One of the incredible things about getting out in nature is how all our senses become heightened. This week I have been thinking about the value of really focusing on listening when you are out in the natural world. Making a point, of stopping, still and just simply listening. Letting our busy world slow down and take the time to marvel at the wonderful sounds all around us. When I do this I find lots of interesting things to see, explore and discover and deepen my connection with nature. I’ll give you some examples of some of my favorite sounds to listen out for just now. I bet you’ll have lots of different sounds you hear too! Birdsong Taking the time to be still and listen is a great way to spot birds, often when I think nothing is about stopping for a minute to listen opens up a world of interest. Birds calling to each other or parent birds calling to their young, birds making their alarm calls when predators are near. I often spot the woodpecker because I hear its claws scraping on the bark high up in the Scots Pines even before its typical rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat. Once you spot where the noise is coming from it gives you the opportunity to look & to explore a new nature story. Bees Buzzing Just now I listen out particularly at the wild raspberry bushes to hear the sways of bees, busying themselves constantly. I find watching bees fascinating. Doing their busy important work pollinating the trees and wildflowers with pollen. Once you start looking there are so many different kinds of bees to see and some great resources available to identify species. I see a lot of Tree Bumblebees, Buff Tailed Bumble Bees, Early Bumblebees. With their pollen baskets all loaded up. Listen to them buzz and see how many you can spot. Psithurism This brings us on nicely to our tree to look out for this week as it is a master of Psithurism: which is ‘the sound of the wind whispering through the trees’. I love to just stop, close my eyes and breathe in the noise of the leaves rustling. It’s one of my favourite calming sounds. Have you ever noticed that different trees make different sounds? Here's a short video of psithurism. The Silver Birch The Silver birch is a tall slender, gentle looking tree that can grow up to 30 meters. But this dainty tree is actually one of the most hardy trees there are. It has a very slight trunk, slighter branches and even slighter twigs that can seem like they are threadlike. With its thousands of small pointy leaves weighing down the flexible branches it weeping frame makes the unmistakable sound of the rustling leaves of the Silver Birch tree in the wind. Have a look at our video below for ways to identify the Silver birch and check out it’s identification traits below. Identification Traits Leaves: Look out for its small glossy green triangular shaped, pointed leaves. Bark: Very distinctive smooth white silvery bark higher up, then prominent grey/green scars, cracks and knobbly bumps towards the base. Branches and the inner bark beneath the white are both a russet – reddish brown colour. Shape: Slender tall and dainty, with branches laden with leaves weeping downwards swaying in the wind. Value to Wildlife The Silver Birch is a pioneer species and can be found growing in pretty much any habitat. I have 3 growing in my garden that have self-seeded themselves. As the trunk and leaves are so slight a woodland with Silver Birch in benefits as the sun light can get through the tree to the ground below. Meaning wildflowers can thrive. (Compare this to the ground beneath a Beech tree). A Silver Birch can be home to over 300 types of insect life, including aphids feeding on the leaves and in turn ladybirds feeding on them. It is home to many moths including Buff Tips and Angle Shades. Its papery seeds in July are eaten by Greenfinches and Siskins. A common feature on Silver Birches is the Witches Broom Gall, which is caused by parasites like a fungus or by insects laying eggs. The tree responds by gluing lots of its twigs together in great big hard clumps! The Silver Birch has extensive root system which allows it to gain a lot of nutrients to sustain the life within it, so for a ‘dainty’ tree its bark is incredibly strong. A birch tree only lives for around 100 years, and when they do fall you will notice the inside of the tree rots before the bark leaving a ring of its strong bark remaining. It’s ability to find and retain water makes it a favourite with fungi and there are several fungi species only associated with birch for example the Birch Polypore and Birch Bolette. Finally the Silver Birch in Scots folklore is seen as a symbol of renewal and purification, it’s always a pleasure to see and to hear it out in the woods. Good luck in spotting it! WILD

