Forest School

Oaks started their session today by looking at selection of animal bones from British wildlife. Looking at them one at a time the class tried to work out what animal each one could be. The children had the opportunity to hold and take a closer look at the bones to see what they felt like, what the teeth looked like and how heavy they were.

A few members of the class helped to lay and light the fire. They remembered from previous sessions that the sticks for the fire have to be stacked with larger ones at the bottom and smaller ones at the top. Then using a flint and steel they lit a piece of cotton wool, this was then placed on top of their stick stacked fire. Once the fire was roaring a kettle was hung over the flame to boil some water for a hot chocolate, the
children helped to get the cups ready. A warm hot chocolate was then enjoyed by all.

There was a new tyre swing hung from one of the large Oak trees. The children helped to push each other trying their best not to get covered in mud from their friends boots as they pushed.

Using the trunk of a large Oak tree, a group of children created themselves a large den. They did this by placing long lengths of timber diagonally against the tree and down to the floor. Then they gathered more natural materials to block up the sides leaving just one way in and out. They worked really well as a team, listening to each other’s idea and working together to transport the materials needed.

Using salt dough the class made some animal tracks to take home. They did this by pressing a stone with an animal track on into the salt dough and leaving an impression behind.

Some children chose to make an apple and sunflower seed bird feeder for the birds that we share our Forest School space with. First they cut an apple into quarters, tied a piece of sting to the apple and then pushed as many sunflower seeds as they could into it. This was then hung from a tree ready for the birds to enjoy.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience, this can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons.

Chestnuts started their session by looking at a selection of bones belonging to animals from the British countryside. As they looked at each one, the children tried to work out which animal the bones were from. They did really well at this. The bones were passed around giving everyone the opportunity to take a closer look.

A few children helped to lay and light the fire, making sure to start with larger sticks at the bottom and working their way to smaller sticks at the top. Then they used a flint and steel to light a piece of cotton wool. The children who had managed to light their own cotton wool then worked with the others who were finding it a bit difficult. They offered great advice and encouragement. It is quite tricky to do but they all persevered and eventually managed to light it by themselves.

Once the fire was going, we hung a kettle of water over it to boil some water for hot chocolate. The children helped to get the cups ready and watched for the steam to start coming out of the spout. This gave them a sign that the water might be ready, however it was the rattling of the kettle lid that told us the water was boiling. A nice warm hot chocolate was then enjoyed by all the class!

Some children chose to make improvements to the den they had built in their last session as it had been changed by another class. They worked well to transport the materials they needed from one end of the site the other.

Using empty toilet rolls the children made feeders to place around the Forest School site for the local birds. They did this by covering the toilet rolls in lard and then rolling them in bird seed. Then they chose a tree branch to hang their feeder from.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience, this can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons.

Willows started their session today by having a look at a selection of animal bones found in the British countryside. To give the children a chance to take a closer look at each skull we passed them around and talked about which animals they were from. We looked at their teeth and talked about which food the animals may eat.

Some of the class helped to get the fire ready by laying down sticks. They starting with larger ones at the bottom with thinner ones at the top. The fire was then lit and a kettle of water, which had been carried down by the children, was placed over the fire to boil.

The children sat and waited patiently for the water to boil. While they waited they got the cups ready for a hot chocolate. The kettle did not take long to boil, the children soon pointed out that water was jumping out the spout! Once the water had boiled the class enjoyed a warm drink around the fire.

The children made the most of the newly cleared space at Forest School. They found mud they could squelch through and thick ice in the mud kitchen which they enjoyed breaking up. There was also some great turn taking on the tyre swing, making sure to help push others in the class while they were waiting for their turn.

Using salt dough and stones with the footprints of animals on one side, the children were able to create their own prints to keep.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience, this can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons.

Forest School started today with laying the fire to help keep us all warm on a chilly December afternoon. A few children helped to set everything up and once this was done, they practiced their fire striking skills. Some of the children found this tricky but didn’t give up until they had managed to light their piece of cotton wool. Once the fire was lovely and warm, the children took it in turns to come into the fire circle and toast a marshmallow. This was then placed in between two chocolate biscuits ready to be enjoyed. A kettle was hung over the fire to boil some water ready for a nice warm hot chocolate!

Some children chose to make a Christmas star decoration. They did this by cutting some lengths of Willow using secateurs then, with a little bit of grown-up help, they tied the sticks together creating their star shape. Then they added pine vegetation to their star to give it a festive look. Some even added beads, which they had threaded onto string and then hung from the bottom of their star.

A group of children made a very impressive base camp in the back corner of Forest School. They worked together to dismantle the old base before recreating their new base with improvements to the roof structure. They added vegetation to the sides making the inside more camouflaged.

