Journey Sticks

As one of our directed tasks, we were asked to visit the woods to create a journey stick which could be used in a range of cross-curricular subjects. A journey stick can be used as a visual representation of the childrens' journey, each item on the stick allowing them to retrace their steps. 

We gave our journey a focus of fairies, searching for places in the woods where fairies could be living. 

We found quite a lot of litter on the ground, which we could use to explain to our class the dangers of littering to the environment. 

We also found some rabbit holes. 

And some woodland mushrooms. 

This was our final journey stick, allowing us to retrace our journey through the woods.

We could use the journey sticks as a base for a range of lessons: 

English - Relate it to a story based in the woods, ie. Where the Wild Things Are etc., use it for creative writing; writing a letter explaining their journey, write from a fairy's perspective, write a story based in the woods...

Science - Learn more about plant life/ woodland creatures. 

Art - Take items back to the classroom and create art based around this, such as still life, printing, collage etc. 

Geography - Create a map of the journey, and investigate areas in their own town. This could be used as a way of creating a tourist guide, inviting people into their area. 

History - The children could use their stick to create a visual timeline, attaching items that remind them of a certain time period.

I loved the concept of creating journey sticks, and making it relevant to the childrens' lives. It's a great way to get a change of scenery without losing focus of the learning.