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Go on a YouShape nature walk

Head out on a nature walk and let the world around us make you feel inspired.

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You’ll need

  • Camera or phone
  • Sticky tape
  • Magnifying glasses (optional)
  • Insect jars (optional)
  • Paper (optional)
  • Crayons or pencils (optional)
  • Binoculars (optional)
  • A guide to identify birds, insects, flowers, trees, mushrooms and so on. (optional)
  • Small mirrors – they can be great for exploring things from different angles (optional)

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There's also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment, including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help. 

Planning and setting up this activity

  • Always let sure parents and carers know exactly where you’ll be, what people may need to wear or bring, the day, the location, and what time to drop off and collect everyone. Check the forecast and sunset times, and be prepared for it to change. 
  • Make sure that all the plants, fauna and flora being touched are safe for young people. Never eat any berries you find. 
  • Supervise young people closely to make sure small objects are not put in mouths, ears and noses. Remind young people to avoid touching or putting anything in their mouth, and wash hands regularly.
  • A nature ‘walk’ doesn’t have to mean a long walk through the woods. It could also involve going to a set area outside and exploring there.
  • People might want to wear gloves to touch the items and keep their hands clean or to avoid certain textures.
  • This activity may contribute towards the ‘Central’ section of the YouShape Award, depending on the Scouts section you’re in. If this session completes the requirement for an individual or a group, you may want to hand the ‘Central’ badge out at the end of the session.

Getting ready to go

  1. Everyone should head out to the outdoor space or meet at the chosen venue.
  2. Explain the boundaries of the walking area, or wider area if you’re letting people explore along the walk and tell everyone where the no-go zones are. 
  3. If you’re walking along roads or footpaths, rather than in a woodland or park, give everyone a road safety briefing. You may want to remind everyone of the countryside code. 
  4. Remind people to be calm, quiet and respectful, so you don’t disturb wildlife or other people. 
  5. Only pick up fallen nature objects. Always handle wildlife gently, put things back where they were found and take litter home.
  6. Tell everyone to never put anything in their mouths, never eat anything, and avoid touching their mouths or licking their hands during this activity.
  7. Tell everyone where adults will be walking in the group and what people should do if anyone needs help. Explain the signal to stop and how long the activity will go on for. A long blast on a whistle works well as a signal to stop the activity.
  8. Remember to take regular headcounts and have adults supervising young people at regular intervals throughout the group, including at the front and back.
  9. If you’re walking in a public space, young people should be paired up, so no young person is left alone, and they should run or move together.

Running this activity

  1. Gather everyone together at the start of the walk or in the area you want to look around. Tell them to use all their senses to explore nature. They should think about what they like, want to learn more about, or find most interesting.
  2. Give out and explain how to safely use any equipment you have, such as paper, crayons, or magnifying glasses. You can suggest creative uses like tree rubbings or attaching natural items to the paper with tape. People could take photos of the things which they notice or enjoy looking at too.
  3. An adult should lead the walk, letting the young people set the pace. Let everyone stop and explore as you go along if they find something interesting.
  4. Remind everyone use their senses while on the walk. What can they see, smell, touch and hear? 
  5. Everyone must wash their hands after the activity has finished.
  6. When you’re finished, ask everyone what they enjoyed, what they found, what they found interesting, what they want to find more about and what they liked. 
  7. Remember to listen and note down what everyone says. You can use this to talk about what you might like to continue exploring for the Squirrels YouShape Award.
  8. As a group, ask questions and discuss what people liked and what they want to find out more about. For example, if they heard a bird singing, you could all try to recreate the sound, imagine how the bird flies or think about where the bird lives throughout the year. For the YouShape theme, the person or group could then explore migration or try birdwatching.
  9. Remember, different individuals, pairs or groups could set different themes, rather than having a whole section theme.
  10. At the end, you can return any natural objects to where you found them. 

Reflection

This activity was all about exploration, discovery and using our senses. What did you find? What did you see or hear? What did you feel or touch? Was there anything unusual or unexpected? What were your favourite things?

We used different things, such as magnifying glasses, to explore the area. Did you see or hear anything in a different way? Did you see something in a different way to someone else or think differently about what it might be?

Look or think about something you’ve found. Can you think about a question you might have about that thing, such as where it lives?

Let’s be creative. Look or think about something else you’ve found. Can you think about how it could be something else? For example, a mushroom could be an umbrella for ants.

This activity was all about being inspired. Think about your favourite discovery. Why did you choose that as your favourite? Is it something you want to know more about or enjoy doing? Looking at what you’ve found, seen, heard or discovered, can you think about one thing you want to learn about, have a go at or know more about? What would you like to do or learn at Scouts?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

Outdoor activities

You must have permission to use the location. Always check the weather forecast, and inform parents and carers of any change in venue.

Visits away from your meeting place

Complete a thorough risk assessment and include hazards, such as roads, woodland, plants, animals, and bodies of water (for example, rivers, ponds, lakes, and seas). You’ll probably need more adult helpers than usual. Your risk assessment should include how many adults you need. The young people to adult ratios are a minimum requirement. When you do your risk assessment, you might decide that you need more adults than the ratio specifies. Think about extra equipment that you may need to take with you, such as high visibility clothing, a first aid kit, water, and waterproofs. Throughout the activity, watch out for changes in the weather and do regular headcounts. 

Road safety

Manage groups carefully when near or on roads. Consider adult supervision and additional equipment (such as lights and high visibility clothing) in your risk assessment.

  • Choose an appropriate, accessible outdoor area that’s suitable for everyone in your group. You may need to think about avoiding steps, being near public transport, avoiding steep gradients or including frequent rest stops. Areas with well-maintained footpaths or purpose-built roads may be more accessible than wild land.
  • This activity may involve touching certain textures or items or involve getting messy. People should only do this if they’re comfortable too. People could wear plastic gloves if they don’t like the feeling of a certain material on their hands. They could also work in a pair, so someone else could do that part of the task and explain what it feels like to their friend.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Squirrels YouShape Award: Central badge

For your next session, create activities based on what came out of your group discussion. If they were really fascinated by bugs, you might make a bug house to keep near your meeting place and talk about what bugs they would like to visit there. You might also go on another nature walk, then another, and notice how the landscape changes by day, week, month and season. You can return to the nature walks throughout the term/year to continue building on their understanding of environment and change.

Make sure you pay attention and note down the ideas the young people have generated. You can ask them questions about what they've made, experienced and shared. You might choose to do this individually towards the end of the walk or during a closing circle time.