An outdoor setting in the Scottish Highlands is giving children the resources and autonomy to take their den-building to a new level, Nicole Weinstein discovers

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Children at Stramash Outdoor Nursery Elgin, which is one of a chain of four social enterprise nurseries in North-East Scotland, are not strangers to the art of den-building and creating secret hideaways. In fact, since moving to their new site earlier this year, they, together with staff, have transformed a one-acre open field into a space that houses dens for all occasions.

The temporary structures include ‘the cave’, which started off as a chicken coop but was so popular that the children reconfigured the wooden pallets and moved it to space near the mud kitchen. Another favourite is the giant nest, which was created out of fallen branches from the adjoining woodland, and was such an inviting area that it was used for daily circle time.

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