Give your family the gift of quality time in nature this Christmas and add a bit of wild to your festive season. Join our festive celebration surrounded by the beautiful woodland of Park in the Past.
Families with children of all ages are welcome to join us at our Forest School circle where we will be stoking the campfire to bring light to the darkest time of the year.
James and Lea will guide you and your children through a range of festive craft activities that will get you all in the festive mood for Christmas. This is going to be a very special and magical event with music, food and good company.
You will return home with a Christmas wreath you have made along with hand-crafted decorations for your tree.
“My son and I attended a lovely winter solstice event on 21st December. It was a truly magical night and we loved the vibe. We will be back again. Loving that my birth tree is Oak by the way!” Nicole Netzband-Piggot
Enjoy a winter warmer; hot spiced apple juice from our campfire
Take a guided foraging walk for natural craft materials
Make a Christmas woodland wreath to take home
Taste roasted chestnuts, campfire popcorn and other hot snacks
Sing along to the mandolin with Christmas Carols around the campfire
Craft willow stars & other rustic decorations to hang in your Christmas tree
Listen to the tale of how the Robin got his red breast
Scoff a campfire-warmed mince pie – yum!
Event details
Date: Sat 9th Dec 2023
Time: 10am – 12:30pm
Venue: Park in the Past
Cost: £35 per family
Your Guides: James & Lea Kendall
James is the Head Bushcraft Instructor at Woodland Classroom, having worked in environmental education & conservation for over 10 years. James’ approach to teaching steers his students toward fostering a deeper connection with nature through understanding the landscape around us; “Bushcraft skills are an effective way to do this as we learn how to make use of natural materials and live lightly with the land, whilst also connecting with our own ancient past by seeing the land through the eyes of our ancestors.”
Lea is a qualified Counsellor and Mindfulness in a Woodland Setting practitioner. She is a firm believer in the power of nature to be therapeutic for everyone. Lea is an active forager, passionate about how we can use common plants for both food and medicine. She enjoys making her own tinctures and medicinal remedies for treating common ailments.
Skills you will learn
Over the course of the session you will enjoy a range of activities, including…
Nature Connection
Campfire snacks
Bushcraft for families
Campfire Cooking
Book now
This session costs £35 per family (to a maximum of 2 adults and 3 children per family). Additional children (over 2 years of age) are charged £5 separately. Additional children aged under 2 are free.
Give your family the gift of quality time in nature this Christmas and add a bit of wild to your festive season. Join our celebration of midwinter surrounded by the ancient woodland of the National Trust’s Erddig estate.
Families with children of all ages are welcome to join us at our Forest School circle where we will be stoking the campfire to bring light to the darkest time of the year.
James and Kay will guide you and your children through a range of seasonal activities that will get you all in the festive mood for Christmas. This is going to be a very special and magical event with music, food and good company.
“My son and I attended a lovely winter solstice event on 21st December. It was a truly magical night and we loved the vibe. We will be back again. Loving that my birth tree is Oak by the way!” Nicole Netzband-Piggot
Enjoy a winter warmer; hot spiced apple juice from our campfire
Take a guided foraging walk for natural craft materials
Make a Christmas woodland wreath to take home
Taste roasted chestnuts, campfire popcorn and other hot snacks
Visit the Wishing Tree; set family intentions for the year ahead
Sing along to the mandolin with Christmas Carols around the campfire
Make a willow star to hang in your Christmas tree
Listen to the tale of how the Robin got his red breast
Discover how our ancestors celebrated the Winter Solstice
Event details
Date: Sat Dec 17 & Sun 18 2022
Time: Two sessions available each day. 10:00 am – 12:30 pm & 1.30pm – 4pm
Venue: Erddig
Cost: £35
Your Leaders: James Kendall & Kay Ribbons-Steen
James is a Forest School Leader and Head Bushcraft Instructor at Woodland Classroom, having worked in environmental education & conservation for over 10 years. James’ approach to teaching steers his students toward fostering a deeper connection with nature through understanding the landscape around us; “Bushcraft skills are an effective way to do this as we learn how to make use of natural materials and live lightly with the land, whilst also connecting with our own ancient past by seeing the land through the eyes of our ancestors.”
