We felt very honoured to be invited to speak at this year’s Edinburgh International Book festival; this was a wonderful opportunity to spread the word about encouraging more children and young people to get outdoors to experience real world adventures! It was also exciting for us to be part of the festival and to meet other writers.
We were delighted to meet Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood and Detoxing Childhood. We enjoyed her inspiring talk about the multitude of pressures on children and families in today’s fast changing world, and were delighted to find that among the solutions she offered was to give children more opportunities to play outside.
She believes children need physical, emotional, social and conceptual development (common sense understanding of the world) to enable cognitive learning and to grow into well balanced individuals. Today the scales have tipped rather heavily so the emphasis is on academic learning, and children are not getting opportunities for real, hands on play that is creative and imaginative, which provides opportunities to encounter and learn about risk and which lets children become more independent and learn to get along with others.
We could not agree more and want to try and raise parents awareness to the importance of getting their kids off the sofas, away from the marketing bombardment and the screens and interact in the real world.
Sue has very kindly provided a few words of endorsement for our next book Go Wild, we hope people will follow her advice. Thank you Sue!!
"Go Wild" is just what families need to escape from virtual worlds and rediscover the wonders of the real one. It provides the perfect recipe for transforming cotton wool kids into confident, independent, resilient young people. Every family should have a copy."
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wilderness gathering
This year we decided to have a little stall at the Wilderness Gathering. If you have never been or never heard of this annual festival of Bushcraft, survival and primitive skills, you really should have a look at www.wildernessgathering.co.uk. The Wilderness Gathering is held every August at the Bush Farm Bison Centre in Wiltshire.
There is something for everyone; this is a wonderful opportunity for families to try out a range of exciting outdoor activities and adventures such as tracking, whittling, basket making, foraging and making a bow and arrow. The organisers aim to bring together all those interested in bushcraft and wilderness skills to enjoy a weekend in a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere in beautiful surroundings. Experts are on hand to run workshops and provide advice on everything to do with bushcraft. You can either go for one day or spend a long weekend wild camping.
The Wilderness Gathering really was a wonderful and inspiring experience and we already have 20th-23rd August down in our diaries for next year! My 12 year old daughter came back full of enthusiasm clutching a basket she had woven, a little leather bag she had made and a wooden spoon she had carved from a hazel branch. To this day she is still repeating the story we heard from master storyteller Jeremy Hastings (Islay Birding) who involved the audience in weaving a wonderful and captivating tale about a 125-year-old granny who had a wheelchair and lived in a tree house. Old and young alike gathered around a roaring fire beneath the stars to listen to stories; who needs the TV or computer games for entertainment?
There is something for everyone; this is a wonderful opportunity for families to try out a range of exciting outdoor activities and adventures such as tracking, whittling, basket making, foraging and making a bow and arrow. The organisers aim to bring together all those interested in bushcraft and wilderness skills to enjoy a weekend in a relaxed and family-friendly atmosphere in beautiful surroundings. Experts are on hand to run workshops and provide advice on everything to do with bushcraft. You can either go for one day or spend a long weekend wild camping.
The Wilderness Gathering really was a wonderful and inspiring experience and we already have 20th-23rd August down in our diaries for next year! My 12 year old daughter came back full of enthusiasm clutching a basket she had woven, a little leather bag she had made and a wooden spoon she had carved from a hazel branch. To this day she is still repeating the story we heard from master storyteller Jeremy Hastings (Islay Birding) who involved the audience in weaving a wonderful and captivating tale about a 125-year-old granny who had a wheelchair and lived in a tree house. Old and young alike gathered around a roaring fire beneath the stars to listen to stories; who needs the TV or computer games for entertainment?
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