTEXxSE_9Mi-4TP1SBO3fbqpdBx2bQFt7ar6O0sTxoN0GHHJz/s1600/DSC_8612.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyCj3w2KgFQ60Xh860GHDdzjmSpuPt15prAcX7WoHz0tOW3pnnjMTdEFzeIgds8ntRrmSSdwAlaJX0_bs7ryTTYA4yzukoTEXxSE_9Mi-4TP1SBO3fbqpdBx2bQFt7ar6O0sTxoN0GHHJz/s640/DSC_8612.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little cake bites wrapped in hazel leaves. Which is all edible.<br />
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You can also use foil for baking instead of leaves but I'm trying to find natural alternatives to foil because of the number of times I have found a nice fire place to cook in and someone has left it full of half burnt aluminium foil. But that said here is another classic outdoor on a fire baking trick. Chocolate pudding in an orange.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEqiRN6EoIZVHuUfluzkFnQ6p_7NRFTwlvtgq3py09yTqa0A31mTB0ZF79LLBVtBWyvTCmAXjpROCqR-aFFNQIEhdcY1FPZDIjKfHQtLc1Jyu-sVxLEuWegAxraovbnno-a49uDKe0pXM/s1600/DSC_3148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLEqiRN6EoIZVHuUfluzkFnQ6p_7NRFTwlvtgq3py09yTqa0A31mTB0ZF79LLBVtBWyvTCmAXjpROCqR-aFFNQIEhdcY1FPZDIjKfHQtLc1Jyu-sVxLEuWegAxraovbnno-a49uDKe0pXM/s640/DSC_3148.jpg" width="424" /></a></div>
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This pudding is pretty simple. Cut the top of the orange off and scoop out all the flesh. Half fill the empty shell with a regular cake mix, I think chocolate cake mix works well. Cook in the embers until those smells start wafting! </div>
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Yum! all these treats are making me peckish. I'd better go and chop some wood for the fire so I can really work up an appetite!<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Recipe cards made at http://www.blyberg.net/card-generator/</span></h4>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-72091397865984958962012-10-30T23:01:00.000+00:002012-10-31T08:47:35.844+00:00Bridge that gapI've written before about building <a href="http://kindlingplayandtraining.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/building-bridges_3545.html" target="_blank">rope bridges</a> among the trees and how fantastic they are for children's motor development, encouraging social skills and confidence and being loads of fun.<br />
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What I have also found is that adults who work with children are equally as fascinated and enjoy learning the skills of tying the knots. I thought I would leave some notes here for a refresher for anyone who needs it (you know who you are :) and to maybe inspire you to have a try at tying rope bridges if you haven't yet.<br />
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I'll put in links to animated knot videos and drawings to help you along if you need it, but here's the thing about knots, some people learn by watching, some people learn by listening, some just have to have a bit of string and be shown. That's the way different people learn and it doesn't mean one way is better.<br />
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Trees: you want to tie ropes from trees that are solid and secure. Give them a good look over, lean against them and look up noticing if they move too much when you put weight against them. Check there are no dead branches in the crown of the tree that could show a weakness or cause problems. Choose trees that are a good size, not so massive that all your rope gets used up tying on to them but big enough.<br />
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Protection: If you are going to leave them up and the tree are smooth skinned like beech or young ash trees etc then put something like carpet or thick fabric under the ropes to protect the bark.<br />
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Rope: I use 10ml (or thicker) polyprop rope. It's that cheapish blue stuff. Climbing rope can be too stretchy unless you have static climbing rope.<br />
For length go for two pieces that are as long as a piece of string (!). Mine are about 10 metres each.<br />
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Once the children are interested in the idea I encourage them to be fully involved in tying the bridges, taking over completely after the first couple of times with my help. The older children tend to make them more challenging, going up slopes or with non-parallel lines.<br />
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Tying the knots: First end is wrapped around the tree three or four times. Tie with a <a href="http://www.animatedknots.com/roundturn/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com" target="_blank">couple of half hitches</a>. The turns around the tree take the pressure off the knot<br />
