This afternoon I spent some time in the woods introducing my son Finlay and his friend William into the intricacies of shelter building (a post will follow on this).
We did have fun building the shelter however it was not free fun. I let the lads zoom off into the woods (I am still hobbling along) only to find them as usual at their favourite perch.
A favourite perch
This perch is all that remains of the root system of a fallen tree. It looks horrifying with all these spikes but they know only to climb up and down it from the back where it is smooth. I thought it looked rather lovely today in amongst all the bluebells.
They had decided for tonights activities to visit Morgaston Woods near The Vyne National Trust property to explore the area, discuss the idea of self reflection and of course – toast a marshmallow or three.
I tagged along as an interested parent and also to meet the boys as I will be working with them next week.
Reflection at Morgaston Wood
The Beavers split up into about five different groups and chatted about what they themselves felt they had to be thankful for in life. Once they had decided they wrote their thoughts on a tag and hung them of a line to swing in the breeze.
I found the whole process quite relaxing, fun and crucially quite mentally stimulating – I too had to take part 🙂
Messages in the wind
A fire was lit in a tray and I managed to catch the initial flare as all the kindling went up – made for quite a flame. The flames soon died down and after a little while (a story was read about pigs and poo – laughed too much to understand what it was all about) everyone got on with the serious business of marshmallow toasting.
Marshmallow time
There was time for a bit of daft fun in the lean too shelters while we were heading home.
The lock up
As we drove Finlay’s friend William home we spotted some Poppies growing on the roadside – could not pass up the opportunity for one more picture.
A Poppy find on the way home
I liked tonight as I did not have to think about what to do and the Beavers were an excellent and well behaved bunch.
I am looking forward to working with them next Monday with a spot of survival training.
