Little Sparks are endlessly fascinated by sticks and stones and it makes me wonder why we bother with toys. A good stick unearthed on a walk will be jealously clung to all the way home and woe betide the adult who thoughtlessly flings a prize stick in the compost bin! The coat pockets of our Little Sparks always seem to be full of stones and gravel, usually undiscovered until I hear a disconcerting rattle inside the washing machine. Smooth, flat stones will be lovingly warmed in little palms, their pleasing shape supplying sensory comfort. Children imbue their sticks and stones with magical properties and carry them around like talismans. They use sticks to make marks and stones to make circles. And it makes me smile to think that throughout the ages, and all over the world, children have entertained themselves with these self-chosen toys. If you want your Little Sparks to find ‘tongues in trees’ and ‘sermons in stones’ here are some lovely sticks and stones inspired outdoor activities.
Books In Babbling Brooks:
A walk in the woods is good, a walk in the woods with a small brook or running stream is even better –seek them out wherever you walk! Very Little Sparks will be amused for hours simply dropping stones into the water and watching the ripples. A stream with a small footbridge will provide you with a game of ‘Pooh sticks’. Even older children seem to quite like this game and they run off an awful lot of energy searching for the ultimate winning stick. Find a spot where older children can build a dam in the brook using stones – can they alter the flow of water? Can they stop the flow of water? This is one of the best free construction toys there is, testing skills of engineering and problem solving.
Sticky Constructions:
Find sticks with forks (or cross two sticks over as shown above) for children to weave yarn in and out of. Or why not make a spider web catcher? Forked sticks really lend themselves to this, all you have to do is ‘close’ the fork with string or another stick and push it into the ground and wait for a spider to decide it is the ideal location to spin a web. Make lots of these and you will have a really other-worldly garden sculpture on a dewy or misty morning. Play with the design and construction and let the spiders be the judges of the best effort!
If you are out camping and you have no string, (you went camping WITHOUT string?) go really wild and see what you can do with wild honeysuckle, clematis or willow whips. We’ve actually used some very suburban lime tree suckers here.
When presented with a forked stick the more warrior-like Little Spark may want to make slingshots. Obviously it is up to you as the adult to decide if children are sensible enough to follow basic safety ground rules. But assuming they are, making your own slingshot is a great education in the laws of physics as well as engineering design. Raid the recycling bins to find suitable objects for target practice!
Stone Circles:
It seems very natural for children to make circles out of stones, they do it without any prompting. Is it part of some deep, primal desire to stamp order upon the natural world? Obviously just about any circle game can incorporate a stone circle as a focus – for example The Farmer’s In The Den or Ring A Ring A Roses. Sadly many toddlers never get to experience these games anymore, they are well worth reviving. Making ‘nests’ out of sticks and stones is also a popular activity with toddlers. Older children might like to meet the challenge of using sticks and stones to make a simple sun clock.
Or why not make a stone guestbook? Collect smooth pebbles every time you go for a walk and keep a good supply in the house. Every time you have a new visitor ask them to decorate a stone to commemorate their visit. Find somewhere nice to arrange them so that children can use them to talk about and remember their experiences.
Make A Stone Guest Book:
