Bushcraft Adventures – Learning to survive in the wilderness

Years 4 and 5 have been bursting with excitement for their Bushcraft outing – a three-day, two-night wilderness adventure in the forests of Kent – and this week, the day finally came to pack up, set off and have a load of fun learning some outdoor skills with friends.

Day One

The children hiked to their camping location in the forest and wasted no time setting up camp before having their first session: No. 1 survival skill, lighting a fire!

In the afternoon, they teamed up for shelter building and learned how to camouflage and conceal themselves in the wilderness. After dinner, they settled in for a night of s’mores on the fire and evening games before sleeping in a tent under the stars. 

Day Two

The adventurers cooked up a big breakfast after their first night camping. With full tummies, they had First Aid training and an SOS scenario – a plane crash in the jungle where the children needed to administer first-aid and help the passengers. This made them hungry, and they enjoyed a BBQ Kitchen for lunch using their fire-lighting skills. They then learnt another critical survival technique – ponassing salmon! Some brave children even volunteered to go for the first ‘bushtucker trial’ and sample the eyeballs! Besides testing your nerve, these contain water which could be life-saving in a survival situation. The children then practised for their ‘Tribe’s got talent’ contest to take place later tonight, after an outdoor pizza kitchen!

Day Three

Tomorrow they look forward to a morning of foraging and wild swimming, ending with another fun bushtucker trial.

What a unique, educational and unifying experience to have; a big thanks to all the teachers who camped out with the children and the expert survivalists who shared their knowledge in such an engaging way.