New Releases by Fiona Danks

"“…while many projects have tangible payoffs — a sun clock, musical percussion sticks, magic wands and charcoal pencils pleased both the boy and me — each project seldom requires more than a page of description, even when providing actual learning opportunities within the fun.” - Dallas News

The stick is a universal toy. Totally natural, all-purpose, free, it offers limitless opportunities for outdoor play and adventure and it provides a starting point for an active imagination and the raw material for transformation into - almost anything! As New York's Strong National Museum of Play pointd out when they selected a stick for inclusion in their National Toy Hall of Fame, 'It can be a Wild West horse, a medieval knight's sword, a boat on a stream, or a slingshot with a rubber band . . .' In this book Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield offer masses of suggestions for things to do with a stick, in the way of adventures and bushcraft, creative and imaginative play, games, woodcraft and conservation, music and more.

Make it Wild! shows how children can enjoy the endless opportunities offered by wild places. Looking at what nature has to offer, they explore the potential of diverse raw materials such as snow, leaves, and sticks and suggest how to work with them. The book demonstrates how to use nature's free, renewable resources to make anything from a clay monster to an ice lantern or flaming balloons. Making things outdoors involves creativity and imagination, as well as learning how to solve practical problems, how to work together, the need to see a process through from start to finish, and the safe use of potentially dangerous tools - all of which help children acquire the skills they need to cope with the world and develop a commonsense understanding of the way it works.