Hudnall Park day visit activities

Audience: Early Years

Description of Activity

• Outside today - weather and clothing
• Seasonal observations and activities
• Sensory experiences
• Themed scavenger hunts
• Sorting, counting and displaying natural objects
• Animal detectives
• Introduction to a range of habitats
• Observing and constructing animal homes
• Care of living things
• Walks using geographical language
• Outdoor, site-specific story telling
• Exploring the properties of natural materials and how they may change over time
• Making connections between natural materials and manufactured objects

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Develop listening skills
• Learn to follow instructions
• Practice speaking to a group
• Extend their descriptive vocabulary
• Understand the links between a woodland story and the real woodland
• Practice recording their thoughts outdoors
• Use non-fiction texts to gain information
• Practice sequencing text from a story or lines of poetry
• Increase their observation and communication skills

Audience: KS1 & KS2 Art

Description of Activity

• Plant colour collection - water-colour painting matching colours
• Oil pastel drawing of plant or animal forms
• Pencil / pen line drawings of plants
• Serial vision sketching
• Graphic designs from framed natural materials
• Charcoal drawing of wood
• Woodland painting using soil paints
• Hessian scrim weaving with textured natural objects
• Ink prints of leaf shapes
• Wax resist fungi forms
• Mobiles from found natural materials
• Andy Goldsworthy study of ephemeral art

• Choice of artist study of landscape or natural forms

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Improve their observational skills and learn how observational recording can be developed into imaginative work
• Gain confidence in using a range of materials and techniques
• Develop work which emphasises the qualities of colour, line, form, texture and pattern
• Work confidently in 3D with natural materials
• Gain an appreciation of the work of artists depicting the natural world

Audience: KS1 & KS2 PE and PSHE

Description of Activity

A range of physically and mentally demanding challenges including:

• Swamp crossing
• Chrlottes web
• Blindfold sheep
• Homework bomb

Review sessions which highlight:

• Team work
• Questioning skills
• Effective contribution
• Active listening

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Understand the attributes of an effective team
• Be able to formulate and communicate plans and review performance
• Work co-operatively on shared problems
• Recognise personal strengths and weaknesses

Audience: KS1 Geography

Description of Activity

• Map interpretation: use of a simple map with symbols and key
• Map and compass work: orientation and route finding using the four compass points
• Directional language
• Activity trail
• Distance estimation and measuring
• Sketch map making
• Land use observations
• Environmental assessments
• Giant outdoor compass
• Map sticks - artefacts that record a journey

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Gain experience in interpreting maps
• Be able to orientate a map and navigate a route with the aid of a compass
• Improved their ability to estimate distances
• Have experience of map making
• Be able to name land uses
• Gain confidence in expressing opinions about environments
• Have experience of working collaboratively
• Be able to recall and describe a route

Audience: KS1 Literacy
 

Description of Activity

• Following directional instructions
• Sensory hunt which features descriptive vocabulary
• Listening to questions from a key in order to identify a plant or animal
• Listening to a traditional woodland story in situ
• Using a simple writing frame to record observations
• Reading text about some of the plants or animals they have seen
• Story or poetry trail

• Using mirrors, magnifiers or frames to observe closely and write creatively

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Develop listening skills
• Learn to follow instructions
• Practise reporting back
• Extend their vocabulary
• Become more confident
• Develop respect for their environment
• Experience sharing and taking turns
• Develop their knowledge and understanding of the natural world
• Develop awareness of space, of themselves and others
• Handle a range of equipment with increasing control
• De aware of the life and decay cycle
• Understand that natural materials can be selected by their properties to make things

Audience: KS1 Numeracy
 

Description of Activity

• Estimation and counting plant or animal species
• Number trail
• Measuring heights or girth of plants
• Measuring distances travelled
• Collecting and matching shapes and patterns in plants
• 2D and 3D shapes challenges

• Temperature trail and temperature range

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Develop approaches to solving number problems out of doors
• Practise calculating and communicating using mental methods
• Be able to use mathematical equipment to solve practical problems
• Recognise patterns and shapes in natural objects
• Improve their ability to estimate measures

