Build teeny tiny twig rafts

Planning this activity

• It’s up to you whether the person leading the activity prepares the materials before everyone starts, whether everyone collects their own materials, or whether the group collects as many materials as they can and then shares them out.
• Choose an appropriate outdoor area such as outside your meeting place, a nature reserve, woodland area, riverside, canal, or park. If you’re going to meet at a location other than at your usual meeting place, make sure parents and carers know exactly where you’ll be, what people may need to bring, the day, the location, and what time to drop off and collect everyone.  
• Make sure everyone knows to come dressed for the weather. Don’t forget to check the forecast and be prepared for it to change.  
• It’s important to check the sunset times, making sure that you’ll have sufficient light throughout the activity. It’s best to run this activity on lighter evenings, such as in summer. 
• Remember to have suitable supervision, an InTouch process in place and activity consent forms. It’s important to make sure that anyone with medication, including an inhaler, brings it with them and gives it to a volunteer, too. 
• Make sure the area you visit is accessible for everyone, choosing a suitable place for drop off and collection. You may need to think about avoiding steps or steep gradients or including frequent breaks. 

Introducing the space

1. Everyone should head out to the outdoor space or meet at the chosen venue if you’re collecting the sticks together.
2. Explain the boundaries of the playing area and where the no-go zones are.
3. Tell people how they can use the space respectfully, without disturbing the wildlife or other people enjoying the site if you're in a public space. Remind people to be calm and quiet, so you don’t disturb wildlife, and not picking any flowers or plants. They should handle wildlife gently, take litter home and put things back where they were found to make sure wildlife isn’t harmed or damaged.
4. Tell everyone where adults will be around the site and what people should do if anyone in their team needs help. This should include setting memorable spot where an adult will stay at all times.
5. 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.
6. If playing in a public space, young people should be paired up so no young person is left alone and they should run or move together.

Collect your materials

1. Everyone should collect eight sticks or twigs that are roughly the same length. They should also collect two slightly longer twigs, and one thin twig. You may want to think about which woods float best – lighter woods such as cedar usually float better than heavier woods such as oak.
2. Gather some fallen leaves or petals – these will be the flag on their raft. They may want to make the flag out of paper instead.

Build your teeny tiny twig rafts

1. Head back to the meeting place with the sticks if you’re collecting them. You may want to run this activity over two weeks, with one week to collect the sticks and one week to make the rafts.
2. Gather everyone in a circle and tell them you’re going to make tiny rafts out of twigs.
3. People should take eight sticks or twigs that are roughly the same length. They should also collect two slightly longer twigs, and one thin twig. They’ll also need to cut six pieces of string, each around one metre long.
4. Carefully line up their eight same-sized twigs, side by side. This is the deck of their raft.
5. Next, wind a piece of string around and between one end of each twig. They should do this following an under and over pattern, going under the first twig, over the second, under the third, and so on.
6. When they reach the final twig, everyone should tie a knot to fix that end of the deck in place. The clove hitch knot is great for this, as it’s quick, adjustable, and easy to untie.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to secure the other end of the deck.
8. Lay one of their long twigs at each end of the raft – they should lie the opposite way to the rest of deck. Use the rest of the string to attach these twigs to the deck. A diagonal lashing is great for this.
9. Everyone should carefully slot their thin twig upright in the middle of their raft. This is their flag pole.
10. Finally, people should attach their flag, which could be a leaf, petal, or paper flag, to the flagpole by poking the flagpole through the flag.

Set sail with your teeny tiny raft

1. When everyone’s ready, it’s time to test the rafts by floating it in a small shallow pool of water, such as a washing up bowl filled with water. Does it float? Is it ready for a bigger journey? 
2. Everyone should make any adjustments they want to their rafts before racing them.
3. Now it’s time to set sail. Everyone should let their rafts go across a bigger area of water, such as a paddling pool. You could see how well they sail, and whether they can carry any items with them.
4. If you’re doing this by open water outside, make sure to be careful near the water’s edge. Any rafts that aren’t made entirely from natural materials should be removed to avoid littering, if it’s safe to do so.