Woodland Challenges

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The Wild Woodland Trees

Deadly Den Dell

Click here for Challenges

Anytime Challenges

  • Build a den – Choose a good spot off the path and perhaps where someone else has made a den before.  Collect sticks and branches from the ground and then carefully lean them against a tree trunk or branch.  Make sure all sticks are firmly placed so they won’t fall on top of you. Sit very quietly in your den; can you spot any wildlife? (3 points for building the den, and another 3 if you spot any wildlife)
  • Build an elf house – Perhaps the Wild Wood’s shy little fairies and elves would also like a den or a little house?  Find a secret, hidden away place and make a tiny little home for them from twigs and leaves.
    (2 points)
  • How old are the trees? Look for some tree stumps and count the rings; one light ring and one dark ring together is one year’s growth. Was the tree older than you when it was chopped down? Narrow rings show the tree didn’t have much to drink that year, wider ones suggest it rained a lot! (2 points)
  • Can you work out how tall a tree is?
    • Find a stick and hold it upright, straight out in front of you.  Walk forward or back until the top of the tree is at the top of your stick and the base of the trunk is at the bottom of your stick. 
    • Now turn the stick on its side (horizontal) and get a friend to walk from the base of your tree sideways until it looks as though they are at the end of your stick. 
    • Now get your friend to retrace their footsteps back to the tree trunk by putting one foot in front of the other and counting how many feet it is back to the tree. 
    • When you get home, measure your friend’s feet and calculate how height the tree was.  E.g. If your friend’s food measures 20cm and they took 20 foot steps back to tree, the tree is 400cm or 4m tall.  Wow how easy is that! (3 points)

Spring/Summer Challenges

  • Leafy scavenger hunt - How many different tree leaves can you collect in the Wild Wood?  Take them home and press them in a book.  Can you find out what type of tree each tree leaf comes from? Are they from Evergreen or deciduous trees? (1 point for each leaf, bonus point if the leaf has a sign of animal activity on it)
  • Eye in the Sky - Lie down and look up at the bright green leaves against the sky.  Can you see any pictures in the trees?  (1 point)
  • Secret fairy ring - See if you can find some seeds on the ground.  In a clearing plant them in the soil in a circle and mark the circle with twigs.  Come back on another day and see if you have made a secret fairy ring or a wild wood elf ring. (3 points)
  • Be a nature detective - Look for holes in leaves where something has had a tasty snack; can you spot any creatures nibbling leaves? (1 point)

Autumn Challenges

  • Make a leaf chain – like a daisy chain but with coloured leaves (1 point)
  • Leaf jumping - Can you collect a large pile of leaves and jump into the middle of it? (2 points)
  • Leaf colours - A leaf changes colour before it dies and falls.  Can you spot all stages of colour on one tree, a bright green one, perhaps a yellow and finally the red one on the ground?  Take some coloured leaves home to make a collage. (2 points)
  • Make a leaf rainbow?  Start with row of green leaves, add a row of yellow, then orange and finally red.  Take a photo and put on your fridge to remind yourself of the Wild Wood’s rainbow colours. (2 points)
  • Make a leaf sun - Find some yellow leaves and make a sun on the ground.  Can you make it perfectly round?  Add some rays spreading out over the wood. (2 points)
  • Make a leaf trail - Can you make a leafy trail for someone to follow?  Lay leaves of one colour on the ground to make a long snaky leaf trail. (2 points)

Winter Challenges

  • Barking up the wrong tree - Go round the Wild Wood and touch the bark on different trees.  How many trees can you find just by looking and feeling the bark?   Is it rough, brown, smooth, silver, or does it peel off like paper? (2 points)
  • Tracking - Lay a trail round the wood using sticks to make arrows.  Can your friends follow the trail and find you? (2 points)

Now go to:Click here for Superpowers

OR

Click here for Fearsome Facts

OR Click here for Who Eats Who

 

The Heart of Streatley Charitable Trust (HoSCT) is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission for England and Wales, registration number 1140853
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Published on 03-Sep-2014 as Version 1.03 and stored as Wild Woods_04e.