Home Ed

Green woodworking - wands & mushrooms

Taking place at our private woodland site on the grounds of Gilbert White’s House, Selborne, Hampshire, we will be gathering around the campfire and hosting 'Green Woodworking - Wand & Mushroom’ workshops, on Monday 19th October. Wands: 10am-12.30pm / Mushrooms: 1.30pm-4pm.

The 2.5hr Wand carving workshop is designed for participants, 11yrs+ and will provide the opportunity to learn about working with the grain, along with relevant tools to shape a pre-prepared block (billet) of greenwood into a one-of-a-kind wand. Once the participants have considered the design, look, and features of their wand, they will use traditional green woodworking tools and devices (drawknives, shave horses, carving knives, and gouges) to carve and shape the billet into their own final wand form. There will also be a discussion on finishes, and the opportunity to take away some natural dyes/oils to treat their wand at home, once it has dried. Participants will be able to make at least 1 wand during this session. Please note, that this workshop has a more focused and structured delivery.

The 2.5hr Mushroom carving workshop is designed for participants, 11yrs+ and will provide the opportunity to learn about the use of a number of more technical knife working techniques, to carve, shape, and form greenwood materials into mushroom forms. Participants will use traditional green woodworking tools such as fine toothed saws, carving knives, and gouges to carve a series of mushroom forms during their time in the woodland. There will also be a discussion on finishes, and the opportunity to take away some natural dyes/oils to treat their wand at home, once it has dried. After understanding the techniques/methods required to carve their first mushroom, participants should have the opportunity to make as many as time allows, refining their skills and exploring different forms, etc. Please note, that this workshop has a more focused and structured delivery.

An adult will need to accompany children at this workshop. Alongside supporting their child, adults attending the workshop are welcome to participate, and can be set up with some appropriate green woodworking projects to work on during their time in the session, around the availability of tools/equipment being used by the child participants.

Please note; Each workshop is delivered as a separate session. You can book for just the Wand or Mushroom workshop independently, or book for both.

The cost of the ‘Wand’ workshop is £25 per child (inclusive of 1 accompanying adult per child booking). Parent to child ratio is 1:2 max. Price is inclusive of hot drink and snack.

The cost of the ‘Mushroom’ workshop is £22 per child (inclusive of 1 accompanying adult per child booking). Parent to child ratio is 1:2 max. Price is inclusive of hot drink and snack.

Due to the nature of the workshops and the tool use involved, these workshops have limited numbers (5 child spaces available for wands / 6 child spaces available for mushrooms) - Participants in these workshops must be at least 11yrs old.

The workshops are delivered outdoors in our private woodland site. The workshops will be delivered in all weathers (tarps are used to provide shelter from any rain) except extremely strong winds (in line with our Terms and Conditions of Booking)

Booking is via the ‘Book Now’ button below.

Please do get in touch via our ‘Contact’ tab (or social media) if you have any questions or queries before making a booking..