Fifty Things to Do with a Stick

By Richard Skrein

A must-read for anyone with an adventurous spirit, a yen to whittle and chop, and a desire to get out into nature and play with sticks! These 50 achievable ideas for making and playing with sticks – all with beautiful step-by-step illustrations – make a great gift.

The next title in Pavilion’s best-selling outdoor adventure series, 50 Things to Do with a Stick will introduce you to the joy of making something out of almost nothing. With a few gathered twigs and sticks, start with simple ideas such as making plant markers or tent pegs and work up to constructing a lantern or woven basket.

Working with wood is common to nearly every culture – it’s nature’s most adaptable raw material, malleable yet strong, and biodegradable. Until the 1960s woodworking was taught widely in schools, but since then has been in decline, robbing generations of the satisfaction of making useful things by hand. Richard Skrein begins by guiding you in choosing sticks and tools. Four chapters with evocative illustrations take you step by step through projects to use at home; to make music and decorative objects with; to play with; and to use out and about – the perfect accompaniments to a camping trip (2020 and 2021 saw unprecedented campsite bookings in the UK, and this trend is set to continue).

This is the perfect book for anyone wishing to be more self-sufficient. Find your inner explorer with these battery-free, no-emission ideas!

Chapters include:
Home Sticks: cutlery, coat hooks, brooms, candlesticks
Stick Craft: jewellery, weaving, mobiles, picture frames
Stick Play: catapults, musical sticks, magic wands, story sticks
Camp Sticks: lanterns, ladders, stools, stick bread!

Word count: 15,000 words

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins UK
• Release date: Nov 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781911682912

Richard Skrein

Richard Skrein can be found in the woods and on the coastlines of Europe and beyond, and is an experienced educational professional with a profound and enduring passion for outdoor education. A born Londoner with a wandering spirit, he loves nothing more than to learn new (and ancient) ways of connecting with the natural world, before sharing that knowledge with others. He believes deeply in the power of the outdoors to educate, nurture and inspire.

Book preview

Cover image: Fifty Things to do with a Stick by Richard Skrein & Maria NilssonTitle page image: Fifty Things to do with a Stick by Richard Skrein & Maria Nilsson, Pavilion logo

Copyright

Pavilion

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by Pavilion

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2022

Text copyright © Richard Skrein 2022

Illustration copyright © Maria Nilsson 2022

Richard Skrein asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Hardback ISBN: 9781911682561

eBook ISBN: 9781911682912

Version date: 2022-10-17

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

IMPORTANT SAFETY NOTICE

This book includes activities and projects that inherently include the risk of injury or damage. We cannot guarantee that following the activities or projects in this book is safe for everyone. For this reason, this book is sold without warranties or guarantees of any kind, expressed or implied, and the publisher and the author disclaim any liability for injuries, losses and damages caused in any way by the content of this book. The publisher and author urge the reader to thoroughly review each activity and to understand the use of all tools before beginning any project. Use and enjoy fire safely and responsibly. Always check that you have permission to use the land where the activities or projects take place. Children should always be supervised when undertaking any activity or project in this book.

Note to Readers

This ebook contains the following accessibility features which, if supported by your device, can be accessed via your ereader/accessibility settings:

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Page numbers taken from the following print edition: ISBN 9781911682561

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Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Note to Readers

Introduction

Ecological impact

Tree species

Common beech (Fagus sylvatica)

Silver birch (Betula pendula)

Common ash (Fraxinus excelsior)

Elder (Sambucus nigra)

English oak (Quercus robur)

Hazel (Corylus avellana)

Sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa)

Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus)

Wild cherry (Prunus avium)

White willow (Salix alba)

Willow harvesting

Tools

Knife techniques

Cordage and useful knots

Types of cordage

Knots

Home sticks

1. Plant markers

2. Knife

3. Fork

4. Spoon

5. Tongs

6. Spatula

7. Hedgerow basket

8. Brush

9. Broom

10. Coat hook

11. Bark pots

12. Catalan platter

13. Pencil pot

Stick craft

14. God’s eye weaving

15. Elder jewellery

16. Elder whistle

17. Puppet

18. Charcoal pencils

19. Paintbrushes

20. Picture frame

21. Wreath

22. Tiny furniture

23. Mobile

24. Dreamcatcher

25. Nests

26. Stick art

Stick play

27. Skipping rope

28. Catapult

29. Rope swing

30. Zip line

31. Drum stalks

32. Stick games

33. Blowpipe

34. Magic wand

35. Obstacle course

36. Frog stick

37. Story stick

Camp sticks

38. Woodland coat hanger

39. Measure a tree

40. Tracking stick

41. Hammock

42. Three-legged stool

43. Stake bench

44. Stick ladders

45. Tent pegs

46. Emergency sticks

47. Tripod shelter

48. Stick bread

49. Stretch lantern

50. Bark knife sheath

Sources

Acknowledgements

About the Publisher

Introduction

A seed drops from its mother tree. Nestled in the earth, it absorbs water and tentative roots begin to grow. Tiny at first, these roots lock the seed in place. No matter how far it has travelled to get to this point, the seed has now found its home.

A shoot emerges and moves towards the sun, forming a first leaf when it finds its way above ground. Grazing mammals and walkers’ boots pose a threat to this fragile sapling’s existence, but up it rises to become a small tree. It grows side shoots – branches – each one a fractal pattern that maps the tree’s life story as it stretches for light and survival in its own unique ecosystem.

The tree thickens and spreads. It wants to grow, but breaking apart is built into this natural rhythm; an expression of the cycles of life, death, renewal and rebirth that encircle us all. A branch snaps off in high winds. A knot will form on the trunk – a reminder of what once grew there. The branch falls to the forest floor and lies among the leaf litter. That’s when we come along …

‘A stick!’

It can be any thing to any person. The ultimate open-ended object – a catapult, walking stick and everything in between. This book is an invitation to explore the countless possibilities for the wood that has found its way into your hands.

Playing with sticks is a simple expression of the connection between us and the natural world, and our place within it. Connect with that more-than-human world and you may just become hardwired to protect it – finding beauty, meaning, reverence and joy along the way.

Now … let’s go and play!

Ecological impact

The projects in this book invite you to go out and gather natural resources. It’s important that we reflect on our impact on the land and consider how we will minimize it while honouring the gifts that the natural world has given us. Each of us will interpret this in our own way. The following quote beautifully expresses one such way to do that.

Know the ways of the ones who take care of you, so that you may take care of them.

Introduce yourself. Be accountable as the one who comes asking for life.

Ask permission before taking. Abide by the answer.

Never take the first. Never take the last.

Take only what you need.

Take only that which is given.

Never take more than half. Leave some for others.

Harvest in a way that minimizes harm.

Use it respectfully. Never waste what you have taken.

Share.

Give thanks for what you have been given.

Give a gift, in reciprocity for what you have taken.

Sustain the ones who sustain you and the earth will last forever.

Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants

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Tree species

A stick is not ‘just a stick’. As discussed in the introduction, the life story of its mother tree will have literally shaped each branch in its own unique way. Furthermore, the species from which it came will determine its