101 ideas for woodchips & elfins woodchip...101 ideas for woodchips & elfins mexican eyes 2...
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101 Ideas for Woodchips & ElfinsMexican Eyes
2 sticks
Wool
Bind together
Wind a diagonal pattern
Dream catchers
A green/ bendy twig
Make a circle
Add wool
Add decorations
Journey sticks
A stick, some wool
Go for a walk – wind findings onto stick
Use stick to tell story!
Welly Walk
Boots + double sided tape
Tape onto wellies...
Stick things on or just see what sticks!
Mud heads
A stick
Clay for head
Woodland bits
A play?
Sticky crowns
Cardboard crown shapes
Double sided tape
Walk with crown, stick woodland bits on it.
Leaf strings
Knot string to stick
Sticky tape other end to a point
Collect and thread leaves
Leaf bag
Nature detectives leaf identification bag
http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/download/bag_leaves.htm
Bark and Leaf rubbings
Leaf art
Lardy bird treats
Squelch up lard with seeds & nuts
Pierce yoghurt pots in base and string up
Squeeze lardy mix into pots
Bug Hotel
Bricks/ drawers/ crates
Bamboo canes
Leaves, twigs, nut shells
A quiet spot
Charcoal pencils
Peel the bark of a stick
(potato peeler works)
Stick the end in the embers of a fire for a minute or so.
Take out and draw (don't burn yourself!)
Bottle birds (take a bit of preparing)
Clean plastic bottles. Make 2 slits for wings. Make a hole for hanging string. Cut wings from thick card (check fit). Make beaks from coloured paper semi circles (like mini-witches hats)
Glue. Feathers. Glitter. Bits and Bobs. Permanent pens. Long ribbons. String for hanging. Small sticks for end of string inside bottle.
Assemble!
Elder beads (older children)
Cut some fresh elder
Cut to bead size (hack saws, saws or secateurs – one to one, watch those little fingers please)
Use skewers, tent pegs and sticks to poke out the pith.
Thread onto wool or string.
Or - you could prepare the beads, then little ones could paint and thread.
Feather brushes
A feather (cut to size)
A freshly cut stick of elder
Push feather into soft pithy middle of elder stick
Elder
Treasure box
Walk in the woods
Collect woodland treasure
Make a treasure box
Talk about your treasure
Bottle chimes
Fill glass bottles and jars with water to different heights
Use food colouring too
Chime with sticks
Flower pressing
Choose common wild flowers and grasses.
Check with an identification book first if in any doubt.
Fold a sugar paper in half and put your name on it.
Put a piece of kitchen towel inside the sugar paper.
Lay flowers on it. Cover with another kitchen towel.
Fold the sugar paper and pile up between some heavy books.
Keep for several months.
Open and discover how your flowers dried and flattened.
Use for pictures/ cards.
Sand art
Make a junk model
Paint with pva
Dip into or sprinkle with sand before it dries.
Mud faces
Use clay or mud to make faces on a tree or stone.
Taste test
blindfold
Selection of edibles hidden under a cloth
Brave tasters!
Try cocoa powder, lettuce, soft fruits, cold porridge etc
Dens Indoor dens Tarpaulin
Nests A few sticks Animal homes
Using trees
Campfire Cooking
Marshmallow sticks
Marshmallows. Stick. Fire.
S'mores
Toasted marshmallow
Place on digestive
Squash with another digestive
Sickly sweet.
Fruit parcels
Try apples, sultanas & cinnamon or banana sliced open and stuffed with a little chocolate.
Wrap in foil
Bake in embers
Stick pizza
Simple bread dough
Cut strips
Wrap round a stick
Bake over embers
Popcorn maker
Kelly Kettle
ParachuteWelsh mountains
Build up waves
Choose a few mountaineers
Tell a story about the mountains of Wales while children 'climb' the windy mountains.
Ball games
Roll the ball around – name the people as you go.
Bounce it as high as you can.
Add more balls.
The sun shines on
Caller calls, 'the sun shines on everyone wearing trainers'
All lift the parachute, any wearing trainers change places under parachute.
Space ship
Leader builds up story of space ship taking off.
Engines on (start walking)
Countdown (lifting parachute higher each time)
Blast off (children could go into middle and high five)
Landing (on alien planet – lots of water, mountains, valleys etc) Could adapt other games to be part of new planet experience.
Return to earth – as at start. End with parachute low – you could end session with this.