Kay is a qualified Forest School Leader and Social Forester. She has worked for a number of years in eco-therapy having trained as a Mindfulness in a Woodland Setting practitioner. Kay studied a work based diploma in Environmental Conservation with Flintshire Countryside & Coast Service. She is also an Ambassador for the National Autistic Society, and an autism awareness speaker; “I am passionate about reconnecting people with nature for our own holistic wellbeing whilst conserving our unique and irreplaceable environment.”
Watch a video of a previous event we hosted
Skills you will learn
Over the course of the session you will enjoy a range of skills, including…
Nature Connection
Campfire snacks
Bushcraft for families
Campfire Cooking
Book now
This session costs £35 per family (to a maximum of 2 adults and 3 children per family). Additional children (over 2 years of age) are charged £5 separately.
We are hosting this event on Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th Dec. Pick which day suits you.
The event is 2.5 hours long. You can choose from either a morning session (10am – 12.30pm) or afternoon session (1.30pm – 4pm) by selecting the appropriate ticket below. You can read our Event Terms & Conditions here.
So, you’ve made your sloe gin and your blackberry brandy back in the autumn and you’re now ready to bottle up the drinks to give as gifts for Christmas. But wait! Don’t throw away those berries. You could make divine festive chocolates that will leave you wanting more.
In this article we will show you two easy-to-make and indulgent recipes for our Wild Boozy Berry Chocolates which make great use of your spirit-soaked hedgerow fruits. This is one of our favourite recipes of the whole year.
These chocolates will be the talk of any Christmas gathering with friends or will make a perfect surprise flourish to round off Christmas dinner. You could even wash them down with a tot of blackberry brandy or elderberry vodka. Just remember, they’re not for kids 😉
Above: The brandy-soaked berries in these chocolates are complimented by the orange zest and cinnamon. We added some edible gold spray for a final flourish.
Making Hedgerow Spirits
As outdoor educators, 2020 saw us locked down, unable to run many of our woodland courses and forced to stay close to home for the majority of the year, consequently we have been exploring our local green spaces and (like so many people) really getting further into the fascinating world of wild food and foraging. We have been preserving wild greens, cooking up foraged meals and discovering so many edible plants all around us like never before.
In the spring we were enjoying wild garlic pesto and nettle soup, in the summer it was dandelion honey and elderflower cordial. Autumn has bought us an abundance of berries and one wild food recipe that most people have heard of is sloe gin. It’s a foragers classic and if you’ve never made it for yourself, do give it a go. It’s so simple. If you want a recommend method for making this yourself, head over to the River Cottage website for a simple how-to.
The possibilities of hedgerow spirits go way beyond simply sloe gin though. We have made all sorts of recipes, using vodka, brandy, gin and whiskey. Any of the autumn berries can be used, and any mix, depending on what you have available or an experiment of different flavours together. All of these autumn foraged fruits work well; sloe, bullace, damson, haws, blackberries, rosehips and elderberries.
Above: The sloe gin and blackberry brandy is all bottled up, but we have some boozy berries left over. Don’t get rid of them just yet.
Waste Not, Want Not
Many people would chuck the alcohol-soaked fruits away once it’s time to strain out their hedgerow spirits, but this would be a BIG mistake. We used a whole host of hedgerow berries in our chocolates which has been gathered since summer; wild cherries, blackberries, wild raspberries, wild strawberry, sloe, bilberries, redcurrant and bullace. But you can use whatever fruits you have soaked in alcohol already.
Don’t use elderberries in your chocolates as the seeds can give you an upset stomach if eaten without cooking first. Be sure also to remove any large stones from fruits such as sloe, bullace and cherry too.
Any of the spirits will work for this recipe, but we love brandy-soaked fruit the best with chocolate. Rum would also be a good option.
Above: Use any of these autumn fruits in your hedgerow spirits and chocolates. Sloe, elderberry, rosehip, blackberry, hawthorn and bilberry.
