< Beyond the Garden Gate

Sweetie Treasure Chase
Hare and Hounds
Autumn Hide and Seek
Conker Bowling
Duck Races
One-Metre Safari
Whittle a Toasting Fork
Whittle a Walking Stick

In the Woods

We love messing about in the woods and streams, and hope these ideas will tempt you to join us.

Sweetie Treasure Chase
A good outdoor game to play in woodland as evening is falling.
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Hare and Hounds
This is great fun if you’re in the wilds but just as good in urban areas, where you can lay trails through a park or round local streets.
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Autumn Hide and Seek
The best pleasures are simple ones, and children from two and up will love hiding in piles of autumn leaves. You can play this in the woods or even in a municipal park before the leaf sweepers arrive…
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Conker Bowling
Collecting conkers is a bit addictive, and sometimes you’re left with piles of them – which is a good time to play ten-pin conker bowling…
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Duck Races
Pooh sticks with ducks! We've been training up those fantastically coloured plastic bath ducks to championship speed for a couple of seasons now... Take them on walks in the woods and have a race when you find a ford or stream.
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One-Metre Safari
This started off as light entertainment: how many things could the kids see in a metre of earth? But then we got our magnifying glasses out and it got interesting. Looking closely, intensely, at a small plot of land is like discovering a new planet. Mindblowing!
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Whittle a Toasting Fork
Kids enjoy whittling on a piece of wood, and even little ones can have a go (provided you show them how and stay close). All you need is a penknife and a shortish (50cm or so) stick of wood.
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Whittle a Walking Stick
Whittling on a piece of wood with a penknife is a great pleasure for adults and kids. Walking sticks are easy for beginners to whittle and make fantastic personalised gifts for family and friends.
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