For our final blog of this series we are going to have a look at a real superpower of the woodland. Which is Deadwood trees. A deadwood is a tree that is partly or fully dead, it can be still standing or it could have fallen over onto the ground. Deadwood is incredibly important to the biodiversity and overall health of a woodland! A deadwood tree can take decades to decay and decompose, and during this time it provides food and habitat to a wealth of plants and wildlife. Why is Deadwood so important ? 40% of woodland life is dependent on deadwood to survive. A third of all birds nest in standing deadwood or deadwood holes in trees. It provides micro-habitats for organisms such as fungi, lichens, insects, and mosses. Deadwood slowly decays and releases essential nutrients and nitrogen back into the soil boosting the health of the woodland. Trees store up carbon during their lifetime and then release this safely back into the earth when they die. Preventing its release into our atmosphere, through this action the tree helps reduce global warming. At forest school – deadwood provides wonderful insects, fungi and mosses to look at. A moss sit spot to relax in. A bridge to jump from. A pirate ship to play in… a cauldron to mix in…. the list is endless… Decomposers A deadwood tree can take up to 40 years to decompose. It has help from decomposers which are organisms, fungi or invertebrates that decompose of organic material ie – our Deadwood tree. During the early stages decomposers that help are fungi and beetles, feeding on the tree and making their home in it. Fungi have enzymes that digest compounds in wood. It’s spectacular to see the various shapes colours and sizes of different fungi working away decomposing the deadwoods. Then as gaps and tunnels appear in the wood, spiders and wasps, hoverflies, millipede, woodlice and mites can move in to assist. They are all helping the tree decay but ultimately they are decomposing it purely be able to survive themselves. Once there is space small mammals like mice, & voles, hedgehogs can use the deadwood. Some deadwood later evolves into burrows with foxes, rabbits and deer using them. Activity Can you spot any habitats in a deadwood tree the next time you are out in the woods? A habitat is somewhere that a plant, animal or organism lives. What do you think lives there? Can you turn over a small piece of deadwood on the ground to look for insects? (remember to put it back gently). Is there any indication of bigger mammals using the site too? Like their tracks or droppings? Can you see any holes high up on a standing deadwood made by birds as these are ideal roosting spots for Owls or Great Spotted Woodpecker. Can you see any birds coming and going? Standing deadwoods could also be used by bats so look out for them too around dusk. So the next time you are out in the woods keep an eye out for the deadwood and see what wonderful micro-habitats you can spot on them. It’s great to see all the new growth on our forest school sites and as we have said before…good things will return…nature proves that! Hope to see you all soon at WILD! Love from WILD PS: This is our last blog in the series, we hope to get back out doing WILD forest School Sessions very soon! Stay WILD Folks!

This week's fungus is the beautiful and delicate scarlet elf cup, it's a real delight to find in the depths of winter. It's the fungus of faeries and folklore, used in ancient medicine for its healing properties. We'll have look at how, where and when to find this winter beauty. Scarlet elf cup looks exactly as it sounds, a deep hollow bowl shape from which elves can drink morning dew or faeries can bathe. The inner surface of the bowl is deep red and the outer surface is orange. It has a close relative called the ruby elf cup fungus which is very similar, perhaps a little darker in colour. The red surface is where the spores are released from. Scarlet elf cup is an 'ascomycota' fungus which means it actively shoots its spores into the air. You can see this happening on a YouTube video here Scarlet elf cups offer one of the best opportunities to observe this spore explosion: by blowing on them (ideally in March or April) you can trigger them to shoot clouds of spores which can be seen with the naked eye. This is not the movement of your breath raising a cloud, but the slight change in temperature that it brings triggering many thousands of spores into being expelled from the inner surface of the cup by a pump action. I'm looking forward to giving this a go in spring time, it also helps disperse the spores to enable more scarlet elf cup to grow. We've talked about 'decomposer fungus' or saprophytes which eat dead wood and recycle it into nutrients which are released back into the earth to support new plant life. Scarlet elf cup is a saprophyte which lives on dead branches of deciduous trees such as hazel or sycamore which are decaying and normally covered in moss. It likes to grow in damp places, especially on the forest floor where it can attach itself to leaf litter or nestle into rotting mossy branches. You'll find it in shady, damp ditches and near river beds. Scarlet elf cup is found all over the UK, more often in areas with high rainfall, making Scotland a perfect home for it. Many foragers use this fungus as it presents beautifully on the plate. Some say the fungus is inedible whilst others say it has an 'earthy' taste with a hint of beetroot! We encourage you to leave the elf cups where you see them, in their natural environment, doing their job for everyone to admire. Until next week, Happy fungi finding, W.I.L.D.