Recipe 1: Boozy Berry, Fruit & Nut Chocolates
Boozy fruit – stones removed from the flesh, as needed
Hazelnuts – Roughly chopped
70% Dark Chocolate – use good quality chocolate, you won’t regret it
Boozy fruit – again, remove the stones where you need to
Grated orange zest
Cinnamon powder (to taste)
70% Dark Chocolate – use the good stuff
Edible Gold Glitter Spray – for decoration
Method
Cut the flesh from your boozy fruit and discard any stones or inedible pips. Set the fruit aside in a bowl for now.
Bring a small pan of water to the boil and rest another bowl over the pan to create a double-boiler. Break up the chocolate and slowly melt it in the dry pan.
Take a clean ice-cube tray and fill each section halfway with the other ingredients; either fruit, orange zest and cinnamon or fruit and hazelnuts.
Next, gently pour the melted chocolate into each section of the ice tray until the ingredients are well covered.
Place the tray in the fridge for 1-2 hours to allow them to set.
Push chocolates out of the tray and for a little sparkle you can either dust some icing sugar over them or give them a splash of edible gold spray.
Lastly, eat them and be merry!
Above: These boozy chocolates contain not only brandy-soaked hedgerow berries but also hazelnuts, for an indulgent Christmas treat.
Discover More Wild Food
If all this talk of wild food and foraging has whetted your appetite then you can take your learning further with us through the range of courses we offer.
You can immerse yourself in the world of foraging through our outdoor courses hosted in beautiful National Trust estate woodlands in North-East Wales. Or if that’s too far afield for you we also host regular online workshops, live through Zoom where we focus on wild foods of the season and give you delicious recipe ideas, foraging tips and expertise from special guest speakers. If this all sounds interesting, check out what’s coming up on our Events page right here.
Another way to get instant access to a whole backlog of wild food & foraging videos, recipes and recorded workshops is to join our Tribe over on Patreon. In return for supporting our mission, our patrons get access loads of exclusive resources. You can join the Tribe from as little as £3.60 per month. Find out about all the benefits right here.
Until next time, good luck with your own foraging journey.
Do you want to bring a little WILD to your Christmas table this year? Learn how to make our delicious Wild Woodland Stuffing which includes foraged ingredients; mixed woodland mushrooms, sweet chestnut, wild garlic bulbs and nettle.
Making this stuffing not only gives you a great excuse to get out in the woods in the run up to Christmas to gather some wild ingredients, but it tastes great and it will be the talk of the table.
This stuffing recipe was created by James and Lea Kendall. We are foragers and outdoor activity leaders based in North Wales. We found that using some of the wild foods that we’d been gathering all year in this stuffing was a satisfying way to celebrate our foraging journey over the past year.
The stuffing gives a strong, earthy flavour. This recipe serves 8 – 10 people, or if you’re a smaller group then there’s enough for turkey and stuffing sandwiches on Boxing Day 🙂
INGREDIENTS
270g breadcrumbs (wholemeal works best)
30g dried wild mushrooms – we used penny buns (ceps), parasols and brown birch boletes
4 bulbs wild garlic, finely chopped, use fewer if you want a less strong garlic flavour
300g cooked and peeled sweet chestnuts, roughly chopped
2 leeks, finely chopped
25g butter, plus extra for greasing the tray
1 tbsp olive oil
15g of fresh nettle tops or dried nettle leaves, finely chopped
2 eggs, beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
METHOD
Preheat oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.
Soak dried mushrooms in 350ml boiling water for 10 minutes so they soften. Drain, keeping the liquid for later, and chop them into small pieces.
Add a few tablespoons of the mushroom liquid to the breadcrumbs, gently mix and leave to soak for 5 minutes until flavoured.
If using fresh nettle tops, pour boiling water over the leaves to kill the stings and leave for 5 mins before draining then chopping finely.
Heat the butter and oil in a pan, add the leeks and garlic and cook until softened. Tip into a bowl and leave to cool slightly.
Stir in the remaining ingredients to the bowl until well mixed up. Season with salt and pepper then form into balls and place onto a buttered tray or dish.
Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until golden and crispy on the outside.
For the ultimate wild Christmas dinner, you could serve this stuffing with roast wild pheasant or partridge.
DISCOVER MORE FORAGING
If you want to get outdoors and learn foraging for yourself then you could come on one of our popular wild food courses.
