We started today by learning a game called ‘bat & moth’. The class stood in a circle making our cave, with two children in the middle one bat and one moth. The bat was then blindfolded and had to listen hard to catch the moth that was making a little sound doing its best not to get caught.
On the way to the fire circle we stopped at the shed to gather some firewood ready for later in the session. Sitting around the fire circle we went through some of the rules of being safe by the fire. Some of the class stayed to help get the fire ready, they stacked the wood largest at the bottom to smallest at the top. They talked about how we were using dry sticks otherwise they wouldn’t burn. Then using a flint and steel they lit pieces of cotton wool to add to the fire, it was great to see other children helping the ones that were finding it a little tricky. Once the fire was going the children helped to hold the popcorn over the fire waiting for it to start popping “I see some small white bits”, when it was ready it was enjoyed by the whole class.
A selection of bird teddies joined us at forest school today. Some children made nests for the birds using hay, they twisted it round to create the circle they then gathered moss to line the inside of the nest. Stones were then decorated as eggs and placed into the nests.
There were two very good dens created today, one at the bottom of the field and the other in the willow dome. The children worked well as a team to peg the tarpaulin in place, one of the dens used some garden chairs to help block an opening in there den. The children asked if the dens could be tested to see if they were water tight. After chucking cups of water over the tops of the dens we were left with some soggy children, think there may need to be some redesigning ready for next time.
Some children twisted the hay to make a sort of rope, they then attached the rope they had made to a piece of willow to create a bow. Very creative and it worked really well.
We finished today’s session by sharing what we had enjoyed about our time at forest school today-
“I loved all of it”
“building dens”
“yummy popcorn”
“getting wet”
