‘Why do our walks always end in disaster?’ asked one of our little’uns as the sky opened on a recent walk at the Arlington Reservoir, Sussex.
We were starting to wonder the same thing when this outburst was then followed by a momentary melt down from the smallest member of our group….but as the moody sky got moodier, the landscape started to perform for us; What was living in the haunted bird house? Which creature was stirring the grasses every time we moved and just how many spooky tree hands could be spotted high above us? The wind and rain began adding to our adventure – a wonderful way to spend a soggy Saturday afternoon!
In stark contrast a week later we were discovering the beautiful Otterford Lakes walk in Somerset. On a perfect crisp and sunny winter’s day, a large group of little adventurers led the way thrilled by the fantastic potential of climbing huge earth walls, hide and seeking in the fern covered woodlands and balancing on natural log bridges over the waterways….us grown ups struggling to keep up with their pace….only locating their positions through their giggling and squeals of delight. Happy days….
As landscape gardeners we love being outside with our family and friends and getting inspired by what’s around us, we are also very lucky to be surrounded by the absolute beauty of the South Downs. There is no denying, it can sometimes be a struggle to get our little ones to whole heartedly adopt this approach with us!!! This is especially true when there are so many other distractions for them to engross themselves in……mostly screen based if truth were to be told. But it is when we are outside walking, talking, hiding, collecting and adventuring that our most special memories are made. It is because of these times that the best stories are imagined, exaggerated and re told and it is these times that inspire the best pictures, the best models, the most amount of giggles….. these are the memories we cherish the most from our childhood, these were the memories that were really influential in directing us to what we do and love doing now….
Project Wild Thing is a movement started by film maker David Bond with a mission to reconnect kid’s with nature, it has fantastic website filled with some great film shorts to inspire and stimulate debate. We highly recommend the WildTime Ideas section, which members can add to and which lists a real diversity of ideas for things to do with your kids outside. Activities ranging from pooh sticks, mud kitchen building to creating environmental art….activities are listed in useful time slots of 10 minutes, 30 minutes to hour long adventures…! Hope you enjoy and we wish you lots of wild time fun….