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Wrap the second end of the rope around another tree, leaving a long long tail. go around the tree once and pull it tight "heave, heave etc", I love getting the children involved at this stage, it takes much longer this way but is so much more fun and they definitely use the bridges more if they have built them.<br />
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The working end of the rope then goes over the top of the standing end and back round the tree in the opposite direction.<br />
This is quite heard to type how to do this bit, so I have done a couple of doodles that may (or may not) help.<br />
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This end of the rope is tied to another tree.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;"> This end of the rope is doing all the work.</span></td></tr>
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margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0bAZ0KsSt6WUoOjij9nS69L7cFgjM57id9hV3JEN14g67zIjA2EAwicORu03dJjAtW44Fx4Dl1eyMJalev7LWnkCmJ6xBKj-RKC2wLzHLfH0-ZhPzaLHliUcbAJRVZY21p8ETmzjk9sW/s1600/rope+3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a>Repeat this 3-4 times so the rope is pulled tighter each time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtiO5r8Z4uSJ3eb6j9IRaHdjHq5TtizTT8cpLaVg0K7C8Yl1WAxaHhWER8ZfOERVCKQrTIVGGDC6lQgYa9KR00NPfxRJltlzaqWFd3iyr8q2jzusesXwOE4v-VASkqLAt1438daIKcebg/s1600/rope+3.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtiO5r8Z4uSJ3eb6j9IRaHdjHq5TtizTT8cpLaVg0K7C8Yl1WAxaHhWER8ZfOERVCKQrTIVGGDC6lQgYa9KR00NPfxRJltlzaqWFd3iyr8q2jzusesXwOE4v-VASkqLAt1438daIKcebg/s320/rope+3.gif" width="320" /></a><br />
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T<span style="text-align: right;">he zig zagging of each turn, pulled really tight, with more of the "heave, heave" shortens the rope. It is this </span><span style="text-align: right;">which pulls it tight.</span><br />
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With the end of the rope, wrap it round and round in a twizzly <a href="http://www.animatedknots.com/timber/index.php?Categ=scouting&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com" target="_blank">timber hitch</a>. This stops it over-tightening and is why you need to make sure you have a long long tail on your rope. If you haven't got a long end on the rope then a couple of<a href="http://www.animatedknots.com/roundturn/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com" target="_blank"> half hitches</a> works well but can get a bit fiddly to untie<br />
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Repeat with the second rope, about a child's height above the first rope. They don't need to be far of the ground to be challenging and the wobbliness adds to the physical challenge. <br />
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<a href="http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/196799_10150110920833722_478188_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://sphotos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/196799_10150110920833722_478188_n.jpg" width="233" /></a><br />
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Let me know how you get on! </div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-89673675782243666282012-10-16T09:07:00.000+01:002012-10-16T12:13:17.720+01:00What happens in Forest SchoolThere are some projects that really stay with you. I worked with Brudenell Primary School in Leeds for over two years, helping them embed Forest School into their curriculum, and providing training and support.<br />
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I also ran lots of Forest School programmes with classes across the school from reception through to year 5.At the end of term the school go together to the local cinema and put on a film of the year's highlights. I put together a film of the Forest School projects, which I thought I'd share with you too.<br />
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It reminds me of the stories that emerged, the children and their journeys behind the vignettes.<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TudeqsUy9cY" target="_blank">Watch the video on youtube</a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1865577639193802475.post-8440074469965615042012-10-11T10:50:00.000+01:002012-10-11T11:42:51.672+01:00Reflections on moving from survival to thrivalI have recently come back from a month long trip deep into the wilderness in NW Ontario, Canada. Which almost explains how quiet I have been here recently. It has been a lot to process.<br />
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I have talked before about how I the work I do encourages <a href="http://kindlingplayandtraining.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/comfort-challenge-fear.html" target="_blank">children to challenge themselves</a> and as an adult who supports that then I should be doing the same. But this trip was more than personal challenge (although there were days like that) It was an opportunity to deeply immerse ourselves in nature, to take things at our own pace for weeks at a time and to adjust our rhythms to those of the world rather than the clock.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise from our camp on West bay. <br />
Photo Tim Rowe</td></tr>
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My partner and I packed three weeks worth of food into our packs, travelled to a remote little outfitting town just north of the <a href="http://www.ontarioparks.com/english/quet.html" target="_blank">Quetico Wilderness Park</a> where we picked up a canoe and then quietly slipped off into the woods and lakes for three weeks paddling, portaging and a change of pace. It's the second time we have been to the boundary waters wilderness and with over a million acres of lakes and forest with no roads or houses, there is a lot to take in.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-_uNhVaibXJVswSBn8BVFF31YflRAEw3I4fom4VlJhJBlsZ5mtGxRDBwd_dU-hq7YhwCYC454y4SlZBca-v9AewpMsvpHwvzUOgvIkx3DvA-tdwpZhEkbIuMf_5GH0PKzcNRxIzdpbMw/s1600/DSC_5566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEih-_uNhVaibXJVswSBn8BVFF31YflRAEw3I4fom4VlJhJBlsZ5mtGxRDBwd_dU-hq7YhwCYC454y4SlZBca-v9AewpMsvpHwvzUOgvIkx3DvA-tdwpZhEkbIuMf_5GH0PKzcNRxIzdpbMw/s640/DSC_5566.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from under the canoe, walking a portage trail between two lakes.<br />
Photo Tim Rowe</td></tr>
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This trip was different though, I was trying to explain it to a friend and said "we moved from survival to thrival" I had made up a new word, I admit it. But that sense of moving from just coping and surviving to something greater, I needed a word that described a concept just right. As with all the best things I found that someone else had also come to <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=thrival&aq=0&oq=thrival&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">the same realisation.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihk84ocJoiNPmsmPQv7T_tL6Jvz0h8qLm9IiDYwYIOkFcXSKCvGAEEmqQaGuv0GpeFnwU9TlIwY9_xxh57rumOFJznPOcI-_vZe3v7BB1XjWpf5AR5FlquvA-QFTBKHUiZKuT98pG95NBW/s1600/DSC_6054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihk84ocJoiNPmsmPQv7T_tL6Jvz0h8qLm9IiDYwYIOkFcXSKCvGAEEmqQaGuv0GpeFnwU9TlIwY9_xxh57rumOFJznPOcI-_vZe3v7BB1XjWpf5AR5FlquvA-QFTBKHUiZKuT98pG95NBW/s640/DSC_6054.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early morning paddling. My partner makes <a href="http://edenwoodpaddles.co.uk/" target="_blank">these paddles.</a></td></tr>
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One of the key things for me that felt different was our desire to create and how much time we gave to making things. Carving a sculpture from an interesting bit of firewood, making a spoon from a beaver felled greenwood branch, baking... lots of baking, fresh bread and cake every few days and firing our own pottery.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDDlNZVDdbinVL8bO5UtXbvxro4d78jQvNz1vHmSt9fMrcOGAk3g9rxnmvcgL6_jKJW-eBOlMgK31r4HKbxMigXQny2nyDaHdOHGAkgmEEWYJwEmrcF-Q53wQV7gxWMpx7U7FUm8WoOn3/s1600/DSC_6462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglDDlNZVDdbinVL8bO5UtXbvxro4d78jQvNz1vHmSt9fMrcOGAk3g9rxnmvcgL6_jKJW-eBOlMgK31r4HKbxMigXQny2nyDaHdOHGAkgmEEWYJwEmrcF-Q53wQV7gxWMpx7U7FUm8WoOn3/s640/DSC_6462.JPG" width="424" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carving a spoon</td></tr>
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We had been told to watch out for one particular trail between two lakes as it was deep clay and it becomes very difficult to walk across if it has been raining. Inspired by sculptures we had seen in the Museum of Inuit Art in Toronto the thought of a cache of deep clay lured us in that direction.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN__cjpiJzQrgX8iCUBujMmHHGLh4of9CMUQ9IYwm6Uceuqj1Y6Dr-tdQMU8lTlT1-mCwKqu_eKXPttNuMhC6Z3JOPLz_wvqSw-hgdZR-K7Wo1MwdASMt9IvgFhmIPJZjD_9qIkCkUrzQd/s1600/DSC_6230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN__cjpiJzQrgX8iCUBujMmHHGLh4of9CMUQ9IYwm6Uceuqj1Y6Dr-tdQMU8lTlT1-mCwKqu_eKXPttNuMhC6Z3JOPLz_wvqSw-hgdZR-K7Wo1MwdASMt9IvgFhmIPJZjD_9qIkCkUrzQd/s400/DSC_6230.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Digging clay from the side of a trail</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeSfEEwCIAI5Op8m05Vbn4ArqvODKk7DUGhljqqEfQSDNZKIBYQdHw9YR0hMqXtL2i8Tu3vG5_2qw9g-SoG2VZaxONet1baMslNPMib1b8L9L7_f7zA2vqxyKt4k6-dUjaqF_B_WY8d-r/s1600/DSC_6360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWeSfEEwCIAI5Op8m05Vbn4ArqvODKk7DUGhljqqEfQSDNZKIBYQdHw9YR0hMqXtL2i8Tu3vG5_2qw9g-SoG2VZaxONet1baMslNPMib1b8L9L7_f7zA2vqxyKt4k6-dUjaqF_B_WY8d-r/s400/DSC_6360.