Audience: KS1 Science

Description of Activity

• Exploring ways of looking, though the use of magnification, mirrors, and frames
• Exploring the range of colour in plants and matching colours
• Making 'feely' bags
• Texture scavenger hunt
• Leaf and bark rubbings
• Concocting 'potions and perfumes' from plants
• Investigation of seasonal and specific weather conditions and their effects
• Focused listening exercises
• Exploring animal camouflage
• Making sounds from natural objects
• Animal observations
• Trail sound poem or song
• Investigating the effects of exercise
• Matching shape hunt

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Gain awareness of the richness of colour, texture, sound, smell and taste of the natural world
• Gain an appreciation of the "micro" world of plants and animals
• Learn to observe and listen without disturbing animal life
• Extend their descriptive vocabulary
• Knowledge of seasonal and diurnal weather changes and their effect on plants, animals and ourselves
• Enjoy composing and performing in a group
• Learn how they can establish directions and estimate distance
• Learn how the body changes as a result of exercise

Audience: KS1 Science
 

Description of Activity

• Sorting plants into broad groups
• Identifying plants
• Plant observations, naming main parts
• Observations on what plants need in order to grow
• Seasonal observations of the life cycle of selected plants
• What happens to dead plants?
• Scavenger plant hunt
• Leaf shape rubbings or prints

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Know basic groupings of plants within a given habitat
• Be able to recognise and name several plants
• Be able to name and show the main parts of a plant and their functions
• Understand that plants need certain conditions for growth
• Be aware of the link between the season and the stage of a plant's life cycle
• Have an awareness of the life and decay cycle
• Be able to recognise and name leaf shapes
• Be able to take rubbings or print effectively

Audience: KS1 Science

Description of Activity

• Animal evidence hunt
• Exploring animal homes
• Investigating a specific habitat for the range of animal life it sustains
• Animal needs
• Identification using picture keys
• Invertebrate investigation
• Camouflage activity
• Animal menu game

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Be able to identify a number of animals
• Gain heightened observational skills
• Discover that animals have specific habitats
• Know how to care for the animals they are investigating
• Be able to record their observations in situ
• Be able to use investigative equipment
• Gain an understanding of animal camouflage
• Understand how animals and plants are linked by food chains

Audience: KS1 Science

Description of Activity

• Materials scavenger hunt
• Making and testing feely bags
• Ephemeral artwork using natural materials
• Investigating outdoor clothing for different weather conditions
• Exploring the properties of natural materials and how they may change over time
• Making connections between natural materials and manufactured objects
• Unnatural object trial
• Construction of animal homes using appropriate materials
• 3D constructions using natural habitats.

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Improve observation and discrimination skills
• Increase their knowledge of the properties and uses of natural materials
• Learn about manufacturing processes
• Understand how clothing can assist the heating or cooling of the body
• Learn about the life and decay cycle
• Have experience of building structures co-operatively
• Understand how the plant materials we need can be grown sustainably
• Appreciate the skills of animal builders
• Experience making a 3D object from raw materials

Audience: KS2 Citizenship
 

Description of Activity

• Sustainable water - follow a trail illustrating water sources and water conservation.
• Waste aware lunchtime - reducing, re-using and recycling materials
• Sustainable habitats trail
• Buildings and shelter

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Gain an understanding of what is sustainable development means and what personal responsibility to its principles might mean
• Understand the water cycle and the importance of water on Earth.
• Learn how to conserve water.
• Experience making a model or artefact from recycled materials
• Appreciate what can be done to conserve the natural environment

Audience: KS2 Geography

Description of Activity

• Map interpretation: use of symbols, keys, scale and co-ordinates
• Map and compass work: orientation and route finding using the eight point compass or bearings
• Contour map reading
• Distance estimation and measuring
• Transect map making
• Land use recording
• Weather data collection
• Environmental assessment - problems and solutions
• Map sticks - artefacts that record a journey
• Writing a route for others to follow

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Be confident in the interpretation of maps
• Be able to orientate a map and navigate a route with the aid of a compass
• Understand how to set a compass and walk on a bearing
• Understand the relationship between contour lines on maps and slopes
• Have improved distance estimation skills
• Be able to survey an area and make an accurate map
• Be able to record land use on a map
• Know how weather data is collected and used
• Have experience of assessing environments, identifying problems and proposing solutions
• Be confident in giving and following directional instructions

