10 Elder tree activity ideas and recipes

Elder trees provide a vital source of food and shelter for many species of wildlife. Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators feed on the pollen and nectar of elderflowers, the caterpillars of many moths feed on the leaves and small mammals and birds feed on the elderberries.

Trees in general are such an important and vital part of our ecosystem, they create oxygen, soak up carbon dioxide, prevent soil erosion, retain nutrients in the soil and provide food and shelter for wildlife. Thousands of different species depend on trees from birds, mammals and invertebrates to reptiles, fungi, mosses and lichens. Even when a tree dies it still plays a vital role in the ecosystem. The dead wood creates nitrogen for the soil and provides habitats for a variety of animals. 

Elder trees can grow to be 15 meters tall and can for live to be 60 years old. You can easily identify them by the leaves which take the form of 5-7 serrated leaflets on a stem. From May until August Elder trees come into blossom with fragrant star bursts of tiny little elderflowers. These sweet smelling blooms are creamy white in colour and have 5 tiny perfect little petals. Then from August to October they fruit clusters of purple elderberries. The elderflowers and ripe, cooked* elderberries are also edible for humans. They have traditionally been used to make variety of things from cordials, teas and wines, to fritters, jams and pies. *Please note that uncooked elderberries are toxic,

You can find lots of simple and fun elder tree activity ideas and recipes below to try.

1. Elder tree nature painting

Nature painting is a simple activity for children of all ages, Just dip Elder flowers and leaves into paint and use them as natural paintbrushes or paint, print and mark make with. How about experimenting with other different natural materials to see what variety of marks you can make by using different shapes and textures.

2. Elder branch beads

Elder tree branches have a naturally, soft pithy centre which you can remove to create some beautiful, natural wooden beads. Elder beads are brilliant for threading, counting, jewellery making, decorations and loose parts play. Just please be aware of the choking hazard of beads with smaller children.

To make Elder beads you will need some fresh cut elder branches, secateurs and metal tent pegs or skewers. First use the secateurs to cut the branches into little chunks of branch to make the beads. You can make the beads as short or long as you like. How about making a range of lengths to play with.

To make Elder beads you will need some fresh cut elder branches, secateurs and metal tent pegs or skewers. First use the secateurs to cut the branches into little chunks of branch to make the beads. You can make the beads as short or long as you like. How about making a range of lengths to play with.

Once you have cut the beads up you will then need to chose whether you want to leave the bark on the beads to give them a rough wooden finish or carefully strip the bark off using your fingernails to give the beads a smooth creamy finish. You could even make a mixture of both to create contrasting textures.

Next you need to carefully and firmly push a metal tent peg or skewer through one end of the bead to push the pith out of the centre. Make sure you carefully hold the bead as you do this so you don’t accidently push the peg or skewer through into your hand, body or the surrounding surface. It’s easiest to push the pith out when the branches are fresh cut as its still moist and malleable.

Once your beads are finished you can use them for threading, counting, jewellery making, decorations and loose parts play. Just please be aware of the choking hazard of beads with smaller children.

You could also decorate the bead’s using pens, paint, crayons, pencils or collage. It’s fun to draw patterns, colours, pictures and shapes onto them. Or you could write, letters and words for spelling and writing games. Or numbers and maths symbols on them for number, counting and maths games.

Or you could dye the beads different colours using botanical dyes, food dyes, wood dyes or fabric dyes. Simply place the dye colour of your choice in a small pot or container and then soak the Elder beads in it. Please do beware however that dye can stain skin, fabric and furniture. You could also coat the beads with clear varnish or lacquer to make them more waterproof and shiny.

3. Elder bead snakes and caterpillars

You can also thread several elder beads onto some string or wool to make fun little snakes, caterpillars or slowworms that you can pull along behind you or through the grass. You could also use pens or paint to give you elder bead creatures, eyes, mouths or scales.

4. Elder branch bee hotel

Creating nesting sites for bees helps to give them safe and sheltered spaces to lay their larvae. Different species nest in different ways so creating a variety of shelters, hotels, homes and nest sites is more likely to help a variety of different species. Clusters of hollowed out elder branches tied together and hung from trees and fences can create handy nesting sites for solitary bees. To hollow out the branches first carefully and firmly push a metal tent peg or skewer through one end of the branch to push the pithy centre out.

5. Elderflower cordial

Elderflower cordial is a beautifully fragrant and refreshing summer drink that is also so simple and easy to make. You can also use it as a syrup to flavour cakes, cocktails, lemonade, porridge, yogurt and ice cream. When picking elderflowers please be careful to only pick the sweet smelling flowers and avoid any that smell of urine as these will have gone over. Also please don’t pick any by the sides of roads as they can absorb car fumes and toxins.

To make elderflower cordial you will need:

• 1 pint of water
• 1kg of caster sugar
• 1 lemon (cut into rounds)
• 10 freshly washed elderflower heads
• 40g of citric acid

First pour the water into a saucepan and then add the sugar. Gently heat the water (do not bring it to the boil) until all the sugar has dissolved. Then bring it to the boil for 5 minutes before taking the pan off the heat.

Add the lemon slices elderflowers and citric acid to the pan and stir well. Cover the saucepan with a lid and leave your cordial to infuse over night (or 24 hours). Finally strain the mixture though a sieve so you are left with a finished cordial that you can pour into a sterilised bottle or jam jar.

