Hedgehogs started their session by listening to the story of ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’. We talked about how the different animals had made tracks in the snow as they moved about the woodland. The children also shared that they had made tracks in the snow when it fell in December.
The class set off to the woods in the rain, looking out for any animal or foot prints along the way. They found some boot prints in the mud and some deer prints, which they discov-ered by looking at animal identification sheets. The children commented on some of the features of the woodland which might be animal habitats.
“That looks like where the fox lives”
“There might be a mouse living in there, or ants”
Once in the woods, the children each found two sticks to tap out a rhythm song with. Then they learned how to identify different animals from their footprints by counting their toes. Badgers – 5, foxes -4, deer- 2. They used flour, sieves and stencils to create their own animal foot prints on the woodland floor.
There was time for the children to have a go on the slack line; carefully balancing along the line with the help of a guiding rope. It was great to see the children’s risk taking and how in such a short space of time, that their confidence in climbing and balancing grew.
The children explored freely in the woodland. There was lots of sensory exploration of the clay, sculpting it, rolling it and painting it all along the logs and making hand prints on trees. Then digging in the mud with sticks and their hands.
The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience.
The impact can be seen through the skills, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.
The Hedgehog class ended their session by each sharing what they had enjoyed about the session.
“I liked balancing on the slack line”.
“I liked making with the clay”.
“I liked playing with my friends”.
“I liked digging the roots with a stick”.
There was time to all climb up on the dinosaur tree on the way back to school. Well done Hedgehogs class, what a fantastic first day of the new term! And again a huge thank you to the parent volunteers who came and supported the children so fantastically. We can’t wait until next time!