Audience: KS2 Geography
 

Description of Activity

• Mapwork to trace catchment area
• Exploration of valley and stream features
• Sketch mapping
• Cross sectional profiling
• Speed of flow calculation
• Erosion, transportation and deposition
• Human impact assessment
• Pollution monitoring using invertebrate indicators
• Exploration of drought and flood

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Learn the geographical vocabulary of river systems
• Be able to represent their observations in a sketch map of a river or stream
• Be able to construct a profile from data collected
• Know how to calculate the speed of flow
• Know how water shapes the landscape
• Understand that a river or stream is a habitat with plant and animal communities
• Be able to assess the quality of water
• Appreciate how human activity affects a river system
• Be aware of the consequences of drought and flood

Audience: KS2 Geography
 

Description of Activity

• Origins of settlement
• Map work to establish how an area has changed over time
• Land use mapping
• Environmental quality assessment
• Amenity provision assessment
• Building styles and materials
• Environmental improvement exercise
• Pollution assessment
• Comparison with home area

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Understand how a settlement has developed over time
• Develop their map reading skills
• Be able to use a variety of methods to record their observations
• Have specific knowledge of local architecture
• Have generated ideas for environmental improvement
• Understand the forms of pollution and how to assess them
• Gain critical awareness of the environment and be able to express an informed opinion
• Appreciate the differences between their home and study area

Audience: KS2 Literacy
 

Description of Activity

• Write a route to a treasure for others to follow
• Interpretative scavenger hunt
• Compose an information post on a plant or animal feature from observation and research
• Prepare instructions for use of equipment or an activity
• Use of a plant or animal key to identify a species
• Present information from a hypothesis and investigation
• Detailed description of a plant or animal from observation
• Discussion of an environmental issue

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Improve their ability to write and follow clear and concise directions
• Practise interpretation of words and phrases, achieving a group consensus
• Gain confidence in bringing together listening, observation and research skills in a piece of writing for a specific audience
• Be able to write sequenced steps of procedure
• Learn how to use dichotomous word keys
• Practise posing questions, designing investigations and communicating results
• Develop focused descriptive writing
• Be able to communicate and defend a point of view

Audience: KS2 Literacy
 

Description of Activity

• Scavenger hunt leading to exploration of alliteration and collective nouns
• Writing frame which focuses on the senses or time or serial vision
• "Creature Features" invertebrate poems
• Haiku landscape writing
• Composing a folk tale or myth from an observed green plant or fungus
• Listening to a fable and writing a fable about woodland animals
• In situ shared text and continuation of writing
• Observational writing with the use of mirrors, magnifiers or frames
• Story or poetry trail

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Extend their descriptive vocabulary
• Be able to organise their observations in note form into a succinct poem or prose form
• Improve their imaginative ideas
• Gain an appreciation of the work of other writers, and be able to continue in similar style
• Learn about the purposes and structure of certain text types
• Be able to sequence lines or extracts from a poem or story
• Draw inspiration from, and an empathy with the natural world
• Gain confidence in performing their work

Audience: KS2 Numeracy

Description of Activity

• Number or activity trail
• Establishing a scale for a map and estimation and calculation of distance walked
• Tree measurements of height or canopy or age through girth
• Leaf area investigation
• Grass growth patterns
• Temperature trail of microclimates
• Grids and co-ordinates treasure hunt
• Finding natural spirals and making spirals based on number sequences
• Shape and symmetry challenges
• Transect mapping
• Plant or animal data collection, interpretation and presentation
• Quadrat surveys

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Use appropriate methods to solve practical outdoor problems
• Develop their estimation and prediction skills in calculations of measures
• Practice relating maps to distances and areas
• Make connections between number patterns and natural forms
• Use appropriate mathematical equipment effectively
• Work collaboratively
• Draw inferences from their data collection

Audience: KS2 PE

Description of Activity

Introduction to basic orienteering skills in the following areas:

• Orienteering
• Route planning
• Symbols and keys
• Compass work

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Improve their spatial awareness
• Be able to interpret simple maps, symbols and keys
• Have experience of planning and following routes
• Be able to use a compass as an aid to navigation
• Know how to set a compass and walk on a simple bearing

