Square Lashings – Forest School basics
This article is the first in a series of blog posts called ‘Forest School Basics’.
Although Forest School itself is an educational ethos, these are simple activities that you can use to enhance the play and learning opportunities of the woodland environment.
Square Lashings
Lashing is a way of joining two (or more) poles together using rope or string. A square lashing provides a rigid joint between two sticks and, once mastered, can be used in a myriad of ways.
1 – Attach your string to the first stick using a clove hitch. Make sure you leave a decent lengths tail so you can tie off at the end.
2 – Place the second stick below the first at a right angle.
3 – Pass the string under the second stick and back up on the other side of it, pulling the stick up.
4 – Then loop the string over the top of the first stick, pulling that one down.
5 – The string now needs to loop under the second stick.
6 – The final part of this turn sees the string looping over the top stick.
7 – Continue in this pattern of over, under, over, under for at least two more turns. Try to keep the strings neat and lined up next to each other.
8 – The final part of this lashing is what gives it rigidity and strength. The string now needs to be tightly wound between the two sticks at least three times. This technique is known as frapping.
9 – Finally the end of the string should be securely tied to the original end of the string with either a timber hitch or a couple of half hitches.
Square lashings can be used for all sort of projects, from crafts to pioneering structures. These are a few of our favourites:
Swords
Making stick men
Picture frames
Den building
Wind chimes
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