bushcraft & bonding

Flora and I have had the most fabulous day, learning basic bushcraft skills in the stunning surroundings of the Earth Trust Centre in Oxfordshire.

We learned how to build forest shelters, allegedly warm enough to spend the night in, using a design based on a squirrel's drey. 

 

 

Thankfully I think the chances of us ever getting lost in the wilderness are pretty slim, so I don't think we'll be trying out an overnight stay any time soon, but it made an excellent den for hiding in.

 

There were then plenty of fun and games including log-balancing and camouflage hide and seek.

We were then taught how to light fires using a firesteel, a dried up fungus and a handful of dry grass.

Once the fire was going we used hazel sticks to make cooking equipment

and made rather strange hotdog-type things by wrapping sausages and cheese in bannock bread dough.

Despite their dubious appearance, they were actually very tasty!

The course was a full-on five hours and we were both exhausted by the end of the day. It was so nice for the two of us to be learning things together and I honestly think it did us both the world of good. Flora had the greatest time running around, letting her hair down, whilst still being sensible and responsible for her's and others' safety. 

 

And I really learned to relax my usually rather over-protective parenting and trust her to take informed risks, even though part of me was screaming inside- "eeeek my child is somewhere camouflaged in the woods and I haven't a clue where she is", "aaarrgh my six year old has just been given a humongous sharp knife" or "eeeeeep my baby is holding a ball of flaming hay". But I suppose that's really a big thing that's so wrong with the way we (myself totally included) tend to parent our children these days- not allowing them out of our sight, preventing them from taking risks and thus failing to teach them to think about safety issues for themselves or develop basic common sense. 

I now am resolved to really trying to rein this part of my parenting in somewhat and allow the girls to be more adventurous- to run that little bit further on in front than I'm fully comfortable with, to climb a tree that little bit higher and to be out of view for more than one minute in the soft play frame!

Pass me the valium...