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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Planning your Wee Wellie Wander Visit
•Call Crombie Park Ranger to book your visit on 01241 860360 or email [email protected]
•Write home to parents/guardians to advise of visit and ensure pupils are dressed appropriately for the
season – wear wellingtons, bring waterproofs, and be prepared to get mucky!
•Read the Facilitators Pack
•Choose the activities you want to do on your visit. *see Suggested Activities (page 10)
•Gather resources, see listing on each activity sheet in Facilitators Pack or look at the Resources to Bring
(Page 4)
•A Park Ranger will welcome you on arrival and give you a Teachers’
Teachers’ Pack,
Pack please meet at the Ranger
Centre *see Map (page 5)
•In your Teachers’
Teachers’ Pack there will be a laminated copy of this guide, mirrors, stencils and Looking Packs for
pupils to share
•Risk Assessment – please contact Park Rangers at Crombie Country Park as they have looked at risks for
visits, please asked to be emailed a copy when booking. It is recommended you visit the park before your
visit
•The activities in this pack allow you to make your own links to the areas of the curriculum which are relevant
to you and can be used to support and enhance learning in literacy, numeracy, health and well being,
expressive arts as well as social subjects, science and technology. * see Curricular Links used by others
(page 8)
•Make pupils aware of the Crombie Park Code - Don’t intentionally damage any wildlife, Make no
unnecessary noise, Don’t uproot any plants, Take your litter home or use bins provided, Don’t climb walls,
Leave gates as you find them, Stay in sight of your teacher/ranger, Follow instructions of your teacher/ranger
•Most importantly – have fun!
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Aims
This Wee Wellie Wander is a great way to explore, engage and have fun in your natural environment. The
outdoors can stimulate the senses to create a memorable experience and also to stimulate questioning,
critical thinking, creativity and expression.
The activities are fun and encourage children to use their senses and look and observe what they see
around them. It’s a sensory feast with all the things you can see, touch, hear and smell on the journey.
Contact Details
When booking with your Park Ranger, ask where to collect your Teachers Pack and also discuss what other
services they offer at the park
Address – Crombie Country Park, Monikie, DD5 3QL
Telephone – 01241 860 360
Email – [email protected]
Parking and Dropping Off Point
Buses can park at the Ranger Centre (see map).
Navigation
There is a map in the pack and we have 2 suggested areas for the activities to take place and which
activities will work in each area. Tree Time and Magic Spot.
Spot See Map (page 5)
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Ratios of Teacher/Pupils
The Wee Wellie Wander is intended to be a Self Led pack. Please ensure you have enough staff to cover it.
To do all the activities it is best to split into groups of 6-8 pupils with a Teacher or Lead person to take a group.
*please adapt ratios to suit your needs!
Teachers Pack
Collect when arrive (arrange when booking) In your teachers pack you should find a laminated copy of this
guide, coloured spots, stencils, mirrors plus Looking Tools.
Tools Please ensure you bring along your resources too!
(page 4).
Looking Tools
The Looking Tools helps pupils to observe and look and find shapes, lines, patterns, encourage individual
questioning an new ways of looking. It includes Coloured Cellophane Specs, Mirrors, Picture Frames.
Toilets
Toilets with wheel chair access are at the car park and near the Ranger Centre. See Map (page 5).
Wheelchair Access
There is no path into the Magic Spot and the ground can be uneven. Tree Time is a grassy surface but is
accessible. There is a Wheelchair Accessible Path that can be used for activities.
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Resources to Bring
Cameras, string or wool (approx 2 metres per group of 6), clothes pegs (approx. 12 per group of 6), big bag
of birdseed or porridge oats or breadcrumbs, different coloured balls of wool – the more colourful the better
(approx. 3 ball per group of 6 pupils), plasticine, scissors, a bag for each pupil to collect found objects that
interests them, wipes for mucky hands and a story book * see list of suggested books for Woodland Story Time
(page 6).
Clothing
All Children should be suitably dressed for the weather, it’s much more fun if you’re dry and in warm clothes
that you don’t mind getting a bit mucky in.
Memory String
In your pack you will find an activity called Memory String.
String You should start this activity at the beginning of
the sessions and use it to peg on reminders of activities and experiences as you go on your journey . The
interesting things pupils find can be pegged to the string and used as a prompt for recalling the sequence of
events. Back in school, it can be used for further learning and to photos and visual artwork.
“What will we add to the string?”