Well we are having quite the proper winter season this year! With consistently low temperatures, beautiful crisp days and a good few fabulous falls of snow. It makes me think about how the plants and wildlife must have to strive to survive at this time of year. Did you know there is one mushroom in particular that these cold temperatures are actually essential for its survival. Look out this week for the stunning Velvet Shank also known as The Winter Mushroom! The Velvet Shank’s scientific name is Flammulina velutipes, which reflects its bright orange ‘flame’ like cap and ‘velvet’ stem. It has been used throughout history for researching medicine and for cooking. It’s a good one to look out for just now as it fruits from Autumn through winter into Spring. It needs the cold temperatures to stimulate it fruiting. It is a pretty incredible fungi as it can withstand ice and snow and survive being frozen completely solid! The cold is an essential triggering element in the continuation of it’s life cycle! Saprophytic Fungi The Velvet Shank is a Saprophytic fungi meaning its role is breaking down and recycling the dead organic matter the it lives on. Which is the same as the Jelly Ear fungi Gill looked at last week. You are likely to see it on dead or decaying broadleaf tree’s like Elm, Ash, Beech or Oak. Look out for it on tree stumps, or standing or lying down deadwood trees. You can check out our earlier blog to find out all about the huge importance of deadwood trees in a woodland too here. Velvet Shank particularly favours Elms and as we have quite a few of these on one of our forest school sites I went down to have a look there and sure enough here is the beautiful blaze of flaming golden colour I was greeted with. Make sure to look all around the tree/stump as there may be more fungi to see for example here I found some way up high in the tree too! Identification Using your detective skills look for the identification traits below to find it. Firstly the scientific name helps us to identify it. · Flammulina ‘little flame’ in reference to it’s orange/brown cap which is shiny and becomes slimy after rain. · And Velutipes meaning ‘ with velvet legs’! It's most striking identification trait is this, its shank or stem is smooth and velvety to the touch! · The stem is a rich reddish brown colour – darkest at the base. · It’s gills are widely spaced, and are white turning creamy yellow when mature. · It’s seen in packed tiered clusters on decaying wood of broadleaf trees especially Elm. · There is no ring on the stem unlike it’s lookalikes. Check out our video introduction to the Velvet Shank & Winter habitats here: This fungi is safe for most of us to touch, but has lookalikies which are not so friendly. Thankfully they are not likely to be around in the winter, but due to this I am always very respectful of fungi. Remembering to wash my hands well when I get home after touching them. (We are experts at this anyway these days!). I don’t damage or have any need to remove the fungi, especially as it has such an important decomposing job to do in the woodland. Other winter habitats are all around us! If you are out having a look for fungi this week be sure to have a good look all around where you are for other signs of life too as there will be plenty to see. There are only 3 native mammals that truly hibernate in the United Kingdom, Hedgehogs, Bats and Dormice. So everything else is still around, and striving to survive in this cold wintery weather. It’s amazing what can be discovered if you get a chance to look. From tiny micro-habitats like fungi/lichen/invertebrates on twigs like this Witches Butter Fungus or Yellow Brain! Also try looking out for wildlife feeding signs. This week I found dozens of snails shells discarded after something had had a grand meal of them! (photo below). We also found wonderful habitat holes in moss and on the ground perhaps made by mice or voles. You might spot bigger burrows of larger mammals or might even be lucky enough to catch a fleeting glimpse of a deer or fox! If we do get frost or snow it’s a great opportunity to look out for animal tracks. We saw these very clear bird foot prints in snow last week. Also mud is great to look at for animal tracks too and of course for making your own prints in! I love starting to build up the story of the life going on in a woodland, local park or this could even be in your garden. It’s wonderful to take the opportunity to get to know your local greenspace! Take care all! We’ll look forward to hearing all about what you’ve seen this week. W.I.L.D. #lovethenatureonyourdoorstep #forestschoolrocks #nature

