Get a buzz in the woods

Base your Spring Bank Holiday weekend around a new woodland-based adventure by booking a family-focused Playdays in the Woods experience in the Lake District’s stunning outdoor playground.

Playdays in the Woods adventures will be staged on May 26, 27 and 28 at Hay Bridge Nature Reserve, near Ulverston, for children and parents numbering no more than 14 in total and hungry for a voyage of discovery.

Each experience is based around a range of thrilling woodland activities and underpinned by the principle of freedom to explore.

They enable children to revel in the gift of the outdoors and the type of simple, nature-focused experiences their parents enjoyed in their youth. It also helps them grow, through responsible risk-taking, teamwork and absorbing hands-on tasks. Adults and children play together, with everyone involved in the activities.

A day begins at 10am with cocoa and locally baked biscuits devoured around an atmospheric woodland base camp and a get-in-the-mood animal pantomime game. It ends at 3.30pm, after the group have shared their personal highlights that will form memories lasting a lifetime.

In between, children and parents tackle a woodland expedition full of exciting hunts, teasing challenges and fun games and collect tinder for the campfire over which they bake their own twist dough bread, having learned how to light a fire without matches or firelighters.

This delicious bread is accompanied by local, fresh fare such as cheese, meats, jams, fresh fruit and cakes and is served in a woodland glade.

After lunch, the focus shifts to woodland crafts as Playdays’ participants use hand tools to create a variety of quirky items out of wood. Wooden goblins, fairies and howlers are just some of the things that could be shaped during this achievement-filled activity.

The final thrill revolves around building a den or shelter out of only woodland materials, working as a team and learning the satisfaction that can be derived from completing a task of this kind.

Taking responsible risks in the woods enables children to grow both emotionally and physically as they learn how to be and let it be in the woods.

Whilst the experience itself is priceless, families can book at a cost of £35 per person. More details are available at playdaysinthewoods.com. Book at online at golakes.co.uk in the e-shop. Information on accommodation within the Ulverston area can be found at golakes.co.uk.