What is bushcraft? It is being able to use the resources in nature that are all around us to survive in the great outdoors. Children learn these skills through doing practical outdoor tasks and taking risks. Nature crafts are a great fun way to develop bushcraft skills, so I have written about a few here. There are many benefits to nature play, but I feel one of the most important is it allowing a connection to be made between children and nature.
5 Nature Crafts:
- Sticky Nature Cards: This is one the nature crafts that can be adapted to suit the age group involved, and therefore varying the learning outcomes. With the younger children you can use them to sort colours. Other ideas involve using them as a journey picture. A record of a hike you are doing or something similar. Or you can make it a record of the season you are in and then compare to other or future seasons.
- Whittling: This is one of the more exciting nature crafts in the children eyes, as they get to use a knife. Start with simple items, such as sharpening sticks or making feathered sticks for kindling. They can then use the feathered sticks on the campfire and see their efforts being put to good use.
- Willow Weaving: Willow is great as it will generally bend in the direction the child would like it go quite easily. Keeping it simple you could make a hanging decoration or a crown.
- Wild Weaving:. This craft can be done on a small scale or large scale. Different seasons give different results so it is a fun thing to try in all four seasons.
- Nature Boats: Use resources around you to make little rafts and then see if they can float on some water. Make sure any water play is supervised and safe. You can even try a toy aboard it and take it on an adventure.
These nature crafts are a great way of getting the benefits of outdoor play. They are also fun and the children are learning many things while doing them.
Comments 17
These are fantastic ideas. We need to do more nature based crafts. The boats sound like a fun activity.
Author
Mine like doing those boats too when we are out hiking and take a meal break 🙂
What a lovely idea. Erin loves to be outside so I think she’d like to make pictures out of things we find.
Author
Mine like making collages from their finds as well
these are lovely ideas! Especially making the boats and the weaving. I’m definitely going to try out the boats with my little one.
Author
The boats are great fun especially with a little play people aboard for the adventure
So many fantastic and inspiring ideas here! I think my daughter would love building nature boats and it would be so educational for her too 🙂
Author
It does make them think why it is sinking if it does not float. Although it is usually mine that goes to the bottom!!
Whittling is such fun and you are right, it is good to let the kids use a knife. They are all more confident than we’d imagine. All of these are great ideas.
Author
Thankyou! Our three love using the knife, one of their favourite activities by the fire pit while dinner cooks
These are great ideas! We love wild weaving too, though I’ve never tried willow weaving.
Author
Willow is so easy for the time hands to shape so it is a lot of fun for them
Until today i didn’t know about Bushcraft, thanks for this, we love letting the kids learn in the great outdoors and take risks.
Author
Very useful skills to have, but fun ways to learn them!
I love willow weaving. We made baskets when I was at primary school, and I’ve still got mine 40 years later … my children didn’t do anything like it unfortunately 🙁
These are great ideas. I love the willow weaving.
Author
It is a good skill for them to have