Owls set off for their Forest School session at our new site on the school field. As a group they sat around the fire circle and recapped on how to be safe around a fire. Some children then chose to help lay and light the fire, practicing their striking technique to light a piece of cotton wool. The ones that found this a little tricky did not give up until they had achieved that spark that would light the cotton wool. Once the fire was going the children cut up some apples, they placed the apple in a pan with some blackberries and some sugar. This was placed on the fire and cooked until soft, making jam. The children then took it in turns to toast some bread over the fire so that they could try the jam, this was
liked by all with many of the class coming back for more!
Some children worked together to move some long lengths of timber from the top of the school down to our new site. They did this in pairs or buy dragging it along the grass behind them.
Some of the children worked together to continue to clear the brambles using some secateurs. As they cut there way deeper into the brambles they came across an old birds nest, they carefully cut round it so that they could remove the nest in one piece so that they could show their class mates. Cutting a little further into the brambles the children found something else “look there is a small tree”. The tree had been swallowed up by the brambles, the children made it their mission to clear to and around the tree, unfortunately they didn’t make it however they asked if they could continue unburying next time.
In the mud kitchen the children were cooking up all sorts of creative foods using many different natural materials. Using a piece of bark they made a bark steak then using mud and water they made a seasoning for their bark steak, mixing in a pan with their hands.
Others chose to crush up charcoal adding a little water to create a black paste. They then covered their hands and made hand prints all over any wooden surface that they could find.
Owls finished off the session by listening to each other say something that they had done today that they had never done before.
“carrying wood on my own”
“making charcoal handprints”
“making a bark steak”