This week's Friday Fungi is the jelly or wood ear fungus. It can be found most commonly on dead elder trees and grows across Britain, Ireland, Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. This wobbly, gelatinous fungus has a velvety outer layer which feels soft to the touch. It's obvious how it come upon its name as is likeness to a human ear is a little spooky. Jelly ear fungus is safe to touch and is eaten in China where it's added to hot and sour soups. I've never tried eating jelly ear and suggest it's best left on the tree where it has an important job to do... Here's a video of some Jelly Ear growing near the White Cart. Jelly ear is a bracket fungus which means it grows out of a tree trunk or branch like a bracket. It belongs to a group of fungus called 'decomposers' or 'saprotrophs'. These fungi can't photosynthesize like trees and plants do to get food which means they need to find food elsewhere. They feed from the organisms they live on, the dead Elder tree. Using potent enzymes the jelly ear breaks down the wood (lignin) and recycles it, depositing nutrients into the soil. Decomposers eventually convert all organic matter (dead wood) into carbon dioxide and nutrients. This releases raw nutrients (such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and magnesium) in a form usable to plants and algae. This process resupplies nutrients to the ecosystem. Fungi also use the nutrients for their own growth and repair. How amazing is the jelly ear? :) Happy fungus finding Take care, W.I.L.D. There's lots of information out there if you want to find out more. https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/jelly-ear/

Hello and welcome again to our blog. Last March during lockdown we decided to post weekly tree identification videos of trees you can find in Linn Park. We loved researching trees and sharing our findings with you so we thought we'd do it again but with fungus this time. We tend to associate mushrooms or the fruit of the fungus with Autumn but they can be found all year round if you look carefully. What we see is the 'fruit' of the fungus. The main body of the fungus is made up of fine threads (hyphae) that group together to make a mycelium. Most of the time the mycelium is hidden from view because it is growing through the soil or under fallen logs or decaying plant and animal remains. The fungus breaks down the dead remains and releases simple food products that it can absorb through the hyphae that make up its mycelium. This is how the fungus gets food for growth. The fruit bodies are the fruits of the fungus - just like pears are the fruit on a pear tree. Fruit bodies come in lots of different shapes, colours and sizes. The fruit of the Tinder fungus looks a little bit like a horse's hoof with a very hard shell and soft underside. Tinder fungus can also be known as Horses Hoof fungus and it's Latin name is Fomes Fomentarius which means 'used for tinder'. Tinder fungus is found on birch trees in Scotland and occasionally beech trees in the south of the UK. Tinder fungus belongs to the Polyporaceae family. It's a bracket fungus which means it grows out of trees that are dead, standing or lying on the ground. Tinder fungus fruiting bodies only appear once the tree it is growing on has died. Its incredible woody, tough fungi can grow up to 40cm wide and 20ch deep. Each curved line on the top of the fungus represents a year of its life, they can live up to the age of 22! The fungus will die when it has broken down the deadwood and removed all the nutrients it can from it. As I mentioned we've used this fungus during our Forest School sessions. It was very tough and tricky to cut open so we ended up having to use a Billhook to split it open to have a closer look inside. Once inside you can see all the tiny tubes through which the spores will travel. The 'tinder' or Amadou is the fluffy looking part that's coincidentally shaped like a mushroom, we gave lighting it with a flint and steel a go but it was much more difficult than we thought. I've later learned that it needs to be prepared in a certain way, hopefully we can try it again when we get back into the woods. The use of Tinder fungus to light fire dates back to over 5000 years ago. The body of the 'Iceman' found preserved in a glacier in the Alps in 1991, was accompanied by a pouch containing flint and a piece of dried tinder fungus, indicating that it played an important role then in people's use of fire. The fungus has also long been known to have important healing properties, and in 400 BC Hippocrates referred to it as being used as an anti-inflammatory. Recent studies have found that it has strong anti-viral and anti-bacterial properties, thereby confirming its age-old use. Happy fungus finding Until next week, W.I.L.D. Referenced with thanks https://treesforlife.org.uk/ https://www.britmycolsoc.org.uk/mycokids

