An Aigas Adventure

Here we are on our way to our Bushcraft Day at Aigas. What a perfect day, sunny,dry and no wind it could nt have been better.
The girls loved all the stuffed animals inside the Magnus House.The Fox was a favourite and I was surprised how incredibly soft the Beaver was. All the animals had died naturally and are now an important learning tool.
Sir John arrived with his dogs to say hello which was lovely :)
The Rangers were amazing keeping the girls entertained for over 4 hours. We found out about the trees at Aigas, made a map of the area around us using natural things we could find. We saw the otter raft and beaver dam on the Loch with incredible reflections. We played an id the tree game where the girls had to be led ,with their eyes closed , to a tree where they had to feel it then walk away with their eyes still closed and then see if they could find the tree they had felt.
On to building shelters for either themselves or a creature from the forest. They were incredible and so different, they all worked really hard, the Mum helpers did too ;)
A quick game of camouflage to warm up which involved the 17 girls hiding behind trees etc and pretending they were a stag.When the Ranger shouted camouflage one the girls had to put one hand up as an antler, if they had nt been spotted camo two was shouted so two hands and three run back as fast as they could. They were REALLY good at hiding !!
After lunch and warmed up feet it was back outside to make fires. We sat and had a safety talk first and then gathered twigs of different sizes that were put into piles, grade 1,2 and three. Then each girl had a go at making sparks with a steel and flint tool. All managed to make some sparks and even those who had been worried about it had a go and were enthusiastic by the end. It took along time to actually get the fires going, they had been warned by the Ranger that it would nt be easy , but I was sooo proud of their determination and they all managed to get a good fire gong in the end. Toasted marshmallows finished the session and it was time for a group photo and say our thanks and then go home.