Making wooden cookie figures

Using a saw and a drill, we made these charming wooden cookie people out of natural materials found in the woodlands, using some cut hazel and some bark shavings for legs. Aren’t they cute! Don’t be deceived by their name; they are sadly non-edible. A wooden ‘cookie’ is a round cross-cut of wood.

Making popcorn – Bushcraft style

Bushcraft popcorn: an open fire, some sieves lashed to some Hazel — and voila — popping popcorn! We have added some sugar, butter and cinnamon for a winning combination.

Looking for signs of wildlife

As we move through the woodland, we can look for badger sets, tracks, droppings, fur, or owl pellets to try and guess what might live in or visit the area. Sometimes, we’ve even spotted deer on our wildlife camera!

Making dens

As the old adage goes, we are estimated to survive for around 3 weeks without food, 3 days without water, and 3 hours without shelter (depending on conditions). In bushcraft, we practice our shelter building skills, letting the students lead and offering constructive feedback.

Hanging out in hammocks

With the trees above us, there’s nothing nicer than lying back and listening to the birds. On some sessions we’ve been more noisy, and played instruments (kazoos!) we’ve crafted, or bongos we’ve brought. We’ve meditated, we’ve cocooned, or swung gently in the breeze. And if we’re feeling a little more energetic, we might burn some of it off by tackling the slackline!

Our dedicated John Muir Award student became a vital part of the team, collecting data and making a valuable contribution to seaweed and climate change research.

Surveying seaweed along our beautiful coastlines plays a crucial role in understanding the effects of climate change. As climate change indicators, seaweeds provide valuable insights into shifts in our marine ecosystems. By participating in the #BigSeaweedSearch, anyone can actively contribute to a nationwide effort to collect important data that helps scientists and researchers monitor these changes and research their findings in more depth.

The John Muir Award, known for its dedication to exploring and conserving wild places, provided the perfect platform for our student to actively engage in a very meaningful environmental project. Through their involvement in the #BigSeaweedSearch, they not only contributed to a vital conservation initiative but also gained firsthand experience in scientific research and citizen science.

Now, you might be wondering, how can you get involved and become a seashore explorer yourself? It’s easier than you think! Joining the #BigSeaweedSearch allows you to monitor the impact of environmental change on Britain’s sealife on your next visit to the beach. All you need to do is head out to your local beach, armed with curiosity and a keen eye for detail. As you explore the seashore, bring their ID form to document the living seaweeds you encounter, noting their types and abundance. Your observations will contribute to a nationwide database, empowering scientists and researchers to better understand the effects of climate change on our coastal ecosystems.

Participating in the #BigSeaweedSearch is not only a chance to contribute to scientific research but also a fantastic opportunity to be an active participant in the conservation of our precious marine environments here in Torbay.

Learn more and participate in the #BigSeaweedSearch at: https://bigseaweedsearch.org/

A litter pick is also a great way for young people to get out, explore and truly appreciate the human impact upon nature in their community. You can make it competitive, or you can make it into a game: who can fill the bag first? Who can count as many different types of litter as possible?

And, after all, who can deny the satisfaction that comes with seeing a ‘before’ and ‘after’ picture of a particularly messy beach clean-up?

It’s also a great way to introduce them to the basics of conservation, citizen science, and ecology.

We can conduct litter surveys for the Marine Conservation Society, sending valuable citizen science data to scientists. We can also look for Nurdles, or plastic pellets; small lentil-sized pieces of plastic that are the building blocks for most plastic products. We can report this as part of the Great Nurdle Hunt, a citizen science project launched to monitor microplastics in our oceans and coasts. Due to their size, and often clear colour, nurdles can look like fish eggs which makes them particularly attractive to seabirds, fish and other marine wildlife ingesting them.

Every time they go out, kids can discover what types of litter they find in their environment and learn more about the kinds of things that people should be disposing of properly. It may open up a conversation (and often a quick Google) on how long it takes certain items to decompose — what about a shoe (30-40 years)? A cigarette butt (500-1000 years)? A can of Coke (250 years)?

In turn, this opens up conversations about our own plastic use and the potential impact of plastic on the food chain — including how it may come to enter our own part of the chain.

By playing an active role in cleaning up their local environment, kids become more aware of how important it is to protect nature and why we should all be doing our part to keep our environment clean. Overall, litter picking is a great way to allow our young people to continue to develop an appreciation for nature and an awareness and understanding of their own environmental impact, with their efforts recognised and celebrated with the John Muir Award.