I’m pleased to announce that I will be running sessions in bushcraft for children starting in September. Having taught for several years in Portugal and upon the request of my children I will be running sessions on a Saturday afternoon. The 3hr sessions will be held outside at Polanguy farm and in the woods and will include lots of practical learning, check-ins, nature awareness, bushcraft and survival skills, craft, games, challenges, music, story-telling and lots of fun. Initially the classes will be for school years 7 and above with one class for years 7 and 8 and another for 9 and above.
Many of the skills we learn in bushcraft are missing from mainstream school education, even though they can be valuable throughout life. While some techniques may not be directly used in modern living, the confidence and dexterity they build are absolutely transferable.
Learning how to start a fire with a bow drill and spend a night outdoors—without relying on the comforts of modern camping equipment—can be a life-changing experience. It teaches self-reliance, patience, and problem-solving in a real-world setting.
The programme will focus on practical bushcraft skills, but it will also strengthen internal qualities such as resilience and teamwork. Above all, I aim to help the children develop a deeper appreciation for the wonder of nature.
By the end of the year I expect to see the children:-
- Confident in fire lighting without matches
- Able to cook on the fire
- Able to put up various types of shelters
- Have a good knowledge of the local flora and fauna
- Be able to recognise edible plants
- Know how to make baskets, camp furniture and natural cordage
- Have increased confidence in working in a team to solve problems
- Feel confident to participate in group storytelling and music making around the fire
Dates
Term 1
Sept – 5th, 19th, Oct 3rd, Oct 17th
Nov 7th, Nov 21st, Dec 5th
Term 2
Jan 9th, 23rd, Feb 6th
Feb 27th, March 13th, 27th ?
Term 3
April 17th, May 1st, 15th, 29th
June 19th, July 3rd, July 17th
The sessions will run for the academic year and will cover some, not all, of these subjects and skills, some of them may come in following years.
Fire making
- Reasons for needing fire
- How to collect good fire wood
- Types of tree / wood
- When dry
- When wet
- When it’s raining
- The physics of fire – the 3 things the fire needs
- Fire-lighting with fire lighter and match
- Making firelighters
- Tinder bundles
- Fire-lighting with a striker
- Iron and flint
- Magnesium block
- Magnifying glass
- Bow drill
- Cooking, bread, soup, on sticks in ashes
- Upside down fire
- Slow burn fires
- Feeders
- Self feeding fires
Shelter
- Something to sit on
- Choosing your spot
- Tarps, ways to put up
- Knots
- Bed making
- Hammocks
- Tents
- Lean-to shelters
- Free standing shelters
- Scout shelter
- Buried hot rocks
- Keeping warm
- No sleeping bag
Craft
- Whittling
- Spoon, making
- Bow and arrow making
- Weaving
- Spinning
- Peg loom
- Basket making
- Camp furniture
- Carving
- Black smithing
- Pottery
- Sewing
- Knitting, crotchet
- Carpentry
- Charcoal
- Fire lighters
- Char cloth
- Cordage
Navigation
- Using a map
- Orienteering with a compass
- Finding North without a compass
Food
- Plant knowledge names
- Edible plants, rules
- Herbal medicine
- Being with a tree
- Talking to a tree
- Cooking
Animals
- Birds
- Sounds, sights
- Insects
- 4 legged
- Water creatures
- Observation
- What can we learn
Nature awareness
- Listening to nature
- Being aware
- Being in silence for specific length of time
- Being alone
- Being with nature
- Cycles, seasons what we learn
- Observe same tree all seasons,
- Befriend a tree, write things down
- Circle sharing of awareness
- Being aware of feelings, thoughts
- How to calm down
- Being out in the rain, in a storm, the wind
- Imagination
Team building and relational skills
- Group activities
- Challenges
- Circle sharing
- Looking out for each other
- Taking turns leading and following
- Trust building exercises
- Story telling
- Games
- Stealth. Silence
- Awareness of others
- Exercise running
- Mental games
- Intuition building
- Music
- Songs
- Make instruments
- Playing music together
- Invent songs together
- Dancing
- Story telling
Rites of passage
As a part of the culture of the group we will celebrate moments of learning and passing through challenges.
Bottom line
I’m not the expert we are learning together, nature is our teacher, I’m here to facilitate the children’s learning and intend to create a culture that is supportive, loving, kind, open, where vulnerability is ok, ideas are good, where we have lots of fun, are creative, silly and daring.
Let’s create moments that we will remember for the rest of our lives….
Cost £15 per child per session
If you’d like your child to participate contact me on 07490385302