On Jura we are blessed with an amazing outdoor space, however, more often than not we don't utilize it enough. Jura Juniors wishes to join with other community groups from Islay and wider Argyll to learn about our local environment. We want to be inspired by the Jura landscape, wildlife and its natural resources and focus on developing life skills through outdoor-based learning.
This is so relevant right now- are there similar courses in other island and coastal locations that you can share experience with?
What do I write here?
Encouraging children to play outdoors, to not let the weather or winter darkness get in the way of play, educational opportunities and seeing new places. Foraging, wild food and drink, mud kitchens, beach fires, den building, bush crafts, camping, environmental awareness, beach cleaning, preserving natural habitats for animals, insects, sealife. These are things that all children should be encouraged to take an interest in, certainly for future sustainability but also for good mental wellness.
I have begun doing some wild food and plant sessions on Jura with some of the children in the holidays and have been so excited to see how much they enjoy it and remember. It would be wonderful to create a regular space with shelter for them to play and learn so we could plan a programme of foraging, crafts, bushcraft and outdoor learning throughout the seasons. I'll find some examples of other communities that have set something up.
We would love to join up with other people doing similar things and share experiences. The main issue on living on Jura is the cost of transporting people anywhere, and often it is easier to bring the professionals to us!
@Antonia Baird Here are some other community woodland and outdoor learning examples from around Scotland that have some great ideas we could learn from: http://earthtime.co.uk http://www.kilfinancommunityforest.co.uk/forest-education.php https://www.stramash.org.uk/info/outdoor-nursery/ https://www.thechildrenswood.co.uk/ http://www.swcwt.org/taliesin.html https://www.facebook.com/MorayOWLS/ http://www.owlscotland.org/local-groups/highland_fei_cluster_group http://skyeforestgarden.com/
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