There was plenty of free play in the mud kitchen with all sorts of yummy sounding food being created. They also discovered the log pile and the rope swing. They enjoyed climbing to the top of the woodpile, holding onto the rope, jumping off and swinging out before lowering themselves to the ground.

Maples set off in the winter sun for an adventurous afternoon at Forest School, helping to carry all the natural materials and equipment needed for today. Once down at Forest School we had a quick recap on safety as the site had changed a little since Maples were last there. Then the children headed off to explore on their own.

Some children chose to get ‘cooking’ in the mud kitchen. They filled lots of different pots and pans with water and then added leaves, mud and grass to make different food dishes. They took the pots to their woodland den and invited their classmates and teachers for a party food feast!

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

In the far corners of Forest School, there were two different base camps being made. The children worked together to prop wood up against or through the fence to make the frame. Then they added a layer of Leylandii to help camouflage the den.

The children were very creative and made some natural Christmas decorations to place on the class tree. They did this by adding gold paint to very large pinecones and attached a piece of string to help them hang.

Others chose to make a mini tin bug hotel. First, they used a pair of pliers to squash down any sharp edges and then added string so it could be hung up at home. They gathered a selection of sticks, leaves and wood chip to pack into their tin ”mine is just for woodlice” said one child as she packed her tin with woodchip.

Using the new piece of rope that is hanging from the tree, the class took it in turns to jump from the woodpile and hang on for as long as they could. This is not as easy as it sounds which the teachers found out when they were encouraged by Maples to give it a
go.

Maples finished their session with a festive woodland whisper, which was almost the same after it had made its way all around the fire circle.

A call out to any parents/carers who might be able to help. Dormouse needs some help to secure the rope swing using the correct knots so the children can have a tyre swing. Is there anyone who has super knot tying skills? If you are able to help, please let the School Office know. Thank you.

To get warm today Oaks started their Forest School session with a game of Touch Eagle Eye. This was a little tricky as the piles of timber on the grass slowed the children down meaning that they were easier to catch out.

Using the tins that they had brought in some of the class decided to make a mini bug hotel. They started by using pliers to squash the edge of the tin down making it safer to use. They then gathered a selection of leaves, twigs, bamboo and woodchip to fill their tin. They made sure to pack the tin as full as they could so that nothing would fall out when it was hung up in Forest School ready for the local bugs to move into!

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 gained, 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 children very creative in the mud kitchen. They used mud that had been rolled into balls and wrapped with leaves to create some Forest School sushi. This was just one of their very creative woodland foods.

A small group of children wanted to help make some improvements to our Forest School site. They moved the wood that had been cut down recently from the grass and stacked it into a very neat pile. We were very impressed as some of the pieces of wood were rather heavy. They then worked together to saw up some dead Oak branches to add to our firewood pile. It was great to listen to them giving each other pointers while
sawing whilst helping to make sure that the person who was using the saw was being safe at all times. They even helped clear all the leaves from our shelter, using a rake to get them all off the roof.

Using clay, the children experimented with making some leaf imprints. They did this by rolling the clay into a ball and then pulling it flat. They placed a fallen leaf on top of the clay and carefully rolled over the leaf pushing it into the clay. After the leaf was peeled away, they could see the impression that was left behind. Some children chose to add colour to their leaf impressions to make them stand out more.

A call out to any parents/carers who might be able to help. Dormouse needs some help to secure the rope swing using the correct knots so the children can have a tyre swing. Is there anyone who has super knot tying skills? If you are able to help, please let the School Office know. Thank you.

Chestnuts set off in small groups on the hunt for as many different autumn leaves as they could find. Then they laid the leaves they had found onto an ID sheet to help identify them.

Once at Forest School some of the class chose to create a mini bug hotel in the tins they had brought in. They did this by gathering some small sticks and leaves, which were then packed tightly into the tin ensuring they wouldn’t all fall out. As a group we talked about the importance of creating somewhere dry and out of the cold for the bugs to hide over winter.

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 gained, 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.

Unfortunately the den that the class had created in their last session had been dismantled. This did not seem to bother them and they very quickly got stuck into creating another amazing den. While they were constructing the children came across some fungi that was growing on the wood previously used for the den roof. The children were very intrigued by the fungi asking an adult what it was and if they could still use
the wood if they made sure to only look at the fungi. They had found some King Alfred’s Cakes and some Yellow Brain. We talked about how the King Alfred’s Cakes can be used to start a fire. The children gathered these ready to try the next time they are at Forest School and are lighting a fire.

Some of the class practiced their sawing skills. They helped to cut up some long dead Oak branches that had recently been taken down. First, they chose the branch they wanted to cut up and placed it on the saw horse. Some of the lengths were so long that they had to make several cuts to reach the end. Once their branch was cut, they gathered the pieces and added them to our firewood box. Great work Chestnuts!

