Totally agree.
I think that it's something that we need to expose the young ones to from the start, show them what's possible. Dens are standard fare for youth
do kids make dens anymore?
- Thread starter hammock monkey
- Start date
-
BushMoot: Come along to the amazing Summer Moot 31st July - 5th August (extended Moot : 27th July - 8th August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Totally agree.
I think that it's something that we need to expose the young ones to from the start, show them what's possible. Dens are standard fare for youth
you got health & safety certificate for that 'soapbox'?
no?
well i'm taking it away to be put into landfill...
"We wouldn't be back in the house untill it was dark, inevitably stinking of smoke, black as a crow and ready to eat a buttered brick
Nobody got stabbed.and the only injuries we suffered were falling out of trees and strangely enough nobody got sued for that either, It was called life. and it's up to us to give that back to the next generation"
abso-blummin-lutely!
I'm sorry but your soap box is to contaminated to put in the landfill, please pay me £300 to dispose of it safely.
When I talk to the yummy mummies in my daughters school playground about the things that my daughter gets up to some weekends, (in my daughters words burning things, cutting up stuff and getting muddy) the look of horror, is a sight to behold.
Ive been told more than once that giving a child a knife is criminal. Climbing on rock, building dens, tearing out the knees of your jeans, getting mud over everything is a childhood right.
We should remember that our lives were enhanced rather than blighted by, "taking such freedom for granted" . I have to keep reminding my wife not to say no automatically, when my little girl wants to go play in the stream/mud/woods/sea.
Hear, hear!!!
Though, I think part of the problem is that many parents are so paranoid they won't let their kids out of sight for long enough for them to do anything.
One of the reasons I got up to so much stuff when I was young was because my folks never knew what I was up to. I'm pretty sure they'd have vetoed much of it had they known, but that's as much part of learning to be independent as anything else.
this sort of leads onto an idea - how about doing a "Den building" workshop for the kids at the bushmoot? Empahsising how to do it without hurting the environment and so on...
I'm inspired to carry out a quick survey at school to see how many of my kids build dens - will report back asap. As the new 'Outdoor Learning coordinator' (a job I created for myself, and gained the bosses approval...
) I will be buying 'den building kits' out of next year's budget - tarps, scrim netting, decent rope etc. My boy is too small to be out on his own in big scary Whaley Bridge, but we do have a den (sticks and woven quick hazel and alder saplings) in a hidden location near the reservoir. When he's a bit older I really hope he'll continue, but will have to get used to hiding from bigger ****** lads.
N
ps I really think an awful lot of the 'health and safety nanny culture' (etc) exists mainly in the 'minds' of Daily Mail readers - most people never encounter it themselves...?
) I will be buying 'den building kits' out of next year's budget - tarps, scrim netting, decent rope etc. My boy is too small to be out on his own in big scary Whaley Bridge, but we do have a den (sticks and woven quick hazel and alder saplings) in a hidden location near the reservoir. When he's a bit older I really hope he'll continue, but will have to get used to hiding from bigger ****** lads.N
ps I really think an awful lot of the 'health and safety nanny culture' (etc) exists mainly in the 'minds' of Daily Mail readers - most people never encounter it themselves...?
I used to help my youngest daughter to make a camp in the garden with my old Army poncho and hexy cooker...
.but in my own youth in the '70's we would be everywhere..We built dens in woods,trees,huge stacks of bricks on building sites
Haystacks etc.
One place we wouldn't build one and that was because of a well reported accident at the time was in a Bonfire night woodpile!
We were at one time called the "Booby trap gang"! which was very apt as we'd make all sorts of ingenious traps..This was superceeded with a name change to simply "The Gang" with our own Anthem (which I still remember),meeting place, and armed with sekeden guns that shot a small plastic pellet.:BlueTeamE
We would have great times..We would walk up the river with the front boy given the name of "dipstick"...
you can imagine every now and then the "dipstick" would dissapear under water as he hit a deep part, to the total hilarity of everyone else..until someone shouted "Pike"! and everyone would scramble out of the brook.
Yes they were GOOD days! and no I dont think kids today have anywhere near the same kind of fun.
Oggie.
.but in my own youth in the '70's we would be everywhere..We built dens in woods,trees,huge stacks of bricks on building sites
Haystacks etc.One place we wouldn't build one and that was because of a well reported accident at the time was in a Bonfire night woodpile!
We were at one time called the "Booby trap gang"! which was very apt as we'd make all sorts of ingenious traps..This was superceeded with a name change to simply "The Gang" with our own Anthem (which I still remember),meeting place, and armed with sekeden guns that shot a small plastic pellet.:BlueTeamE
We would have great times..We would walk up the river with the front boy given the name of "dipstick"...
you can imagine every now and then the "dipstick" would dissapear under water as he hit a deep part, to the total hilarity of everyone else..until someone shouted "Pike"! and everyone would scramble out of the brook.Yes they were GOOD days! and no I dont think kids today have anywhere near the same kind of fun.
