The Lost Words Minibeasts Activity Pack from Oxford Poetry Library

In 2020, in collaboration with Flo’s Place in the Park, and made possible by the generosity of the Midcounties Co-operative and Community Action Groups, we planned to produce a series of workshops for kids inspired by The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris.  We hope the activity pack will invite you and your family to explore the wildlife around you, and create something wonderful in response.

This activity pack on Minibeasts is designed to mirror the workshops which Oxford Poetry Library have run in the past around Oxford. The idea is to have a resource to help you recreate the workshops at home. We have a different pack for different areas of wildlife including birds, plants, and mini-beasts. Do all, or just those which take your fancy.

Each workshop is split into three parts: The first is the outdoors bit which will involve going outside either into your garden, or nearby green space. It doesn’t need to be wild or wildernessy – any park or square will do! The second part is where we think about how we used our senses and start putting our outside experiences into words. Finally, the third section is when we turn all these words into Lost Words-inspired poems!

All you will need to do these activities are: • A pen or pencil • Some paper • Some art supplies to illustrate your poem (we usually like to have lots of crayons, coloured pencils, marker pens, collage materials and coloured paper) • A computer connected to the internet

It might be easiest to print out the pack so you can write on the worksheets and fill in the boxes we’ve made for activities. But if you don’t have a printer, just use any paper you have to take notes and do the activities and that will work just as well.

Finally: please do share what you’ve made! We would love to see your poems and illustrations. At the end of all the workshops, we are planning to collect all participants’ artwork and writing in a zine which will be distributed around the city (and of course be free to all contributors). To submit your work, scan or photograph your masterpieces and send them to us at [email protected] or share them on social media with the hashtag #TheLostWordsOxford Be safe, have fun, and most of all – enjoy the beauty and magic of the natural world around you!