It could be easy to think there isn’t much colour in nature during wintertime. But surprisingly if you get a chance to really look there is actually millions of little blazes of shapes, textures and colours that are there growing extremely slowly all year round. They can be found on walls, rocks, bark, twigs and even on soil and that is the fascinating word of lichens. What is a Lichen? Lichens are a partnership made up of more than one organism. A symbiotic association between a fungus and an algae/and or a Cyanobacteria (known as photobionts). The fungus needs a food source whilst the photobionts require protection to survive. As the Photobionts are photosynthetic they provide a food source for the fungus made from the sun, water and air and in return the fungus provides them with a home and shelter! It’s a winning partnership! The life of a Lichen This group of fungi is extremely old. It is estimated to have evolved during the Carboniferous period (over 300 million years ago). With the very first lichens likely dating back to before the origin of land plants, when most of the biodiversity of our planet earth was in the sea! Lichens take a long time to grow, only about 1-2mm per year! They prefer an established undisturbed place like ancient woodlands to live as then they have the time and space to grow there but can also be seen in many varied places around towns and cities too. They are very sensitive to air pollution so are a good indicator of that areas air quality and the overall health of the environment. Crusty species of Lichen are more hardy to pollution, with beardy species more delicate and only found in areas of cleaner air quality. It’s great to see so much Lichen here in the south side of Glasgow – our inclement climate must suit! What to look out for? Check out our wee video showing some of my local Lichens! Lichens come in different shapes, textures and colours to look out for and can range in colour from white to yellow, green, grey or brown. Some species associate with different surfaces to grow on for example needing certain barks like the Ash Tree as it gets is more acidic (alkaline) with age. Others grow on rocks, or even directly on soil – in the video I was looking at a birch tree. Additionally using a magnifying glass if you have one will let you see so much more detail - a world in miniature! Lichen Shapes to look for: bushy beards!, leafy pads, strap branches, crusty leaves & spots. Lichens are non-parasitic and don’t harm any plants they live on. They are extremely valuable to wildlife as a source of nesting materials for birds and food and shelter to lots of invertebrates which in turn become food for other creatures feed on. A woodland rich in lichen supports more wildlife than any other. Threats to Lichen come from pollution and destruction of their habitat. Epic Lichens Lichens have adapted to live in some of the most inhospitable environments all over the world from arctic, to desert to coast. Fungi’s morphing into lichens (Lichenisation) and hosting the photobionts is an ecological strategy for survival for them both. It’s like an epic movie story line! Xanthoria Parientina - Common Sunburst Lichen on Birch 2021. So grab yourself a magnifying glass this week and look out for the incredible world of Lichens. I found all these ones really close to home. Lichens are such a great source of interest on our Forest School Sites, it’s always a pleasure to see them. Take care and hope to see you all soon at W.I.L.D. W.I.L.D. #lovethenatureonyourdoorstep With reference; https://www.britishlichensociety.org.uk/ https://www.nature.scot/plants-animals-and-fungi/lichens 'Scottish Lichens' group on Facebook. With Many Thanks

Forest School is a continuous process. An opportunity to adapt to the environment around you as it moves through time. We learn through the changing seasons, adapt to fluctuating temperatures, rain, wind, snow, sunshine and now darkness. We thrive on delivering sessions that work with and get the best out of seasonal changes, finding alternatives, making do with and improving what we have to work with. At W.I.L.D. we are extremely fortunate to use an incredible woodland brimming with flora and fauna. One thing our site doesn’t have is any lighting. Setting up the site safely in the dark was something we had to think long and hard about. Working with children in a public park in the dark is not something to take lightly and so the risk assessing and planning began in early October. Every forest school site we use is risk assessed, seasonally, monthly and daily taking into consideration every aspect of the woodland from the canopy to the forest floor. Now we’ve added in every additional risk darkness brings which means reducing the size of the site, lighting boundary lines and bringing in an additional member of staff (among many other things). Once we had a plan, a dry run was the next stage. We visited the site in the dark loaded with various torches and lights to find out how it all worked in situ. We needed bright welcoming lighting for children and parents arriving at site as well as lanterns to light up the main areas of play, basecamp and the fire area. We wanted to create a warm, welcoming space as playing in the dark could be a little scary or least disorientating for some. We are delighted to have Chloe join us for the remainder of the dark nights sessions. Chloe is also a Level 3 Forest School Leader and has tonnes of experience we can all learn from. Having an additional member of staff with us enables us to continue with activities like having a fire, crafts and tool work. So far we've been bat detecting, whittling, sawing tree cookies and lots of cooking on the fire. These sessions work because we know the children and tailor the sessions to work in the dark. We meet the children in advance of the session, put on head torches and a high viz vest then walk to our Forest School Site. The same rules apply throughout the session, we practice 1,2,3 basecamp and they all understand the importance of coming to basecamp when called. They've all transitioned to the dark nights well, and mud play... whether you love it or loath it, has become a magnetic force few can resist...