Oggie.
xylaria
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
We use a tescos play parachute*, a ball of jute twine and secatures.
Very versitile waterproof piece of kiddie kit.
J
jackmcmanus21
Guest
I used to built tree huts....not so much dens. I don't think as many people still build them...too busy on the computer or playing video games 
Ahhh Dens, must have built every type goin when I was a kid, best fun I ever had. Ill certainly be encouraging my daughter. Found a few lately in my travels with work round the county, some like a shanty town others Ray would approve of such as a lean to debris type a few mins walk away from home.
Of course they still make dens, only problem is that Bushcrafters find them and complain about "Chavs" making a mess
Just polled the kids at school today. Out of 27 kids, 26 had made a den of some sort, and most had made multiple dens. I got them to mark down their dens on a map of town - most were in back gardens with fields, the park, school grounds and local woodland coming in as second locations. Other locations for dens included 'in Ireland', 'on the beach' and 'at the holiday home/campsite'. They said most dens were secret - behind sheds, under bushes, 'on Grandad's farm', and included tarps, pallets, bin liners, plastic drums and bits of wood.
There's hope yet for this generation yet!
N
There's hope yet for this generation yet!
N
great stuff!
all we here is bad news about kids, i'm sure its always been the same down the generations, but there's an instinct in kids that makes them want to do al that stuff. Hard to hide many thousands of years of behavioral evolution i guess...and hope!
didn't ever really expect to get a definitive answer - thanks Nyayo!
You don't see many straw bales arranged in 'triangles' now in the fields.
We used them a lot and boy were they warm when you'd made them into a den.
Used to make shelter like the Massai in the woods too (as a windbreak) in an already sheltered 'parlour' as we called them.
Tents more often than not ended up just wrapped around us. (you had to be there).
I don't mind finding someones shelter still standing and if there's rubbish around I'll try and pick up.Mind you I'd like to think it was just youngsters 'cos if it was adults, then I'd be angry.
We used them a lot and boy were they warm when you'd made them into a den.
Used to make shelter like the Massai in the woods too (as a windbreak) in an already sheltered 'parlour' as we called them.
Tents more often than not ended up just wrapped around us.
(you had to be there).I don't mind finding someones shelter still standing and if there's rubbish around I'll try and pick up.Mind you I'd like to think it was just youngsters 'cos if it was adults, then I'd be angry.
Well I am 19 years old, born in 1989. And as a 10-14 year old I had numerous amount of dens, including ones at school! which would be reguarly ambushed by members of the sixthform. Great fun.
Now days kids dens are labelled as gang territories, and if you cross them, instread of being shot by a spud gun or hit with a super soaker you are stabbed or shot. Thats why I am 19 years old and currently filling out my application for permenant residence in Canada.
Now days kids dens are labelled as gang territories, and if you cross them, instread of being shot by a spud gun or hit with a super soaker you are stabbed or shot. Thats why I am 19 years old and currently filling out my application for permenant residence in Canada.
Shambling Shaman
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Best of luck mate, my Ex wife stop my New Zealand immigration, Go now before its to late...
Of course they still make dens, only problem is that Bushcrafters find them and complain about "Chavs" making a mess
Well said
One thing that has stuck in my mind from the 2006 moot, was all the young children there, happy away from their computers and mobile phones (not much of a signal at the site) just enjoying themselves in the 'traditional way' running round the woods and playing games; it restored my faith in youngsters and was a pleasure to see.
I encouraged my son and daughter (now 20 and 23) to make dens when they were younger, and we are lucky in that there is open ground and woodland within a few minutes walk of our home. It was great fun to see them light their first hurricane lamps and cook bacon sarnies on a primus stove
As I read this thread a few days ago I was sat beside my 8 year old step brother, so I turned to him and asked "Joe, do you make dens?" He said "Yeah!" then he told me all about them, his mind was captivated and focused, he was explaining how exactly they were built and where they were, he was obviously exaggerating points with his imagination but it was great to hear. He even had one on MOD land, with apprently an old sink somehow implemented in the roof and barbwire going round protecting it, he then pulled out a toy base that he said he modelled it on, it was great to see his imagination coming out, he was so keen he said "Do you want to go see it now"... it was torrential rain and windy at the time! 
I'll be visiting him again this evening, perhaps I can go out with him and visit his den, perhaps even get a photo!... Well thats if he lets me, the location might be to secret!
He inspired me, I said to him I'd get out and build a den with him sometime. He's a great lad, my only brother and I cant wait till he grows up a little so I can get him keen in nature & bushcraft.
I'll be visiting him again this evening, perhaps I can go out with him and visit his den, perhaps even get a photo!... Well thats if he lets me, the location might be to secret!He inspired me, I said to him I'd get out and build a den with him sometime.
He's a great lad, my only brother and I cant wait till he grows up a little so I can get him keen in nature & bushcraft. 