With the new fence around the pond, the children decided to revamp the old sign that had become a little faded and unreadable. There is now a lovely sign that reads ‘The Nature Bog’, with very colourful flowers, bees and butterflies all over it.

Willows set off in the Autumn sunshine on the hunt for as many different fallen leaves as they could find. Using an ID sheet they laid their leaf against the outline on the sheet to work out which trees the leaves belonged to. They also noticed all the different coloured leaves they found were – “look, I found a yellow and red one”.

There have been a few changes at Forest School. There is a newly cleared area to explore and a new fence around the pond which makes it much easier to watch the wildlife. While we were talking about the wildlife that may live within the pond, the class heard a big SPLASH! It turns out that Willows had disturbed a rather large frog which made a quick exit.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge they children have gained from the Forest School experience. The impact can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Some of the class chose to practice their sawing skills by helping to cut some branches for the firewood pile. They worked well together to snap off all the thin twiggy bits at the tip of the branch. Then with one child lifting each end, they moved the branches onto the saw bench. Taking it in turns the children cut lengths off the branch. This can be very tricky but they worked hard and persevered until they had cut all the way through.

Using the tin that they had brought into school, the children gathered up some natural materials they thought insects might like to hide in. By placing them inside the tins they created a small bug hotel to take home and pop in their own garden. They chose to gather a selection of leaves, twigs and grass, making sure the tins were stuffed full.

We began Forest School today with a game of Touch Eagle Eye. The group had to count to 10 and hide before the eagle’s eyes were open. When the eagle’s eyes were closed, they had to run in and touch Dormouse’s hands and get back to their hiding spot before the eagle’s eyes opened again. Sometimes they were not fast enough and were spotted. If they were spotted they had to join the eagle in her nest and help spot their
class mates.

Many of the group chose to explore the small stream that runs down the side of our Forest School site. They used forks to remove some of the vegetation that had been washed down, which allowed the water to flow more easily. Then they used a colander to sieve the water and see if they could catch anything. As the water drained away the children noticed something – “there’s something wiggling”. Taking a closer look, they
found lots of small fresh water shrimps.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

With all the rain that we have had lately there is an area at Forest School where the mud has been washed away leaving a bit of a hole. Some of the group chose to help dig up a rather large plant to fill this hole. Working together they dug their way around the base of the plant – “let’s do it on opposite sides”. This was an effective method as the plant was finally freed from the ground and carried it to its new home. They filled the
hole first with some wood and then wedged the plant in around the wood before placing one more long log to hold it all in place.

Using clay and some conkers the children made hedgehogs. They did this by using the husk of the conker to make a spiky hedgehog back, then used clay to make the soft body. Others chose to use the conker, wrapping it in clay to create a larger ball shape.

They then added a point to the top creating a mini pumpkin.

Chestnuts started Forest School by sitting around the fire circle and recapping how to stay safe. Some children helped to lay and light the fire, practicing their striking technique to light a piece of cotton wool. They found this a little tricky but kept trying.

Some help was needed but with practice they will get there on their own. Once the fire was going, the children cut up some apples and placed them in a pan with some blackberries and sugar. This was put on the fire and cooked until it was soft, making jam. The children then took it in turns to toast some bread over the fire so that they could try the jam. They all really liked it with some of the children coming back for more!

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Chestnuts built a rather impressive den around the base of a large Oak tree. The children had worked together to drag some Leylandii branches down the school field to their chosen den spot. Using long branches and old fence posts they created a frame work. Then they placed the Leylandii branches on the framework, helping to camouflage their den. The den had a kitchen in the back where all sorts of creations were made in various pots.

There was plenty of free play in the hammock with the children taking it in turns to push their friends. Others chose to decorate pieces of wood. One of the pieces of wood was decorated with ladybirds in lots of different colours.

While moving materials around at Forest School the children came across a frog that was hiding under some old fence posts. The children watched as the frog hopped away to hide in the bug hotel.

Willows set off in their waterproofs and wellies ready to explore the Forest School area for the first time.

Willows were shown around the site, looking at areas that are safe to explore on their own and the areas that we don’t go to without an adult. They also learnt how to be safe around the fire circle and that they should never eat or pick anything up unless an adult has said it is ok to do so.

The impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge they children have gained from the Forest School experience. The impact can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Many of the children chose to create some wonderful dishes in the mud kitchen. They gathered pans of mud and acorns, which they mixed together with some water. When asked what they were making, one child replied, “I’m making soup”.

The children were very good at balancing on the slack line, holding on to the top rope and making their way to the other side. Some of the children also discovered that they could bounce themselves quite well by jumping up and down. This however made it a little tricky to stay on the slack line.

