How to Play in the Woods

Book excerpt: A guide that’s “loaded with outdoor play ideas and skills to learn” for homeschoolers, wildschoolers, and nature-loving families (Take Them Outside). Learn skills, games, and activities for back-to-nature adventures and camping trips, for all ages and abilities, from children to adults. How to Play in the Woods is a must-have for anyone working with scouts or youth groups, as well as a handy reference book for campers and outdoor enthusiasts who need to brush up on basic survival skills. Learn how to make rope from plant materials, navigate using the sun and/or moon, build shelters, and start a fire. There are activities for teaching about safe knife handling, gathering and preparing wild foods, cooking on a spit, and plant medicines. And, for more fun and entertainment, there are instructions for making instruments, natural jewelry, clay containers, baskets, and even buckskin clothing. In this book, Robin Blankenship, the owner of the Earth Knack School, encourages and motivates readers to be interactive with nature, to be free from prescribed schedules, and to just play and enjoy outdoors while relearning the wisdom and ways of our ancestors.