Sharks
A shark under parachute
Everyone else sits with their legs under parachute
The shark 'pulls' people into the water.
Scream as you disappear under.
Cat and mouse
Cat on top (shoes off)
Mouse under
Squeaking and miowing essential.
Cat tries to catch mouse
Keep parachute waves fairly mild – so cat doesn't get lifted off.
Active GamesCatch the cats (or dinosaurs & monkeys)
2 lines face each other 4 large paces apart
Label one line 'cats' and the other 'dogs'
Count and pace – 1,2,3
Leader calls, 'catch the cats' (dogs chase cats)
Anyone caught joins other team.
Octapus
Octapus stands in middle of space/ hall
Everyone else (the fish) lines up on one side of space/ hall
Fish swim to other side
Octapus tries to touch fish to turn them into more octapus.
Octapus 1 can move side to side. After that Octapuses can only move one foot and swivel around with outstretched arms.
Fairy/ Elvish footsteps
Fairy/ Elf stands wit back to group.
Group try to creep up and tap fairy on shoulder.
Fairy turns around to 'freeze' group
Fairy spots people who are still moving and sends them back to the start.
First to tap becomes next fairy.
What's the time, little mouse?
'Little mouse,' 'Mr Fox' or what ever the child wants to be. Stands with back to group.
Group call, 'what's the time little mouse?'
Mouse answers a time
Group take that number of footsteps towards mouse.
Repeat
When ready, mouse answers ' dinner time', and turns to chase others back
First person caught becomes new mouse.
Drama games
Shopping trolley
All walk around the space
Leader calls a number – get into groups of (roughly) that number
Leader calls an object e.g. shopping trolley
Group make themselves into the object (frozen picture)
Monkey
Sit/ stand in a circle
Choose a detective to leave the group
Choose a monkey to start an action
All copy monkey. Monkey changes action often
Detective returns with 3 guesses as to who is the monkey.
Dogs and Owners
My favourite game
In pairs, children decide who will be dog and who will be owner and choose a name for the dog.
Dogs on all fours at one side of room/space and close their eyes
Owners stand around edges of room and must stay still.
Dogs start to bark. Owners call their dogs.
Dogs have to find owners by listening for their name.
Gwerin bus
Leader tells a story, every time she says the name of someone in the group, that person stands up, turns around and sits down again.
Every time she says 'Gwerin bus', all change places.
Choose a new story teller
Family portraits
In equal sized groups
Call out a type of family e.g. family of monkeys/ fire-fighters/ wizards
Group arranges themselves as if they were about to have their portrait painted/ photo taken as that family group.
Circle gamesFox and Squirrel
A ball, a cushion (or animal toys if you have them)
Squirrel can jump/ fly
Fox can only walk/run
Pass fox round circle hand to hand (change direction as you wish) to catch squirrel
Pass squirrel by throwing, cannot go hand to hand to escape
Help which ever animal you have in your hand.
The sun shines on
Leader calls examples e.g. all those who brushed their teeth this morning/ everyone who has a cat/ whoever is wearing something blue
If this applies to you, go into the middle and bask in the sun for a few seconds
Change caller.
Giant juggling
Several balls
Sit/ stand in circle (easiest if you sit with legs wide and feet touching neighbour)
Leader explains 'you must always pass the ball to the same person – and passes the ball to someone, making very clear eye contact.
Pass one ball round one and a half times so people get the idea, then add another ball in – pass it to the same person as last time
Add more balls until it gets too messy!
Bat and Moth
Bat stands (with eyes closed or blindfolded) in centre of circle
3 or 4 moths flit about in circle.
When bat calls 'bat', moths must answer 'moth'
Bat tries to catch a moth.
Hoop pass
Standing circle, with a hoola hoop hanging from someone's arm.
Pass the hoop round the circle without letting go of hands
Hummingbird
Children spread out on all fours in a large area/ hall
Close eyes
Leader choses a 'humming bird' by tapping gently on shoulder
All start crawling, except hummingbird who stays still humming gently.
When you bump into someone, listen.
If they are humming, stick to them, stay still and start humming too.
You should end up with one humming pile of children!
Open eyes to see shape
A relaxing way to end a session.
Sardines
Hide and seek, where the seekers join the hider and help to hide.
Should end up with everyone together in a small space.
Knots
Stand in a tight circle with eyes closed.
