Introductory Activity

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Introduction to the Scottish Outdoors Access Code*

* This should be undertaken before carrying out your choice of the remainder of the pack activities.

Suggested Method:

Children brainstorm the personal responsibilities they have within the family (e.g. keeping their bedroom tidy, walking the dog or laying the table). Discuss why it is important to have these personal responsibilities.

If you have time, you could ask the children to think of or draw a personal treasured item. Ask them to share their choices and discuss why they are important to them. Alternatively, move onto the next discussion.

Discuss that we also have personal responsibilities in the outdoors. If you have discussed the children’s treasured items, you may wish to consider that the land or animals we come into contact with in the outdoors might be someone’s treasured item.

Consider:

• Who works in the outdoors?
• Who uses the outdoors for recreation?
• What could happen if those who work in the outdoors and those who use the outdoors do not think about their responsibilities? Who or what might be affected if you do not behave responsibly in the outdoors?
• Would it be useful to have a code of behaviour for the outdoors?

Discuss with the children what this Code might include - get them to brainstorm guidelines for responsible behaviour in the outdoors to create their own access code. Try to ensure that the points most relevant to your children and your local area are covered.

When they have finished, tell them that there is a code for responsible behaviour in the outdoors and this is called the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. Introduce the three key principles of the Code: Respect the interests of other people, Care for the environment and Take responsibility for your own actions.

Write these principles on three large pieces of paper and arrange them in a triangle around your room/space. Using the children’s brainstorm ideas, call out a responsible behaviour and challenge them to go to the key principle that best illustrates it. For example, you might call out ‘take my litter home and leave no trace of a picnic site’. This will lead to discussion and debate as the children try to decide which principle this best relates to. Some children may decide to stand midway between 2 or even 3 principles to show that a responsibility is relevant to more than one principle. The key with this activity is the discussion that arises; therefore, it is not vital that the children get the ‘right’ answer.

If you are going to carry out an outdoor activity, you may like to ask the children to write their code down to remind them of their responsibilities. You should ensure that the points most relevant to your children and your local area are covered, for example:

• Respect the interests of other people:
  • Respect people’s privacy; don’t go too near their houses or places where they work
  • Take care not to act in a way that will alarm or annoy people in their homes or work
• Care for the environment:
  • Look after the places you visit by not disturbing or destroying plants, birds and other animals
  • Leave places as you find them
  • Take your litter home
• Take responsibility for your own actions:
  • Be safe for yourself and others
  • Keep your dog under proper control
  • Pay attention to landowners’ signs

If you will not be undertaking the Using the TV Adverts activity, you might like to Watch the TV adverts.