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shaping the clay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdnOC2pKy_zxFK4JF_rLCpRAmobW_kIHEZCB5IbbNIHuyOCdsEVWBWI0gb6gPmJfMiPrDHg3fJF063BcubuOiXnSJGvNgNJ-0La0u8_axt03hiTCFds3vH8ozrYzl5qWoLfQZKFyw0P8a/s1600/DSC_6364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUdnOC2pKy_zxFK4JF_rLCpRAmobW_kIHEZCB5IbbNIHuyOCdsEVWBWI0gb6gPmJfMiPrDHg3fJF063BcubuOiXnSJGvNgNJ-0La0u8_axt03hiTCFds3vH8ozrYzl5qWoLfQZKFyw0P8a/s400/DSC_6364.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These birds were based on the loons that were often found <br />
swimming around us on the lakes</td></tr>
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I have read quite a lot about pit kiln firing and tried a few experiments but we didn't want to make the impact in the environment of digging a pit. So we gradually heated the dried clay things by the fire, bringing them closer and closer to the ember bed, then putting them in the embers. This took about half and hour.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1x1roFCUcSTh9fQ_K1Lz9XN38iMckvVnT37SplUCSF31BrW0nENGro_oQwPSHjhyfWBB3hz7SymY4fDQfGyQ65LXMYLtipVtVQuvuIkxIxiU309C_Ib3Ca3lTCtKxPRCL6-lfqlXp6fNm/s1600/DSC_6631.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1x1roFCUcSTh9fQ_K1Lz9XN38iMckvVnT37SplUCSF31BrW0nENGro_oQwPSHjhyfWBB3hz7SymY4fDQfGyQ65LXMYLtipVtVQuvuIkxIxiU309C_Ib3Ca3lTCtKxPRCL6-lfqlXp6fNm/s400/DSC_6631.JPG" width="265" /></a></div>
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First we added fine twigs and pine needles to the embers to bring the level of heat and cover the clay things, adding bigger and bigger twigs until they were covered and a small fire was burning. </div>
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We added larger pine, birch and conifer twigs until the fire burned really hot. This took another half hour or so and even though the temptation and the heat was unbearable we kept the fire burning at a high temperature for another half an hour. We could see everything glowing red in the fire. Despite wanting to peek we let everything cool down slowly before raking the coals aside to reveal our hoard.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKOXunA23j8bofrZR-9Re19FP8m35qWqv_LeX5IJSIfrYN-Z6irNoZZNCDnOyeAfZz2qXRkvJK7u_Q0QHPa-48Gd9R2ozDXS4R_MZS_K4aW_vaDr3zvjQ6EC1JvJTmayAofXWB3w5wr8g/s1600/DSC_6652.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYKOXunA23j8bofrZR-9Re19FP8m35qWqv_LeX5IJSIfrYN-Z6irNoZZNCDnOyeAfZz2qXRkvJK7u_Q0QHPa-48Gd9R2ozDXS4R_MZS_K4aW_vaDr3zvjQ6EC1JvJTmayAofXWB3w5wr8g/s400/DSC_6652.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Uncovering the fired clay</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4v1PiUfzn1IR6ul74A_c6XAhMcswwutbmxZz47XG5rYC6vrU3HorvqA2U_wUMQAEcLSElmnVjpaxhWffNLIACRVVId3owBv3AhXnpGm5tlPm1uIhisZUGlc0EgNX7xHi0wlquU1rPW74J/s1600/DSC_6770.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4v1PiUfzn1IR6ul74A_c6XAhMcswwutbmxZz47XG5rYC6vrU3HorvqA2U_wUMQAEcLSElmnVjpaxhWffNLIACRVVId3owBv3AhXnpGm5tlPm1uIhisZUGlc0EgNX7xHi0wlquU1rPW74J/s640/DSC_6770.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our haul of clay fired goods</td></tr>
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When Maslow talks about <span style="font-family: inherit;">creativity he talks about self actualisation; "the full use and exploitation of talents, capacities, potentialities" and that these emerge when </span>physiological<span style="font-family: inherit;"> and safety needs are met. Having experienced the environment and challenge once we were able to find new </span>potentialities<span style="font-family: inherit;"> in that </span>environment and in ourselves<span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Through our experience of thrival I feel like I have managed to empty all the accumulated clutter or everyday experience, strip things back a bit, get a bit </span>of the rawness back in, push myself, to laugh when I have been dragging a canoe all day through an impassable swamp that looks like a river on the map, enjoy, immerse in nature and take time to be. Oh yes that's why I do it.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7d5ava3j3KVAMVK8ZPChIuEwt-8Q3kT2rYIpHjJGUbUcmS5MsybGDl51qFAV9GQV-CmbTtfBXboaR8ACW5zUfZCWR9xIdXHAgesEYGqnfb6WhLpSjgJa0sbJ-F9f2h8Gjfe4RwmoFvvxZ/s1600/DSC_6760.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7d5ava3j3KVAMVK8ZPChIuEwt-8Q3kT2rYIpHjJGUbUcmS5MsybGDl51qFAV9GQV-CmbTtfBXboaR8ACW5zUfZCWR9xIdXHAgesEYGqnfb6WhLpSjgJa0sbJ-F9f2h8Gjfe4RwmoFvvxZ/s400/DSC_6760.JPG" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My new Quetico clay necklace</td></tr>
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