Reach out hands and take hands with 2 other hands across the circle
Open eyes and gently pull back.
Can you untangle yourselves without letting go?
Web of Life
Hold the end of a ball of wool and throw the ball to another person across the circle. Say the name of an animal/ plant as you do.
Next person holds the wool so it is stretched taught between you, then throws the ball to someone else, adding another name.
When you have a 'web' try removing various animals and plant to see how the web of life collapses.
Woodchip overboard!
All stand in middle of space
Label sides of room/ space 'North, South, East West'
Group follows leaders commands
Add in extras such as 'Woodchip overboard' – pick someone up'
Lifeboat – join hands in a circle
'Climb the rigging' – mime climbin
Make up your own.
CraftFree painting
Lots of paint
Lots of paper
Lots of brushes
Paint outdoors
Paint on stones
Use leaves, twigs, feathers
50/50 pva & paint works on shiny surfaces too.
Sticking and glueing
Glue
Paper, card, boxes
Bits and bobs
Cloth
Papier mache
50/50 pva and water
Tissue paper/ newspaper
Junk models/ balloons/ willow frames
Build up layers
Hand and foot prints
Trays with paints in
Outdoor space
Big paper roll
Water tray and grass/ towels for after
Giant picture
Give individual pieces to each child on a theme – connect all together at the end to make a giant picture.
Banner
Work together to make a banner – collage, paint or print.
Willow Willow shapes
Soak dry willow for 5 days before use.
Bend into required shape, use masking tape to bind
Cover with pva'd tissue paper as for lanterns
Possible shapes – moon, star, wings, circle, fish
Decorate with different coloured tissue paper, ribbons, wool, glitter
Lanterns
Make a frame from fresh or 5-days-soaked willow.
Use masking tape for strength
Cover with strips of double/ wet strength tissue paper dipped in a 20% pva/ 80% water mix.
Leave to dry
Attach a jam jar lid or small glass jar for a candle or use a glow stick or torch
Cut a hole at the top for the heat to escape
Crowns
Twist fresh willow into a ring.
Fit round head
Decorate with leaves, flowers, feathers
Birch also works well
Tee-pee
Tie three tall sticks together near the top.
Pull apart into a teepee shape
Stick into ground
Cover with sheet/ blanket/ tarp.
Wand
Cut a fresh piece of willow.
Bend a bit to get it ready
Fold into a star shape at one end
Flour trail
one adult or one team lay a trail using flour
The others follow
Tracking and trailing
Ramble/ walk
Skim stones on the way
Birds and worms
Hide small lengths of wool (worms)
Children (birds) find the worms and bring back to nest/ base.
Try to find all the different colours.
Palm-tree
Draw over the lines in your palm.
Lie on the floor and find a tree shape that matches.
This is your palm-tree.
Tree friends
Pairs take turns to lead each other blindfolded to a tree.
Return to start, remove blindfold and try to find your tree friend again.
Plate head puppets
Paper plates
Sticks, tape, string
Wool, cloth, google eyes, bits and bobs, glue, paint
Decorate your face, attach to stick with tape
Add cloth for a robe/cloak to hide your hand.
Wind vane
Pencil with rubber on end
Yoghurt pot/ plastic cup
Pins
Straws
Thin card
Cut a square of card and label each corner NSE& W
Make a hole in the pot and through the middle of the paper
Push the pencil through
Tape a triangle of card to each end of a straw and pin through the middle into the pencil rubber.
Salt dough
90g white, 60g salt, 2 tsp oil
Mix with enough water to make a firm dough.
Use straight away. Leave to dry for a few days before painting
Play dough
1 cup flour, ½ cup salt
1 cup water, 1 tbsp oil
2 tsp cream of tartar
Food colouring
Mix in a saucepan, heat gently and stir until it starts to get play-doughy (not long)
Tip onto a clean surface and knead
Keeps for ages in airtight tub
Can be made out and about on a gas stove/ fire embers.
Stink sacks/ Herb bags
Colour scented flowers, leaves and seed heads
Identify it first if unsure
Cut squares of muslin
Choose flowers and herbs
Sprinkle onto muslin
Draw together and tie with ribbon
Hang in bath under tap for scented bath
Paper cranes
Eat this?Crispy cakes
Melt chocolate
Add cornflakes/ rice crispies
Set in fridge
OR
50g marg, 25g sugar, 2 tbsp golden syrup, 25g cocoa powder
Mix in pan over gentle heat
Tip cornflakes or crispies into pan
Set in cake cases
Vegan friendly!
