Wilder Woods

We were thrilled to be awarded funding from the Field Studies Council in the summer of 2007 to develop and trial a living history resource for KS2 to be used in woodlands. The project was conducted on behalf of the Yeovil and Dorset Forest Education Initiative Cluster group who we work closely with.

The object of the resource is to make children more aware of the history of woodlands and the importance of conserving them for the future. It also aims to give children a new insight into the past through a combination of practical experience and drama.

We have run Viking Days for schools and home education groups in woods and in school grounds. We made Viiking barley bread on an open fire and ate it with stinging nettles (everyone liked them) or with honey on wooden plates; we told sagas and discussed daily life in Viking times; we held ‘things’ and got very carried away with all the role play so much so that we almost believed the look outs when they reported seeing wolves and Saxons approaching…

As a result of our sessions, we have produced a booklet with activity plans so that schools and groups can run their own ‘Viking Days’. We hope it will encourage more schools to get out into their woodlands for learning.

We ran a training day for teachers wanting to run their own Viking Days in November 2008. The booklet ‘How to run your own Viking Day’ is free to download from the FEI web site (see links). We will be running more Viking Days for children in school holidays and can also assist schools should they wish to host a day.