All things in nature are connected, sometimes in linear ways.

The idea is for this activity to be a fun way for groups to discover connections and make links physically in the outside world (and thus also in their brains,) all under the guise of making up a song and being given an idea for a melody.

This activity is a way to learn the language of nature, because nature is based on relationships.

Start in one place you will always find a connection to something else nearby, or more further afield, in nature. I try to show this in the introduction.

When doing this activity with groups I suggest you will want to entice or glean the connections out of your students by asking open questions.

Once the connections are made using the string, it can become a reference or inspiration for a melody...high points being high notes, low points - low notes... and the words of the connections give ideas for creating a song or poem.

One of the things I think of when leading this activity is the song about bones being connected to each other... the toe bone's connected to the foot bone... etc

And another thing I think of is a letter said to have been written by Chief Seattle to the US Government in 1984, which eloquently shows how all life is connected,  read here by the great mythologist Joseph Campbell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5CHNsmbEw8

Once you have had a go at the activity I suggest you follow it up with some journalling, writing  or illustrating time as appropriate.

I hope you have a lot of fun out there.