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Ranger Centre &
Bus Parking and
toilets
STARTING POINT
Magic Spot
Car Park and
toilets
Tree Time
Wheelchair Accessible Path
Route of the Wee Wellie Wander at Crombie Country Park
Magic Spot
Tree Time
Woodland Weaving
Woodland Story Time
Land Shapes
Creative Creatures
Memory String (throughout)
Ground Graffiti
You’ve been framed
Funky Specs
Legwarmer Trees
Bumpy Barks
Stacked Leaves
Nature’s Palette
Ground Graffiti
Mirror, Mirror
Funky Specs
Memory String (throughout)
Leaf Trail
You’ve been framed
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Suggested books for Woodland Story Time
•“The Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carl
•“The Gruffalo” by Julia Donaldson
•“What the Ladybird Heard” by Julie Donaldson
•“The Foggy Foggy Forrest” by Nick Sharratt
•“Molly and the Storm” by Christine Leeson
•“In the Woods” by Chris Wormell
•“Leaf Trouble” by Jonathon Emmet
•“The Bears Winters House” by John Yeoman & Quentin Blake
•“Big Smelly Bear” by Britta Teckenturp
•“Bear’s New Friend” by Karma Wilson
•“Crafty Little Freddie” by Christine Leeson
•“Little Owl” by Piers Harper
•“The Prickly Hedgehog” by Mark Ezra
•“Goose on the Loose” by Claire Freeman
•“A House in the Woods” by Inga Moore
•“Christopher Nibble” by Charlotte Middleton
•“King of Birds” by Helen Ward
•“Going on a Bear Hunt” by Michael Rosen
•“Percy and the Park Keeper” by Nick Butterworth (any in the series)
Some of the classics such as Hansel and Gretel, Goldilocks, Little Red Riding Hood.
(All the books are available for local authority nurseries to borrow from ERS. Playgroups can take out a
group membership giving them access to larger collections and for longer periods of time.)
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Further Reading - Books
Nature playground – Fiona Danks & Jo Schofield
Researching children researching the world – edited by Susi Bankcroft, Mary Fawcett and Penny Hay
The Outdoor Classroom – Hilary Harriman
Make it wild 101 things to make and do outdoors – Fiona Danks & Jo Schofield
I love my world – Chris Holland
Andy Goldsworthy: a collaboration with nature – Andy Goldsworthy
Hand to earth – Andy Goldsworthy
Peter Van Metre (nature guru)
Further Reading - Websites
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/approaches/outdoorlearning
www.richardshilling.co.uk
www.landartforkids.com
www.naturedetectives.org.uk
www.snh.gov.uk/about-scotlands-nature/resources-for-teaching/learning-outdoors/
www.robertsmithson.com
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkHRZQU6bjI
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Curricular Links used by others
You’ve been framed:
Ground Graffiti:
EXA 0-04a – I can create a range of visual information
through observing and recording from my experiences
across the curriculum
EXA 0-06a – Working on my own and with others, I use
my curiosity and imagination to solve design problems
Mirror Mirror:
Bumpy Bark:
LIT 0-10a – As I listen and take part in conversation and
discussions, I can discover new words and phrases
which I use to help me express my ideas, thoughts and
feelings
Stacked Leaves:
EXA 0-16a – Working on my own and with others, I use
my curiosity and imagination to solve design problems
MTH – 0-16a – I enjoy investigating objects and shapes
and can sort, describe and be creative with them
MTH 0-19a – I had fun creating and range of
symmetrical pictures and patterns using a range of
media
Funky Specs:
EXA 0-04a – I can create a range of visual information
through observing and recording from my experiences
across the curriculum
Memory string:
SOC 0-7a – I explore and discover the interesting
features of my local environment to develop and
awareness of the world around me
Legwarmer trees:
HWB 0-23a – I am aware of my own and others’ needs
and feelings especially when taking turns and sharing
resources. I recognise the need to follow rules
SOC 0-15a – I am aware that different types of
evidence can help me to find out about the world
around me
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Teachers’ and Pupils’ Quotes
“The pack was easy to use and the activities were enjoyable – my pupils had a great time and are still
talking about it. It allows the children a hands on learning experience in an unfamiliar and exciting
environment” – P1 Teacher from Borrowfield
“I liked squashing the plasticine to get bumpy bits from the trees” – P1 pupil
“I saw the top of the tree in the mirror” – Nursery Pupil
I made a sun picture, and we made it with seeds and its going to feed the birds” – nursery pupil
“We had great fun and learned lots of new and interesting things and are looking forward to developing
our new ideas n our own outdoor area!” – Seaview Nursery
“I liked reading the story in the forest and doing al the actions and noises” – P1 pupil
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Wee Wellie Wander
Notes Prior to Visit
Suggested activities
A morning visit – Memory String, Legwarmer
Trees, Mirror Mirror, Bumpy Barks, You’ve been
framed.
A morning visit – Memory String, Natures
Palette, Funky Specs, Ground Graffiti, Leaf
Trail, Stacked Leafy Sculptures.
An afternoon visit – Memory String, Ground
Graffiti, Natures Palette, Funky Specs,
Legwarmer Trees, Mirror Mirror.
A full day visit – Memory String, Leaf Trail,
Stacked Leafy Sculptures, Mirror Mirror,
Woodlands Story Time, Land Shapes,
Woodland Weaving.
A wet and wild visit – Mirror Mirror, You’ve
been framed, Natures Palette, Funky Specs.
An autumn visit –Creative Creatures, Stacked
Leafy Sculptures, Land Shapes.
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