Fifty Things to Do with a Stick

A must-read for anyone with an adventurous spirit, a yen to whittle and chop, and a desire to get out into nature and play with sticks! These 50 achievable ideas for making and playing with sticks – all with beautiful step-by-step illustrations – make a great gift.

The next title in Pavilion’s best-selling outdoor adventure series, 50 Things to Do with a Stick will introduce you to the joy of making something out of almost nothing. With a few gathered twigs and sticks, start with simple ideas such as making plant markers or tent pegs and work up to constructing a lantern or woven basket.

Working with wood is common to nearly every culture – it’s nature’s most adaptable raw material, malleable yet strong, and biodegradable. Until the 1960s woodworking was taught widely in schools, but since then has been in decline, robbing generations of the satisfaction of making useful things by hand. Richard Skrein begins by guiding you in choosing sticks and tools. Four chapters with evocative illustrations take you step by step through projects to use at home; to make music and decorative objects with; to play with; and to use out and about – the perfect accompaniments to a camping trip (2020 and 2021 saw unprecedented campsite bookings in the UK, and this trend is set to continue).

This is the perfect book for anyone wishing to be more self-sufficient. Find your inner explorer with these battery-free, no-emission ideas!

Chapters include:

Home Sticks: cutlery, coat hooks, brooms, candlesticks

Stick Craft: jewellery, weaving, mobiles, picture frames

Stick Play: catapults, musical sticks, magic wands, story sticks

Camp Sticks: lanterns, ladders, stools, stick bread!

Word count: 15,000 words

Reviews

Praise for Fifty Things to Do With a Stick by Richard Skrein:

‘Mixing woodland wonders with savvy survival skills, this is the modern guide to the age-old art of bushcraft.’

Countryside magazine

‘This book is a great gift for all ages and features lots of top tips and skills to learn. Anyone who loves the outdoors would be happy to find this book in their stocking. And you'll be glad of them if you get stuck out in the wild!’

Caravan magazine, January 2021

About the author

Richard Skrein can be found in the woods and on the coastlines of Europe and beyond, and is an experienced professional with an enduring passion for outdoor education. A native Londoner with a wandering spirit, he loves nothing more than to learn new (and ancient) ways of connecting with the natural world. He is the author of 50 Things to Do in the Wild.

Maria Nilsson is a freelance illustrator based in London. Her illustrations are heavily influenced by the natural world, exploring various tactile qualities of colour, pattern and texture. She is the illustrator behind 50 Things to Do with a Penknife, 40 Knots and How to Tie Them  and the rest of the 50 Things series.