Patrol Paper Lanterns

Patrol Paper Lanterns is a lantern-making activity where you build a lantern from thin, bendy willow sticks and paper alongside your Patrol (the team you join when you arrive). You shape the frame, cover it in paper and decorate it, then light it up and carry it as a glowing part of the closing ceremony.

It's a slow, satisfying bit of making with a properly beautiful payoff. Your hands will be sticky. Your lantern will be glorious.

Lantern frames are made from willow withies: long, thin, flexible willow sticks that bend into shape without snapping. You join them at the corners with tape or strips of paper. Triangles are your friend here, because they keep a frame strong and stop it wobbling, which is why pyramids and diamonds are such classic lantern shapes.

Then comes the covering. Tissue or thin white paper is pasted on panel by panel, and it tightens as it dries, like a little drum. Add colour, cut-out shapes and patterns to taste. Put a light inside and every overlap, crease and brushstroke suddenly glows.

Start with a pyramid: simple, sturdy and very forgiving. Feeling brave? Try a diamond, a cube or a star. Confident benders can coax willow into curves, moons and even animals. Whatever you go for, bold shapes and strong colours read best in the dark. Delicate detail is lovely up close, but from across a field it's all about the silhouette.

Nobody expects you to be an expert willow whisperer. Your Activity Leader shows you how to bend, join and cover the frame, and the rest is just patience and a bit of paste. It's a relaxed, chatty craft to do with your Patrol, and many people find it a calm moment in a busy weekend. The real reward comes after dark, when your lantern lights up and you realise you actually made that.

Lanterns have lit up festivals around the world for a very long time, from the Lantern Festival that marks the end of Chinese New Year to community lantern parades in towns and villages. There's something about a crowd of handmade lights moving together through the dark that gets people every time. Many parade lanterns today use a battery light rather than a candle, which is far safer inside paper.

You might also like Patrol Masks, Basket Weaving and Pennant Flags.

See all Camp Wildfire activities