Full of beautifully crafted poems inspired by words from the natural world, this book aims to bring back natural words in to the language of children.
Our lost word acorn, is a tiny little nut bursting with possibility, a potential wood in the palm of your hand.
In this video I read and share the poem and one of our little wild kids tells us about the life cycle of the oak tree.
Can you tell how much I love the book, the words and the images?
Use Robert’s last line ‘So acorn is to wood’ or make up your own.
What other images could you come up with? As book is to library? As flower is to meadow? Here’s just a selection of ideas for activities you might like to explore.
Writing:
You could write a poem in the style Robert uses here?
Or write a story about an old owl living in an old oak tree just like Jackie painted.
Reading: Enjoy some stories and books with owls and woods in them. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson, The Owls of Blossom Wood by Catherine Coe or The Girl who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson.
Science: Explore the life cycle of trees and plants. Watch a short animated video here. Create your own video or poster or storyboard about the acorn growing into an oak tree and producing more acorns.
Discover what other seeds look like. What seeds to we see all the time? Eat an apple or an orange and examine the seeds. Peas that we eat for dinner are the seeds for new pea plants. In May blow the dandelion seeds on the wind. Research seed dispersal. That’s how different seeds are dispersed or scattered away from parent plants on wind, water, animal hair and even through animal and bird poo!
Music: Sing along with the song acorn from The Lost Words: Spell Songs. Or write and sing your own song about a tiny acorn growing into a mighty oak.
Artwork: Explore some of Jackie Morris’ art work here and create some of your own tree inspired artwork.
Most importantly, use your new word. Use it as often as you can, keep it alive, don’t let it get lost again. Remember, the old magic of speaking words aloud is the best way of keeping language alive.
“Acorn, acorn acorn.”
Please share your creations, poems, names, drawings, songs or other activities with me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I can’t wait to see them all.
Isle of Wild Kids 
Discover the poem ACORN from the The Lost Words by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, a wonderful book and the perfect outdoor learning lesson starter.
Full of beautifully crafted poems inspired by words from the natural world, this book aims to bring back natural words in to the language of children.
Our lost word acorn, is a tiny little nut bursting with possibility, a potential wood in the palm of your hand.
In this video I read and share the poem and one of our little wild kids tells us about the life cycle of the oak tree.
What other images could you come up with? As book is to library? As flower is to meadow? Here’s just a selection of ideas for activities you might like to explore.
Writing:
You could write a poem in the style Robert uses here?
Or write a story about an old owl living in an old oak tree just like Jackie painted.
Reading: Enjoy some stories and books with owls and woods in them. Owl Babies by Martin Waddell, The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark by Jill Tomlinson, The Owls of Blossom Wood by Catherine Coe or The Girl who Speaks Bear by Sophie Anderson.
Science: Explore the life cycle of trees and plants. Watch a short animated video here. Create your own video or poster or storyboard about the acorn growing into an oak tree and producing more acorns.
Discover what other seeds look like. What seeds to we see all the time? Eat an apple or an orange and examine the seeds. Peas that we eat for dinner are the seeds for new pea plants. In May blow the dandelion seeds on the wind. Research seed dispersal. That’s how different seeds are dispersed or scattered away from parent plants on wind, water, animal hair and even through animal and bird poo!
Music: Sing along with the song acorn from The Lost Words: Spell Songs. Or write and sing your own song about a tiny acorn growing into a mighty oak.
Artwork: Explore some of Jackie Morris’ art work here and create some of your own tree inspired artwork.
“Acorn, acorn acorn.”
Please share your creations, poems, names, drawings, songs or other activities with me on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I can’t wait to see them all.
The Lost Words.
Further resources from the John Muir Trust
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