The Stick Man trail is at Wendover Wood.
We’d read all about it – it sounded quite good.
One day we got ready to head out the door
for Stick Man, yes Stick Man – the trail to explore.
We start at the café and stop for a snack,
I think: should we buy an activity pack?
£3 isn’t much, but the girls are so young
that just doing the trail will be enough fun.
We finish our snack; the girls shriek with glee:
“It’s Stick Man, it’s Stick Man, we’re going to see!
And we’re ready to start our adventure, yippee!”
A notice shows us where the trail will start.
The girls are excited; and off they both dart.
Into the woods, we all head with a jog
And then stop for a moment to sit on a log.
I pull out the book – it’s time for a story,
Let’s read it together for a moment before we
Head off on the trail; so let’s just remind
Ourselves of the things we might need to find.
We finish our story; the girls shriek with glee:
“It’s Stick Man, it’s Stick Man, we’re going to see!
And we’re here in the woods to find him, yippee!”
What’s over there, in the forest all shady?
Look at the picture: we’ve found the Stick Lady!
And here is a sign, with games we could do
But the girls run ahead to find the next clue.
“Hurry up, Mummy!” they call back to me,
“It’s Stick Man, it’s Stick Man, we’re eager to see!
And we’ve found something else in the forest – yippee!”
Here is a dog on a sign painted blue
And another sign with some stick games we could do
Let’s pile some sticks up on top of each other
Can you pick up one without moving another?
Jessica tries, her technique perhaps is
Not quite correct – the pile collapses
She gives me a grin, waves the stick in the air,
Meanwhile Sophie’s off – there’s a sign over there!
Let’s build a nest – but the girls hurry on –
Or maybe a tower? They’ve already gone.
Fun with some sticks? This is declined;
The girls clearly have just one aim in mind:
That’s Stick Man, yes Stick Man we’ve come here to find.
Here are some dens and a gigantic nest.
The girls explore for a while before resuming their quest.
Looking here, looking there, they explore carefully:
It’s Stick Man, yes Stick Man, they both want to see!
And look here’s a sign with a cat on – yippee!
Time for some star jumps; we all jump around
(Sophie just bobs, she can’t yet get off the ground).
We spot something else in the trees up ahead.
Yes, we’ve found the swan on a sign painted red
The next sign suggests that we try rubbing bark
And use crayons to make our own Stick Man mark.
Jessica looks closely at the steel Stick Man fixture;
We haven’t brought paper so can’t make a picture.
Sophie is already off round the bend;
It looks like the trail might be nearing its end.
The next sign is just glanced at, but what’s this we see?
On the sign up ahead – now who could this be?
“It’s Stick Man, it’s Stick Man!” the girls both exclaim
“Can we do the trail all over again?”
But before we repeat it, one more thing to find:
Who’s that over there, with the prickly behind?
He has orange eyes and terrible claws,
Not to mention big teeth in his terrible jaws.
The girls squeal with delight; their eyes are aglow:
“Look! Look there Mummy! A big Gruffalo!”
We take a few photos and then the girls see
A bench in the shape of an owl family.
Their attention is captured by this beautiful seat;
When they’ve finished looking, the trail we repeat.
The day’s almost over; one last thing to do.
One last place to visit before we are through.
Off to the playground and the swings over there,
“Can you push me Mummy? High in the air?”
Climbing and sliding; swinging to and fro,
Until finally I tell them we really must go.
Back in the car, the girls smile sleepily:
“It’s Stick Man, it’s Stick Man, that we went to see!
But now it is time to go home for our tea.”
(With apologies to Julia Donaldson)
Love the Julia Donaldson style here, we really love her books and this looks like such a great trail to do!
Thank you – it was a lot of fun, would definitely recommend 🙂
Love it, love it! You’re so creative, turning your day out into a poem. You might be the future Julia Donaldson sweetie, who knows? I’ve heard of those trails but we haven’t joined one yet. Must do: it sounds like lots of fun xxx #CountryKids
Thank you Mel – I had so much fun writing it up in that style! Would definitely recommend doing the trail – am sure your little ones would love it too 🙂
This is brilliant! I’m amazed that you managed to write such a long poem about it. I’ve read a few posts about the Stick Man trail, but this is the best by far!
Thank you Sarah – I really enjoyed writing it 🙂
Loving the rhyme! I salute you for writing it! Some great photos too and clear everyone had a great day. #CountryKids
Thank you John – it was a lot of fun to write – almost as much fun as doing the trail itself! 🙂
A fantastic poem! Love it! Looks like you had great fun on the Trail. #CountryKids
Thank you – we had a great time 🙂
Louise this is amazing, I adore all the photos of the girls in the woods enjoying and the trail but the rhyme you put with it is quite inspired. I’ve not been to Wendover Woods for years, since before there were any character trails, however if we ever made back again I know my kids would love to do the go Ape course there. I’m guessing this was quite a long journey for you but looks like a day that really paid off. Thank you so much for sharing with me on #CountryKids.
Thank you Fiona – I had so much fun writing it up this way – almost as much fun as the girls had doing the trail itself. Wendover is a little way from us – it’s about a 40 minute drive but was well worth it! 🙂
Awww love how you have written this. Sounds like a fab day :- ) #countrykids
Thank you Emma – it was a fun day out and we really enjoyed it 🙂
Love it! and the girls clearly did too #CountryKids
Thank you Mary – they certainly did! 🙂
Ah, love your poem and your photos! It’s lovely to see how engaged your girls are with the trail – makes me want to do it all over again at Wendover Woods!
Thanks Katy – it was a lot of fun writing it up this way! We had a fab time doing the trail – very tempted to do it again when the weather is a little warmer! 🙂
Amazing!! Best Stick Man trail post I have read – I am so impressed with your talent to make such a fantastic rhyming poem. We really enjoyed the Stick Man trail – but I think my husband enjoyed the activities more than the girls #CountryKids
Thank you Karen – I really enjoyed writing it up in the style of the book – it was almost as much fun as doing the trail itself! Glad you all enjoyed doing it too 🙂
This is lovely!! Great photos and very creative poem. We done a similar trail to this a few years ago and our girls loved it. Can I just ask a nosey question? Did you take your photos on your phone or with a proper camera? They are very clear – mine don’t turn out this way with the iPhone so I’m wondering if I need to start using the proper camera for blog photos. Thanks!
Thank you Lila – there are a couple of photos in there that are taken with my iPhone but most of them are taken with my camera as I get better quality photos that way.
This is brilliant Louise! I giggled all the way through and it looks like your girls did too. Oh no, even I’m rhyming now. I didn’t realise it was infectious 🙂 #countrykids
Lol, loving the idea that rhyming is infectious! Thanks Claire and so glad you enjoyed reading about our Stick Man Trail 🙂
The trail looks a lot of fun and I love the rhyming blogpost 🙂
Love it – you’re really good at these! xx
I love that you managed to turn your day out into a poem, you write really well I totally enjoyed it (ps I’ve never read the stick man :/ )
Found you through Victoria’s linky and so glad I did 🙂 Absolutely wonderful – Julia Donaldson is the best – her books bring generations together. Loved your poem and the accompanying photos – it could surely be a book in itself? You have such talent! Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
What a wonderful post Louise. You really captured the fun of the day with your style. Love the photos too. Looks like it’s fun trail!
So well written, Louise. I read you Gruffalo’s child review, and this one is even better 🙂 #prose4T
Absolutely brilliantly done Louise – you are such a clever lady. I LOVE this! Thank you for linking to Prose for Thought xx
Just checked this out after #tribalchat, it’s so impressive that you wrote it all like this! Looks like a great trail, too. Great read!