Den building challenge
BushcraftAll agesResilienceConfidenceCreativity
Teams get a tarp, rope and the woodland — build a shelter that keeps its crew dry through the watering-can rain test at the end.
How it goes
- Walk the site and agree which materials are fair game (dead wood only, nothing living).
- Set the brief: fits the whole team, stands on its own, survives 'rain'.
- Build in teams — adults coach knots and lifting, children make the decisions.
- Tour each den; the team explains their design.
- The rain test: a watering can over the roof, crew inside. Cheers guaranteed.
Kit
- Tarps
- Rope/paracord
- Watering can
Risk-benefit starting point
Shared by the author as a starting point — planning this idea imports it into your own risk-assessment library to review and make your own before use.
Why it's worth it- Genuine teamwork with a testable result — negotiation, load-sharing, persistence.
- Practical physics: triangles, friction, lashings.
- Heavy branches — Crush/strike injuries; dropped loads residual: Medium
- Rope at height — Neck/trip entanglement residual: Low
- Two-person carry rule for anything longer than an arm span; walk, don't run, with poles.
- Ridge lines above head height or below knee height, flagged with hi-vis tape.
- Dead wood only; adults check overhead before any structure goes up.