We host our courses both in the woods in North East Wales and also regularly online through zoom sessions.
Check out our upcoming events to see what wild food courses we’re hosting soon:
James & Lea host wild food and foraging course in North-East Wales. Get in touch to find out more.
A DEEPER LOOK AT THE FORAGED INGREDIENTS
In our recipe we used the following species of wild mushroom; parasol mushroom(Macrolepiota procera), penny bun(Boletus edulis) & brown birch bolete(Leccinum scabrum). These were selected because it’s what we had available dried already. There’s no doubt that the parasols and penny buns have great flavour, however the birch bolete is more bland and not an essential ingredient for your own recipe.
If you don’t have a supply of dried wild mushrooms that you’d foraged back in autumn then you could always buy a pack from the local deli.
When gathering nettles(Urtica dioca) at this time of year, it’s all about beating the frosts so you don’t get withered leaves. Only pick the top four leaves of the nettle and go for the plants which are in good condition and still young. They can be found in December, especially if you look where land has been grazed or cut, so you get nettle regrowth.
Unless you have had the mystic foresight to roast and then freeze some foraged sweet chestnuts back in the autumn, you’re probably going to have to head to the shops again.
Notice the shape of the bulb; tapering at either end and bulbous in the middle. Length is around 5-6cm.
DIGGING UP WILD GARLIC BULBS – GOOD PRACTISE
If you’re thinking of digging up wild garlic(Allium ursinum) bulbs then bear in mind that you’re are actually removing the wild plant from it’s habitats, not just harvesting the leaves which renew each year. So there’s a coupe of things we need to think about here so we’re exercising good practise as foragers:
It is the law in the UK that you need the landowner’s permission to uproot any wild plant.
You should only dig up bulbs from a spot where you know there to be an abundance of wild garlic in the spring, that way we’re only taking a very small amount of what’s in the ground.
If you dig up any other bulbs that are not wild garlic then they must go back where and as you found them.
You can see here that bluebell bulbs are a different shape to wild garlic bulbs too.
Lastly, it’s worth mentioning english bluebell(Hyacinthoides non-scripta) which also grow from bulbs and can often by found in amongst wild garlic at ancient woodland sites. We don’t want to be digging these up and eating them, they are poisonous.
If the bulbs you’re digging up don’t smell strongly of garlic then they’re not what you’re looking for. So, give the bulb a sniff before putting it in your basket. Bear in mind that when handling a lot of garlic your fingers will start smelling of it too so make sure you’re smelling the bulbs and not your fingers 😉
We love telling stories around the campfire with children at our outdoor activity sessions, especially those tales that are set in the woods and star the creatures that the kids could see for themselves. I think it helps bring the forest alive for their imaginations.
This short story, How The Robin Got Its Red Breast, is a great one to tell on a cold winters day with the campfire crackling away. For me, the story’s message is that no matter how small you are or seem to be, you can achieve great things.
“Long, long ago, when the world was new, as the winter Sun was setting, and the land was locked in ice and snow, all the creatures believed that the warmth they had enjoyed throughout the long summer was lost forever and might never return. They were cold and afraid.”
“As the winter winds blew through the forest, a small brown bird was sheltering in a holly tree and he thought to himself, ‘What could I do?’ Somehow he knew the warmth that had gone belonged to the Sun, so he decided to fly to the Sun and ask for it back. As he took flight the holly twig on which he was standing snapped off, so he took it with him, he thought it would make him feel braver to take a piece of home on his adventure.”
“He flew up, higher and higher he climbed, and as he flew, he felt the heat of the Sun increasing. He flew on, getting hotter and hotter, until he could hardly bear the heat any more and his feathers were scorching, he was so close to the Sun! But still, he was determined to get an audience with the Sun. Then suddenly the holly twig he was carrying burst into flames. He was so shocked that he fainted and fell, down, down, spiralling back to the Earth.”
“When he awoke he realised he still had the burning twig, clutched between his feet. He had done it. He had brought the Sun’s fire back to Earth, and everyone could warm themselves in the heat from the flames. He was a hero! And because he was so brave, and because his feathers had been scorched on his adventure, to this very day, he is still called Robin Redbreast.”
