Age group: Elfins/younger Pioneers

How long it will take: 1 - 2 hours +

What materials you will need: Cameras, pens and paper, post-its or flip chart sheets

The aim of the activity: To introduce the idea of playing a part in the wider community

What to do:
Identify in advance an eyesore in your city or town close to where your Woodcraft Folk group meets - perhaps some old industrial land which has been allowed to be left empty, or a street of boarded up shops, or some wasteground.

Tell the elfins/pioneers that next week they are going on an Ugly Walk. Get parental consent forms etc.

Prepare the children for the walk. Tell them that you will be showing them one of the ugliest parts of the town. Their task is to look very carefully at the place, and then come back with some ideas of how it could be changed. If you have access to cameras, get the children to take pictures of the site.

Return from the walk. What words came into people's heads when they saw the site? (The words can be written on post-it notes which are then put up on a wall, or written straight on to a large wall poster).

Now what ideas do people have for what could be done with the site? Encourage people to give their fantasies full rein (this can be done in small groups).

Now get each person to draw a picture of what the site could look like, if they could have their way.

You could display these pictures opposite the photos of the site as it is at present in your meeting place or in another community location. If you haven't taken photos, you could ask people to draw both the current site and their proposals.

Optional extensions:

• discuss why the site may be the state it is. Who owns it? What are the official plans for this part of town?
• write a collective letter to the local paper about the site
• consider launching a campaign around the site (see the next activity)