Today’s activity comes from Chloe.  She tried this one in her garden with her little one and it was a great success.  Thanks for sharing Chloe!

Mini Dens

You will need

• den building materials (sticks, dried grass, twine, whatever strikes your fancy)
• an outside space (or bring your den building materials inside)
• it is helpful to have a small friend to be building a den for but imaginary friends are great too

The first thing to consider is who are you building a den for?  A mouse?  A mole?  Your favourite finger puppet chicken?  This is important so you can think about scale.

Next you need to think about where.  Would your tiny little mouse like to have his house in the middle of a short cut grassy field?  Why or why not?

Once you have your location sorted it is time to collect supplies.  If you do not have the raw materials in your garden then it is time to head out for a walk.  Maybe you can chat about the Gruffalo on the way and try to remember what types of homes all of the animals in that book lived in.

Location chosen?  Know who you are building for?  Collected lots of supplies?  Great!  You are ready to build  your mini den.  Can you balance your sticks against each other or will you need to use some twine or dried grass to tie them together?  Will you leave the ground bare or will you add something soft for sleeping on?  Is it important that the roof keeps the rain out?  If so, how will you do that?  When you are done you can put your little friend in to try it out for size.  If your den is for a real animal maybe you could leave a treat in there for them to entice them in.

Please do take pictures of your mini den and send them in.  We would love to see them.  Send us your photos on social media Facebook, twitter and/or instagram.  We would love to see what you create.

Happy building!

All the best,

April