Mud & waterSpringSummer
Stream dams and channels
Dig channels, build dams and redirect a stream or a run of water. Engineering, cooperation and very muddy knees.
How it goes
- Walk the stretch of stream first and agree the boundaries.
- Look at how the water moves: where is it fast, where is it slow?
- Build a dam from stones, sticks and mud, and see what happens upstream.
- Dig side channels to steer the water somewhere new.
- Take it apart at the end so the stream flows as it did.
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- Hands-on engineering: cause and effect they can see.
- Working as a team on a shared project.
- Water, Slips, falls, cold residual: Low
- Water-borne organisms, Stomach upset; Weil's disease (rare) residual: Low
- Shallow, slow stretch only (below the knee), checked before the session and after rain.
- Adult positioned downstream; clear boundaries agreed and marked.
- Cuts covered; hands washed before food; spare clothes on hand.
Questions & comments
No questions yet
Ask the first one: how long does it take, what age did it work for. The author gets a nudge by email.