Shelter making in the woods

Day two of our #30DaysWild is all about building a shelter or den in the woods!

We went over to Tatton Park in Cheshire to attend the Geronimo Festival that was held there. We had an amazing time and the boys were exhausted when we left.

The highlight of their day though was heading into the woods to build a proper den from scratch. The area was being looked after by a company called ATE Superweeks who were just lovely, and on hand to help anyone who wasn’t sure how to go about starting their own shelter.

Luckily for our boys, Daddy is something of a nature enthusiast and so they got stuck right into making their A frame shelter.

Starting with some ‘Y’ shaped branches (always use fallen branches and twigs – never break them off the tree unless you’re actually fighting for real survival!) they created an apex, sinking the branches into the ground slightly and positioning them so they were as sturdy as possible. These served as a support for one long straight branch, making the basic frame for the shelter.

Once the basic frame was made, the boys spent a long time using smaller twigs to make ‘walls’ for their den (a great shape sorting exercise for little ones and good for teaching the older ones a little bit about patience and determination).

The sense of achievement and satisfaction the boys got out of this was just wonderful. They really didn’t want to leave their den when it was finished, but were happy at the thought of someone else being able to come along and admire it – and even be inspired to make a similar one.

Once the sides were filled with twigs, the boys covered their shelter with dried and freshly fallen leaves and small twigs, and completed their creation with large, long branches on either side and in front of the entrance.

All in all, the boys and Ted made their shelter in around an hour and a half. They came away from the woods happy, satisfied and with a hole in one of their trousers but really very pleased with themselves!

While Daddy tested out their handiwork, one of the ATE Superweeks team came along and played some games with the boys, which they loved, but not as much as they loved showing him their shelter!