We Are Adventurers!

It's the last Saturday of the holidays and it was actually a lovely dry day and we were given the opportunity to attend a We Are Adventurers woodland activity session with a group of other Bloggers from NorthWest Bloggers and organised by Karen GrumpyishMum.

We met in the Car Park at Chorlton Water Park and were all given a sheet with pictures of different leaves. For our first task we had to look for each of the leaves on the trees as we walked down the pathway. We did quite well, we got 7!

Searching for different leaves

Some impressive toadstools that we passed

After we'd walked a short way we came to a small clearing to the side of the path and saw that activities had been set out for us.

The first activity in the clearing was for the children to paint the leaves that they had collected and them print with them onto paper.

 

Boy no.4 wasn't interested in this activity, he was far too busy rock climbing above the 'Mud Kitchen' area.

 

Then we were shown how to suck tiny bugs and flies into a pot to examine - we only caught an aphid before we moved on to digging for worms with spoons!

Meanwhile Boy no.3  was busy elsewhere using cookie cutters to make shapes in the mud, and draw faces and buttons onto 'gingermud men' with sticks....

We never even got chance to help Hollybobs daughter with her fantastic mud painting!

The session ended with hot chocolate - which was a real treat and delighted my boys - it was the first time my 4 year old has had a 'hot' drink rather than one which is lukewarm, which really excited him!

We Are Adventurers was formed in January 2013 by a Forest School Practitioner Paul Wilcox and his wife Jennifer. The aim is to get young children outside whatever the weather, enjoying and experiencing nature and learning about what is around them outdoors. It was brilliant, my boys had a great morning and they were introduced to a host of great ideas. When the session finished we had the bug, so we carried on exploring for a while and had some more outdoor fun before we went home for lunch.

The boys ran across a 'troll bridge'

And the trolls couldn't catch them!

We looked at a murky pond and wondered who lived there.

We found information about who was living in the big lake

One of us touched some nettles even though he knew he shouldn't,
and his brother found him dock leaves to help make it better.

We found a great play area with lots of climbing.

We found some tiny frogs....and a van selling jaffa cakes....

We took part in a special 'Babes In The Wood' session for children under 5, but We Are Adventurers also hold sessions for older children and work with schools and children in Manchester, Trafford and Cheshire. You can even book a themed birthday party! The leaders are really keen and brilliant with the children. They explain everything in clear language that doesn't treat children as if they are daft. I loved their approach and it worked really well with the children. They encourage safe exploration and it really is an adventure. You can find out all the information you need to take part or book a party on their website.

We took home a pile of treasure, and 2 tired, happy boys.....