It was brilliant to host a Nature4Health session for the Huntly Youth Club at Beldorney Estate last week, getting kids out into nature. Everyone got involved in practising fire lighting, first with cotton wool and then with thistledown and birch bark, before cooking some tasty "doughnuts" on the fire. We learned about prey and predator behaviours before heading out to look at some animal tracks and signs.
After some warming spruce tea, learning some knots and making some wooden Christmas decorations with nettle cordage for hanging, we rounded off the morning with lunch round the fire and hot chocolate.
Thanks to N4H, Rachel n Jaz Youth Work, Barnardo's, and the funders of the wider FIRNS project NatureScot and The National Lottery Heritage Fund.