Activity guides

How the activity guides work

Each Wilding activity guide is a printable card: a front that tells you at a glance what it is, and a back page with everything you need to do it. Here is a real one, Building a debris shelter, explained part by part.

The front

What each part of the card means

Front of the Building a debris shelter activity guide
  1. Title What you will do, in a few words.
  2. Photo A real moment from the activity, so you know what you are aiming for.
  3. Number Its place in the Practice Key, so cards are easy to sort and find.
  4. Practice Key Which of the 15 Practice Keys this activity guide opens. The colour runs through every card in that Key.
  5. Scan me Point your phone camera at the QR code to watch a short film of the activity.
  6. The Web of the Wild The communities of nature this activity connects you with. Coloured circles are the ones it explores.
  7. Key icon A quick visual signpost to the Practice Key.
  8. Group size How many people it needs, from one upwards.
  9. Footer The Key, the activity guide number and the version date.
The back

Everything you need to do it

Back page of the Building a debris shelter activity guide
  1. Header The title, Key colour and number again, so the back page works on its own.
  2. At a glance Group size and how much of the Web of the Wild it touches.
  3. Step by step Clear numbered steps to follow outdoors.
  4. Questions to wonder about Prompts to deepen your noticing and curiosity afterwards.
  5. Tip & variations What makes it work, and ways to make it easier, harder or different.
  6. Resources Exactly what you need. Templates and charts are included with the activity guide.
  7. Learning & practising over time What it builds, and how to come back to it through the seasons.
  8. Connections Related activity guides to try next.
  9. Safety The risks to think about before you start. Every activity guide has one.
Scan me

The QR code takes you to a short film

Every card has a QR code. Scan it with your phone camera and it opens that activity guide’s page, with a short step-by-step film you can watch before you head out. Here is the film for Building a debris shelter.

Building a debris shelter: the steps as a slideshow
Putting them together

From single activities to a journey

One activity guide is a good afternoon. A few, chosen with intention and repeated over weeks, become a journey. Here are three ways to put them together.

A personal journey

For you, over four weeks

  1. Week 1Sit spotFind your place and return to it
  2. Week 2Owl eyesWiden your vision at your sit spotDear earsThen your hearing
  3. Week 3My blackbird teacherLet one bird teach you its language
  4. Week 4Sit spot journalRecord what has changed

Read alongside: Wild Awake explains why sit spots and the senses work, and maps where to go next.

A mentoring path

For one adult and one young person

  1. StartThe red fox mentoring compassThe shape of good nature mentoring
  2. ThenPracticing ‘Notice’Help them noticeWonderAsk curious questions
  3. TogetherWho’s poo?A playful tracking mystery
  4. Keep goingInviteHand them the lead

Read alongside: Wild Guide on mentoring from behind, with the Red Fox compass.

A group programme

For a family, class or youth group, six sessions

  1. 1Sharing circleOpen and close every session
  2. 2Fox walkingMove quietly, see more
  3. 3Building a debris shelterA team challenge
  4. 4Lighting a fire with childrenSafe fire, step by step
  5. 5Track detectiveWho passed by?
  6. 6Celebrating natureMark what you have shared

Read alongside: Wilder Together for growing a shared nature culture, or Wild Sparks for younger children.

Where everything fits

How the Rucksack works together

Wilding: Wisdom for a Wilder LifeThe map: the three journeys, the Practice Keys and the Web of the Wild, and why it all works.
Threshold booksThe doorways: each one is a place to step onto your journey, going deeper into one part of it.
Activity guidesThe doing: step-by-step activities, chosen singly or as a collection that matches a threshold book.
Templates & chartsPrintable journal pages, ID charts and maps that come with the activity guides that need them.
Audio & videoFilms behind the QR codes, and guided audio for sit spots and sense meditations.
In-person coursesEach course follows one threshold book, so you can learn it outside together, then keep going with its activity guides.

Make your own: open the activity guides library, tap Save to my list on the ones you like, and build a journey that fits you.