The first day of the 365 Day Nature Play Challenge. It’s stormy, cold and rainy… so we play with sticks and make what I would call a den but B calls a stick igloo.
365 – Day one: the Stick Igloo
Wednesday 1 January. Stormy! 11°C
Of course, the new year started with a storm! This was totally inevitable.
Me: So we’re starting the challenge today! But the weathers rubbish. It’s going to be windy in the morning and rainy in the afternoon… which do you want to go out in?
B: Rain.
Me: Seriously?
B: Definitely.
Fair enough. I suspect it was more that afternoon was more attractive than morning. So, after lunch we put on our coats and went outside into the storm which, as forecast, was by then less windy but very wet. Across the road from my mum’s flat is a bit of grass where a beautiful huge tree grows. It had recently been cut back and there was a large amount of thin long sticks around. Idea sorted. Felt right to start the year with a classic!
When B was little, she loved sticks. I remember her finding a giant five-foot bit of tree when she was about three and refusing to be separated from it till I proved to her it could not go in the car. Now she’s a bit more analytical.
Me: Look at this one. It’s so tall.
B: Yeah whatever.
Me: And look, someone’s thrown them in to the tree, we could do that?
B: No, I’m going to make a stick igloo.
I remember when my ideas were appreciated but heigh ho. Stick igloo it was. I was delegated to fetch sticks and B used her school acquired den making skills to make a small but sturdy den ‘igloo’. After half an hour I realised we are going to need to pay more attention to outdoor clothing. We had no gloves and her hands were freezing by the end. Also, her trainers got very muddy which she wasn’t happy about. She liked the dirty footsteps they made though.
Afterwards it occurs to me to google how to make dens and I find this fantastic blog by the Woodland Trust. We will definitely return to this idea in better weather! I’m impressed with B’s knowledge already. Her school nature trip a couple of years ago has obviously stayed with her. She was very confident on her structuring.
So how do I think the first day went? It was great actually. It took quite a bit of effort to get us out there but we definitely ended up doing something we wouldn’t have done without the challenge and we both really enjoyed it. We were still giggling about our muddy footprints the next day. I definitely need to keep an eye on what we’re wearing and how we’re equipped. We’re not used to doing these sort of things when it’s cold but it was fun and with a good pair of gloves we’d probably have stayed out a bit longer.