The Robin is probably the UK’s favourite bird. It’s known as the gardner’s friend because it’s often seen perched near to where earth and soil is being dug over, revealing lots of juicy worms. I’ve often had a Robin as my companion when I’m practising my bushcraft skills in the woods. he’s always hoping I’ll turn over some leaves or dead wood in the hope of a easy meal.
To find out more about the Robin, where it lives, what it eats and what it sounds like. You can visit the RSPBs website which should answer all your questions here.
We’ve taken the classic Christmas song and given it our very own twist. So join us for a good old fashioned sing-along. We love singing this around our campfire with our kids groups throughout the festive season.
Forest School sessions are all about letting children be in charge of their own learning and giving them the chance to explore wild spaces on their own terms so they can grow emotionally and intellectually. We run plenty of outdoor sessions throughout the winter because we believe that children should have access to great outdoor activities all year round.
Enough of all that though, on with the song…..
We’ve made a series of pictures to celebrate each of our 12 Days, which also showcase many of the awesome activities that children get up to at forest school sessions. You can see these images by scrolling through…
We love singing this round the campfire with the kids through December and you’re very welcome to use this song too. Here’s a run down of the lyrics:
“On the first day of forest school I had the chance to see…
A child climbing in an oak tree.
Two muddy boots
Three storytimes
Four crawling bugs
Five golden leaves!
Six kids a whittling
Seven mushrooms sprouting
Eight campfires blazing
Nine shelter builders
Ten monkeys swinging
Eleven axes chopping
Twelve hunters tracking”
Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
Wintertime in the woods changes things quite dramatically. The cold, wet and early darkness means thinking differently about the activities we do with our children. Something that the kids look forward to as we approach midwinter is our Winter Wishes activity, something that’s simple enough to recreate yourself.
As the nights draw in I’ve found the children are naturally drawn to the campfire, they head for its light and warmth. Here stories can be told, chestnuts roasted and fire-sticks made. There is also a magical feel to this time of year that can be embraced as well as encouraging the kids to think about what’s going on in nature around them.
Children are full of excitement and anticipation for Christmas and the school holidays. They are mesmerised by the darkness and the dancing flames, it is a time for wishes and wonder and staying close to each other for warmth and protection.
Winter solstice (which falls between December 20th & 21st) is a turning point where (in the northern hemisphere) we are at the peak of the darkness, it being the shortest day and longest night. There is the knowledge of more light to come, as from this day forth the days get slowly longer and with that comes a deep sense of hope, new beginnings and the promise of spring.
At our Forest School we like to mark the winter solstice as this is all about welcoming the returning light to the earth and it gives the children a chance to reflect on their year just gone and their wishes for the coming year.
We mark this occasion with out Winter Wishes activity. Whilst sat in a circle, away from the campfire, each child has a turn to light a candle and make three wishes;
One wish for themselves
One wish for their community
and one wish for the Earth.
We don’t insist that the children speak their wishes out loud if they don’t want to. This gives them the option to make a very personal wish that they may otherwise be too embarrassed to speak out loud to the group.
As each child lights a candle and adds it to the growing cluster of others the light increases, mirroring the increase of sunlight and turn of the wheel of the year as we move through winter and toward spring.
“Winter solstice is a moment of pause between two cycles, a moment of transition that can be held and savored….take a moment to experience this edge between these two great cycles. It is also a moment to look forward, to name the new seeds and intentions we wish to take into the next cycle.” Glennie Kindred, Letting in the Wild Edges
I feel that it is important that we give the children a chance to wish for the wider community, especially as at this time of year it can be very easy for kids to get wrapped up in themselves as they receive so much over the Christmas period. Setting good intentions for the world can be their way of giving.
There’s plenty of other fun and games to be had in the winter woods. Our kids cook damper breads on a stick, use flashlights and Morse code to send messages through the dark, they light their own fires and cook baked beans in their tin (cowboy style) to share. All this helps dispel the fear of the darkness and develops their night vision by using all their senses. The kids go back to their homes with rosy cheeks, smelling of wood smoke and full of tales of shadows and mystery. Outdoor learning and play certainly doesn’t need to stop just because it is winter.
Happy holidays!
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