When I was talking to my daughters and step-daughter about my recent blog-post From Screen to Green, they suggested all kinds of things that they have enjoying doing in the garden. They remembered making base camps and camp fires and racing one another whilst balancing on a rolling log.
They must have felt inspired, because they then decided to make a shelter.
For two or three hours, they rigged up rope and tarpaulin under our willow tree. They made buttresses of sticks and covered them with leaves. They asked if they could use the cushions from the sun-loungers for ‘seats’ that could be rolled out to make ‘beds’. They added a log ‘table’. Then a campfire and food store.
My eldest daughter would usually be the ‘ideas girl’, and is pretty nifty at construction. But she wasn’t around at the time. The younger two were able to prove to themselves that they are pretty handy too.
It wasn’t long before they were asking if they could sleep there.
Well, I couldn’t say no, could I?
So they packed up sleeping bags and pyjamas and a torch. They took dried fruit and cereal in plastic containers for the morning. I warned them about wildlife (we have a lot of squirrels, a few mice, a family of slow worms in the compost, and at least one grass snake).
I can confirm that they made it through without being mauled by wild animals. They just got licked a bit by Ruby and Ziggy in the morning.
Here they are foraging for berries and eating their breakfast.
I aim to share whatever is going on in the garden in this blog. There are gardening hints and tips, but it is also about making the most of being outdoors, learning about nature, and living a joyful, mindful life.
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The Mindful Gardener 
Wonderful. Given the right stimulation I believe all children can be creative, even while they are into their electronic gadgets. As a boy I made dens on railway land behind our house. Here is a story from my children’s days: https://derrickjknight.com/2017/08/08/tree-house-construction-manual/
That looks amazing, Derrick! I have wondered if our willow is big enough for a treehouse…
🙂
Yes, I remember camping out in the garden as a kid. I think I got scared half way through the night and went indoors!!
I left the back door open just in case!
Good idea!
What a lovely childhood they are having
It is important to me that they have this freedom; my favourite childhood memories are of this sort of thing. They get so absorbed, and the project grows and grows…I love it.
How sweet. I do remember sleeping outside as a kid. My parents made us a tent by draping sheets over the clothesline. Thanks for stirring up fond memories!
The smell of canvas always takes me back to camping in the back garden. And Guide Camp!
My sister and I used to play like this. I loved this post.
Thank you; I am really happy that it has stirred nice memories.
Making memories! Good that you have wonderful place to forage for breakfast.
You can’t beat raspberries for breakfast!
When we were young, my sister and I piled sword ferns to lie on on the roof of a lean-to in our grandmother’s garden. We spent hours there reading under the spreading branches of a cherry tree. This was even better when the cherries were ripe and we could beat the birds to them. (We got on the roof by climbing the cherry tree.)
That sounds heavenly (cherries are my favourite).
Lovely story – great to see kids off screens and active outside!
As an only child there were few opportunities for making camps etc. your children are lucky to have the possibilities of camps on the garden etc.
They are. They give one another ideas.
That looks like a lot of young fun and what an amazing garden you have. Its a long time since ive camped and with a bad back it might be a long time coming if it does indeed happen but I remember summer camps and this time of year always reminds me of those rainy tenty days.
Yes, waking up in a tent is special.
I loved sleeping out as a kid. The grass was always dew-soaked. We must have been consumed by mosquitoes, but I don’t remember that. Sometimes we slept in the back of the station wagon. At our next house there were three porches and I loved sleeping there as we were off the ground and dry from any weather. So much fun!
This post filled me with delight and happy nostalgia. I was an inveterate fort-maker when I was younger. My favorite fort was one my brother and I made on our back patio in a house in Oregon. We stood wooden slats up and draped a blanket over the top. It was not the stablest of forts, but we loved it. We called it the Loony Tunes Fort. I recently traveled back to Oregon to visit my family, and walking out doors on my return has really helped me with managing jet lag, too.
I love that name for your fort!
Read this and thought who wonderfully lucky your girls are to have you as their mom! What a great homecoming!