Activities

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All of our activities are designed and delivered in a way that promotes certain life skills. Doing this alongside fun and engaging activities is an amazing way to assist with child development. Children are then able to take these skills and implement them at home.

A staple of any outdoor activity centre, we start by focusing on proper technique and once their aim is on target, we move onto playing archery games. This activity has been developed to promote patience and respect for others

Children may come home raving about a Maid Marian with a certain distain for one Sheriff of Nottingham.

An exciting addition to our repertoire, after going through the motions of how to properly throw an axe we then give a safety brief. We won’t be satisfied until we have as many axes buried in the targets as possible! We use this activity to develop children’s awareness of risk towards both themselves and others. While getting into the Viking spirit children may develop a full platted beard and a thirst for plunder! 

A real creative activity for the builders, in groups of 3 or 4 they are given lengths of string and have to plan and build small boats out of sticks which are then launched onto our onsite lake at the end of the day. Groups are encouraged to share and hear everyone’s ideas before committing to a type of boat to build, the more extravagant the better! This activity allows the creative minds to run wild with the practical minds working away trying to bring the ideas to life.  Alfresco Outdoors accepts no responsibility for longboat developments in back gardens. 

We run 3 fire sessions throughout the week: 

First is fundamentals, where they learn everything needed to become a proficient pyromaniac. Things such as the fire triangle, the best type of wood to collect and how to build a good structure.

Second is charcloth and fire food, learning how to char a variety of objects and making smores and other treats in the process.

Lastly, we turn up the heat with a fire race, a water balloon is suspended above the fire pits and whoever pops the balloon with the heat of their fire first wins! Points also get awarded for teamwork, best built and best prepped wood.

 Throughout all of these tasks the groups are encouraged to thoroughly plan out their fire and prepare their wood piles during each session. 

We teach that fires are only to be made outside or in fire places, please keep a close eye on children when in woodland, if lost, follow the smoke! 

A great activity to do at the start of the week as an emphasis is put on all of the likely injuries to occur and how to avoid them. We go through some of the most common accidents and injuries which can occur and how best to avoid them, all of which ends with fun activity scenarios that children get really stuck into! This helps build on their awareness of the dangers which could be around themselves as well as others.

Notice, if you find yourself out on the hills with a twisted ankle, your child will know what to do! 

A great opportunity to hunt around the meadows hunting for mini beasts! We send them roaming around the meadow on campus looking for small wildlife to capture and observe. Once they have collected the coolest insect, bug or creature they can the groups come back together and learn about each other’s finds. Children learn about the different types of wildlife that can be roaming around their gardens and local parks. 

We accept no responsibility for exotic and cool looking bugs being brought into the house. 

A traditional Scandinavian technique of braiding, we tie 4 beanbags to 4 pieces of string and hang them from a high rope, 1 child holds each beanbag and then lets the beanbag swing to the child opposite them. The next pair does the same and this process braids the 7ft of string. At the end of the session each child will have enough braid to wear as a cool bangle, tag or zip attachment so that your child (or their items) can stand out in a crowd! We use this activity as a way of teaching relaxation and calming techniques.

We recommend fully platted Viking beards and dark eyeliner to complete the look. 

A large scale activity allowing children to run free, we start by teaching how compasses work which they then put into practice by searching around sections of the campus, looking for markers. They need to match up the correct marker with the correct point on the map. These skills will come in very handy for activities later in the week.

Notice, if you ever come across a map with a large ‘X’ on it you know who to go to! 

Weaving paracord together to make practical, stylish, and totally rad bracelets. Your child will be the talk of the class with the awesome bangle that they have weaved themselves! We hope to teach the children how to make the bracelets so that they can make more at home if they wish. If you ever need a length of rope, some fishing line or a fashionable bangle just look to your child’s wrist! 

A large scale activity where groups must look for clues to locate and rescue Frank. Frank has twisted his ankle somewhere on the campus and we need to send out a rescue party! In groups of 3 or 4 they will search the areas on the map looking for clues that Frank has left behind. This activity is great to get groups investigating areas to look for clues.

One of the ‘3 pillars’ of survival, children learn about the different styles and types of shelters that can be built and get to choose which one to build. The shelters can be made as luxurious as possible and these stay standing for the whole week so that improvements can be made throughout their break times. This activity emphasises that even when something works improvements can still be made. Caution, your child may move into the garden sooner than you think! 

Greenwood carving, this session focuses on knifework, we will give children an in-depth brief before the knives are handed out, they learn to make simple crafts which they can personalise and decorate with their knives, this can take up to 2 sessions for them to fully accomplish what they set out to make!  You will have no need to purchase any more wooden cooking utensils!  

Children get to be taught on a 1:1 basis how to use axes safely when chopping wood, skills will be progressed from chopping branches to splitting small logs and for bigger kids we will be able to split larger logs. Children will become very proficient at maintaining a very impressive wood store!