The humble nettle doesn't have the best reputation when it comes to plants but they are pretty fantastic and thriving with life at the moment, so, I thought I'd find out more about them and share it with you. There are a few different kinds of nettles, Dead Nettle (purple flower and leaves), Henbit Nettle (also purple flower) and the Common or Stinging Nettle which is the one we're having a closer look at. Nettles are fairly recognisable, we learn to watch out for them from a young age as it's wise to avoid bumping into them. The leaves are long ovals on female plants and broader, ace shapes on male plants. All leaves are have distinct serrated edges and are covered in tiny hairs. A nettle’s sting is like a needle. It’s a hollow hair which is made of silica and contains a venom, composed of histamine and other chemicals The hair is extremely brittle and it only takes the lightest of brushes to break off the point and inject its unlucky victim. Nettles support over 40 species of invertebrates (animals with no backbone)! They are home to lots of caterpillar species such as the Small Tortoiseshell butterfly caterpillar. The nettles in Linn Park are covered with these caterpillars at the moment, they're great to watch, munching their way through the leaves. This is a Small Tortoiseshell Butterfly, one to look out for. Nettles support ladybirds, aphids, chaffinches, bullfinches, sparrows, hedgehogs, shrews and frogs and toads. If you look at a patch of nettles in Spring/Summer for just a few minutes, you're sure to see a variety of life. If you see a white foamy liquid on a nettle, it's called Cuckoo Spit. Inside the foam lives a little insect called a Froghopper or Spittlebug. This photo shows Cuckoo Spit on a Dock plant. It is thought that if you get stung by a nettle, placing a Dock leave over the sting will sooth the sting. Whether this is actually true is unknown but the cool, moist leave is sure to bring some relief, placebo or otherwise. For the foragers out there, teas and soups can be made with nettles, it has a similar taste to spinach. Nettle crisps are a great one to try, fry the leaves in a little coconut oil, they crisp up beautifully. If you are out picking nettles, remember to always wear gloves and check the leaves aren't home to any insects. :) So, in short nettles are cool. The stems can even be used to make rope and ecologically friendly yarns to make clothes! Is there nothing this plant cannot do?? Love, WILD

A whole new world has opened up to us over the past few weeks, the world of the night flying moth. We were asked by the Discover Nature on My Doorstep group if we wanted to borrow a moth trap...yeah why not? A moth trap is humane and doesn't harm the moths at all. It's basically a big box with a light on the top that attracts the moths. The moths fly in and settle in the groves of the empty egg boxes that fill the box. There are 2 perspex sheets on top that prevent the moths flying out at night time, ready for closer inspection in the morning. Little did we know that we would get to meet some of the most intriguing and interesting creatures that are out there. Moths are not generally known for their beauty, colour or furry cuteness but the moths that flew into the trap were absolutely beautiful. Here are photos of a Drinker Moth, Peppered Moth and a Poplar Hawk-moth (2) that found their way into the moth trap. After having a look at them and identify them, we let them fly off back to their family tree! The natural world around us never ceases to amaze, if you look a little closer for a little longer, you never know what you'll find. Love, WILD

Hi Everyone, today’s tree to look out for is the Horse Chestnut! You can see the beautiful, sticky buds in the video and photos below. They’re quite easy to spot as they’re so big! The bark of the Horse Chestnut changes over time. A young tree has smooth bark, but as it ages it gets rougher and appears layered (just like humans!). The tree in the video is mature (quite old), they can live up to 300 years! The Horse Chestnut will produce a candelabra or tiered flower in May after the leaves appear soon. The leaves look like big hands with 5 (sometimes 7) leaflets. In autumn the Horse Chestnut produces seeds that you may know as ‘conkers’ It’s very satisfying to crack open the spiky shell to find the shiny brown seed or conker inside. Conkers are used to play a game where you drill a hole in the seed, put a string in it and try to hit your opponents conker by swinging it. The person who breaks the conker is the winner. Good luck with your search, see you next week. WILD

Hi Wild-Friends! Thought we’d post up some of the stuff we’re getting up to with the kids from time to time for ideas just now. Here we are making a bug hotel in our garden using our paper recycling! We started by finding a a cardboard box as a frame, filling it with lots of different cardboard shapes for the rooms. Then we furnished the rooms with lots of lovely natural materials lying around the garden like sticks, birch bark, grass, leaves and earth. 💖 It was lots of fun and my sons convinced we have residents already!! Take care and stay safe WILD 🦋🌱🐌🤘🦔