You can sterilise old jam jars and bottles by rinsing them out well with soapy water then filling them with boiling water for 5 minutes or by placing them in a warm oven for a few minutes (caution this will make the glass really hot, so handle with care and oven gloves.) Place the lid on the jars or bottles whilst still hot and leave to cool completely. You can keep the syrup in a sterilized bottle (or jar) in the fridge for a week or too. Or freeze it in a plastic container to keep it for longer. It should keep in the fridge for up to 6 weeks or you could freeze it in ice cube trays so you can pop them out and add them to drinks whenever you like.

6. Elderflower fritters

Elderflower fritters are so quick and simple to make, they are also very moorish and go great with fresh fruit and or ice cream. When picking elderflowers please be careful to only pick the sweet smelling flowers and avoid any that smell of urine as these will have gone over. Also please don’t pick any by the sides of roads as they can absorb car fumes and toxins.

To make elderflower fritters you will need:

• 1 egg gently whisked
• 1 cup of flour
• 1 cup of ice cold water
• 1 teaspoon of caster sugar
• 4-6 elderflower heads

First you need to heat some oil in a pan. Then mix all the batter ingredients together until it forms a nice smooth texture Wash the elderflower heads, shake the water off and then dip them in plain flour before dipping them in the batter. Finally quickly fry them in the pan until both sides are golden brown. Enjoy eating them fresh with honey, syrup, ice cream or fresh fruit.

7. Elder flower cupcakes

To make elder flower cupcakes you will need you will need:

• 100g softened butter or an alternative butter spread
• 100g caster sugar
• 1 egg (lightly beaten)
• 100g self raising flour (or alternatively 100g of plain flour with 2 teaspoons of baking powder added)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 tablespoon of elderflower cordial or fresh elderflower flowers

Before you start it helps to preheat the oven to 180 oC/340oF.0

First put the butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl and beat it together until it’s light and fluffy. Next gradually add in the beaten egg whilst continuing to stir the mix. Add in the flour, baking powder, elderflower cordial or elderflowers and then whip everything with a spoon or mix with an electric mixer for for a few minutes until the mix is light and fluffy.

Pour the mix into cupcake cases (don’t fill to the top as the mixture rises quite a lot) and place in the oven for 15 minutes or until the cakes are golden brown. Leave to cool and then enjoy as they are or decorate with icing and or freshly washed elderflowers.

8. Elder flower sensory water play

Water play is a great sensory activity for children of all ages. Elder flowers and leaves scattered in the water help to add extra scent, colour and texture for the children to enjoy and explore. Lavender and mint are also wonderfully calming herbs to use, but you could also use uplifting fresh citrus fruit slices as well.

9. Elderflower sensory ice play

After you finish you can recycle the water and materials by pouring them into different shaped containers or ice cube trays to freeze and replay with as ice blocks another day. It’s fascinating to see the objects trapped in the ice. You can hold the ice up to the light or experiment melting or breaking the ice in different ways using salt and warm water. Or the children can have fun stacking and playing with the ice to make towers.

You could also make decorative edible ice cubes for drinks by using freshly washed Elder flowers and frozen with drinking water in ice cube trays. You can then pop them into drinks as pretty floral decorations. *Please just be aware of the choking hazard of the ice cubes or any other materials you use with small children.

10. Pollination game

You can learn how insects pollinate elderflowers and other flowering plants and trees by playing a simple pollination game. All you need for this is a large sheet of paper or cardboard, recycled milk bottle tops, a stick, string, glue and paint. First you need to paint elder flowers across the surface of your picture. A few of them need to be big enough to place the milk bottle tops in the centre.

Paint the smaller flowers with yellow centres and then glue a few milk bottle tops onto the larger flowers. Next paint or draw a pollinating insect like a bee or butterfly onto a piece of card and cut it out. Then glue a small scrunched up piece of tissue onto the bottom of your flying insect so it can pick up the ‘pollen’ and transfer to the other flowers. Once the paint and glue has dried on the picture and insect you can then fill the milk bottles tops with yellow or orange paint to make your pollen.

Now you can have fun dipping the bottom of your insect into the ‘pollen’ paint and landing it on the other flowers to pollinate them. This is a great opportunity to talk to children about the important role pollinating insects play in the life cycle of plants and trees.

Did you know that a third of the food we eat comes from plants that rely on pollination? Even medicines and materials like morphine, aspirin and cotton are derived from pollinated plants? Yet pollinator species across the world are in drastic decline due to widespread pesticide use and the loss of habitats.

This is why its so important to help pollinators like bees, butterflies, moths, hover flies and beetles by providing food and egg laying spaces for them. You can easily do this by growing as many wildflowers and pollinator friendly plants and flowers as you can, thereby provide a source of food for all year round as well as giving them the plants they need to lay their eggs on.

• For Day 12 of 30 Days Wild 2024 I enjoyed pond dipping, meadow seeping and den building with a school group. We then made an Elder branch bee hotel for the garden and elder bead snake to play with at home.
• For Day 11 of 30 Days Wild 2022 we made elder flower cupcakes, enjoyed some nature painting, built dens and went on a minibeast hunt whilst exploring the lakes and woods of a local nature reserve.

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