Audience: KS2 PE
Location: Cuffley, Hudnall Park

Description of Activity

Intermediate courses using the following activities:

• Activity trails
• Route planning
• Basic compass bearing activities
• Basic orienteering using maps over line, star and route courses

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Be confident in interpreting maps, symbols and keys
• Understand the use of a compass as an aid to navigation
• Know how to set a compass and walk on a variety of bearings
• Be able to transfer information from map to map

Audience: KS2 PE
 

Description of Activity

A range of advanced orienteering courses which will use the following skills:

• Route planning
• Moving a bearing from a grid to a magnetic direction
• Moving on a bearing
• Taking a bearing to and from an object
• Line event
• Competitive event

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Be confident in planning and following routes
• Make full use of a compass as an aid to navigation
• Be proficient in setting a compass and travelling on bearings
• Be able to take part in competitive orienteering events

Audience: KS2 Science
 

Description of Activity

• Animal evidence hunt within a given habitat
• Collection of invertebrates in two contrasting habitats
• Exploring animal homes
• Animal identification by use of keys
• Animal adaptations to habitats
• Investigating animal groups
• Food chains and webs
• Animal life cycles
• Conservation trail

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Be able to recognise animal evidence
• Have learnt techniques which allow them to collect and investigate invertebrates with care
• Be confident in the use of keys
• Have an appreciation of the diversity of animal life within a habitat
• Have knowledge of the life processes of specific animals
• Be able to explain how animals are adapted to their habitat
• Understand feeding relationships in a habitat
• Learn what can be done to protect animal diversity and conserve species

Audience: KS2 Science
 

Description of Activity

• Sorting plants into named groups and identifying species within those groups using keys and reference books
• Woodland succession observations
• Life cycle of plants, highlighting the specific seasonal stage
• Plant survey of two contrasting habitats
• Non-flowering plant investigation
• Decay cycle and fungi foray
• Plant profile
• Plants in food chains hunt
• Human uses of plants
• Conservation trail
• Making a plant identification key

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Have knowledge of specific plant groups and be able to name species within that group
• Understand the conditions for growth
• Be able to describe how plants are adapted to certain habitats
• Have knowledge of plant life cycles
• Improve their observational skills
• Be able to use a variety of equipment and recording methods
• Be able to interpret data and draw conclusions
• Appreciate the diversity of plant forms
• Know how plants contribute to food chains and webs within a given habitat
• Be aware of the uses of native plants
• Understand the organic method of growing plants
• Be aware of human impact on plants, the importance of plant diversity and conservation methods

Audience: KS2 Science

Description of Activity

Choose from:

• Woodland
• Hedgerow
• Meadow
• Freshwater ponds
• Streams

To do:

• Plant investigations
• Animal investigations
• Micro-organism investigations
• Environmental quality assessments
• Conservation trail

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Learn to use the most appropriate methods to explore a habitat
• Be confident in the use of scientific equipment
• Understand how plants and animals are adapted to different habitats
• Understand how plants are connected within a habitat
• Be aware of the variety of micro habitats within a given area
• Be able to make judgements about the quality of an environment, and how it might be best improved or sustained

Audience: KS2 Science

Description of Activity

• Sorting rocks, minerals, plants and animal fossils
• Sorting rocks into local and global categories
• Exploring properties of local rocks and learning about their formation
• Separating the components of soils by sieving or settling in water
• Collection of surface and drilled soil samples
• Observations relating soils to plants
• Testing soils for particle size
• Investigation of leaf litter invertebrates
• Soil profiling
• Making and using soil paints

Learning Outcomes

Some examples of learning outcomes that can be introduced within this activity are below. Please discuss the outcomes you wish to achieve with your course tutor during the planning of your group programme.

Children will:

• Be able to distinguish between rocks, minerals and fossils
• Be able to identify local rocks and explain their properties and uses
• Know how to identify soils according to particle size and organic content
• Understand how plants are related to soil types
• Be aware of the decay process and the action of soil invertebrates
• Understand how weathering and erosion occur
• Have experience of making soil paints and an appreciation of their qualities