Flapjacks
225g oats, 100g marg, 25g sugar, 2 tbsp golden syrup, pinch of salt
Heat marg, sugar and syrup to melt
Pour onto oats and salt
Press into a greased baking tray
30mins until golden brown at 180C/ 350F/ gas 4
Wild berry smoothie
Pick berries (stick to blue berry, blackberry or others that you know are safe)
Blend with apples in a blender or juicer
Or smush into bananas and milk with a potato masher for wild berry milkshake.
Mud pies (don't eat this either!
Find an old cupcake tray or some little pots
Fill with mud, leave, flowers and bits
Decorate
Woodland scent (don't eat this)
Give everyone a jam jar or plastic container with lid
Collect leave, flowers, earth
Add a little water
Shake and sniff.
Peace words
Stick a happy face on one tree/ wall and a sad face on another.
Children stand between the trees
Call out words from a prepared list
Children go to stand by the face they think fits best.
If they are not sure or think it could be happy or sad – stand in the middle
Fighting, friendship, gun, holding hands, smiling, playing, shooting, laughter, having fun, getting hurt, bullying, feeling safe, war...
You could add in some less serious ones too... Marmite, squirrels, toys, Spider-man, Mondays...
Rainbows
Make rainbows in many ways to symbolise peace, equality, gay pride, cultural diversity
Gwerin symbol
Make from pebbles on the beach
Paint on cloth
Collage
Face paint on each other
Discuss the trees, sun, colours.
Three wishes
In the circle or as pictures
You have three wishes – one for yourself, one for a friend and one for the world
Friendship bracelets
Wool and beads
Wrap the end of wool in celotape so it has a point that will go through beads
When its made – give it to a friend.
InstrumentsShakers
Any pot
Beads, rice, pebbles, twigs
Fix on a lid or make one with paper/ tape
Shake
Wind chimes
Use a coat hanger
Attach things that chime e.g. fork, spoon, plastic bottle, pieces of wood
You could add bottle tops threaded onto string
Hang up somewhere windy.
Rain stick
Poster/ cloth tube (ask in a material shop for finished ones)
Twist up newspaper, stuff into tube
Pour in dried beans, rice, pebbles
Seal the top
Elastic band guitar
Shoe box, Selection of elastic bands, Kitchen roll tube
Draw a circle inside the middle of box, stretch bands of different thicknesses and lengths around the box
Attach the tube for the guitar neck. Decorate your guitar
Each band should make a different sound as it is plucked.
Music wall
Bring pots, pans, wooden spoons, old grills, bits of wood, shakers
Tie with string onto tree, railings or fence
Make some noise
Action songsJohn Brown's Donkey
John Brown's donkey had an elasticated tail x3
And he kept on jumping up and down
Jumpy, jumpy, jumpy, jumpy. Jumpy, jumpy, jumpy, jumpy. Jumpy, jumpy, jumpy, jumpy.
And he kept on jumping up and down.
Cross an arm across your chest on 'John' and 'Brown'
Make ear signals with 2 fingers from each hand on 'donkey'
Pull stretchy elastic in front of you on 'elasticated', then wave hand behind you for tail
Jump up and down for the rest.
Repeat, replacing actions for words until you are only acting and jumping.
Exhausting!
Mime the actions:
When I was one I sucked my thumb the day I went to sea, I climbed aboard a pirate ship and the captain said to me, “We're going this way, that way [sway both ways) over the Irish sea [make waves with hands] With a bottle of rum [I sometimes say 'milk' – mime drinking], to fill up my tum [rubbing tummy] and that's the life for me [slap thigh]
When I was two I buckled my shoe... and the rest
3 – banged knee, 4 – opened the door, 5 – still alive, 6 – picked up sticks, 7 – sailed past Devon, 8 – I was captain's mate, 9 – drew a line
Until 10 – I did it again...
Mime actions:
Elephant on a bicycle
What's that I hear up in the attic, it is an elephant, riding on a bicycle, it is an elephant, all slim and elegant, with a trunk out here and a tail out there.
Repeat, replacing words with actions
Penguin song
Have you ever seen a penguin come to tea?
Take a look at me, a penguin you will see.
Penguin's attention. Penguin's salute
Repeat, adding extra penguin actions until you are all waddling around with your tongues out