Some children chose to decorate a wooden disc using pens to create a picture. They they used a palm drill to make a hole in the wood, which they found a little tricky but really tried hard. They practiced their threading skills by pushed some wool through the hole and knotting it to make a necklace. The necklaces were then hung from a branch and the children watched them spin in the wind.

Willows ended their session by trying some jam on crackers. The jam had been made on the fire by one of the older classes. This went down very well and many of them came back for seconds.

Maples started their session today with a recap of the rules which help to keep them safe around the fire circle. Then putting these rules into action they laid and lit a fire ready to make some jam.

Some children carefully peeled and cut the apples ready to be softened on the fire. Once the apples were soft, blackberries and sugar were added. When the jam was ready the children toasted some bread, turning it regularly so that it did not burn. Then they had the chance to try some of the toast and jam. This went down well as many had seconds!

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Some children chose to make Elder bead necklaces. They used a palm drill to push out the pithy middle of the Elder before pushing some wool through the hole they had created. Then they tied the two ends of the wool together. They used pens to decorate their beads, some were plain in colour whereas others were covered in spots.

Some great teamwork was demonstrated by some of the children who worked together to build the best defence possible for their dens. They did this because there was a little bit of den invading going on!

While exploring the site and moving material about a few of the children came across a rather large frog. They watched the frog as he made his way to the bug hotel and climbed inside one to the terracotta pots.

Oaks set off on a hunt for some blackberries, hoping to find enough to make jam with on the fire. They placed the berries they had collected into a bowl before adding some apple, which they had peeled and cut into small chunks, along with a little sugar. The fire was prepared and lit by Oaks. They did this using a flint and steel to strike some cotton wool before placing it on top of the fire that had already been laid. Once it was ready the apple and berries were added to a pan and placed on the fire. The children mixed and mushed them until it was all soft and looked like jam. They then took it in turns to toast some bread over the fire ready to try their jam, which was enjoyed by all as many of the children came back for seconds.

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 gained, 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.

Some children chose to practice their tool use by making Elder beads. They did this by cutting the Elder to a length of their choice and then using a palm drill they pushed out the pithy middle. They then used pens to add colour to their beads before pushing some wool through to finish off their necklace or bracelet.

There were some great creations in the mud kitchen today. The children mixed mud with a little bit of water, which created a sort of clay that they were then able to roll into balls. The mud balls were then pushed onto sticks and looked like mud lolly pops!

Year 6 Oaks started their last ever Forest School session today with a bit of team building. They were given two short lengths of guttering and had to transport an apple from one end of the class to the other without dropping it. This is a lot harder than it sounds and requires a great deal of team work.

As the class walked to Forest School they shook some cream with the hope of making butter. Once this was achieved the class had the chance to enjoy trying their butter on some crackers. Most defiantly a hit as many of the class had more than one cracker.

A group of children worked together to gather all the things needed to have a fire – dry wood, tinder and the fire strikers. They then put all the knowledge they have gathered from other sessions together to lay the fire and get it started. Once the fire was established the class toasted themselves a marshmallow which they enjoyed in between two biscuits.

While they were sat around the fire circle the children found some cold charcoal which they rubbed onto their fingers to paint stripes onto each others faces.

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 gained, 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.

Using secateurs some of the children cut themselves two lengths of hazel. Then they used a knife to carefully strip the bark and add a point to their stick. Before using any tools the children were asked to explain to Dormouse how to be safe while using them, they were all able to do this very well. Once their sticks were finished some children chose to place them on the fire, they said that “it will give it a burnt look”. This was rather effective.

Working together the children put the hammock swing and slackline up by themselves. They then challenged themselves to walk along the slackline with only two sticks to help with their balance. They also took it in turns to push each other as high as they could in the swing.

Today’s session was finished by asking the class what they have really enjoyed from their time spent at Forest School while at Park Mead.

“all the food”
“exploring and making”
“making dens with my friends”

Oaks started their session with a game called ‘Touch Eagle Eye’. The children had the count of 10 to hide before Dormouse opened her eyes. Dormouse then closed her eyes for another count of 10. Whilst she was counting, the children had to run and touch her hands before she reached 10. If she could see anyone when she opened her eyes, they were caught and helped Dormouse until the next game.

At the start of round two, the class came rushing forward saying that they had found an Owl. They were right, at the base of a large Oak tree there was a young Owl. The class made sure they were quiet so they didn’t scare the bird as it made its way through the fence and off into the countryside beyond the school. Oaks were then able to continue with their game. For Dormouse who had her eyes shut and hands out, the class sound like a stampede of children as they ran in and away again as fast as they could.

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 gained, 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.

Oaks had the chance to practice the fire lighting skills they have learnt in previous sessions and were very quick to get the fire going. While the fire was getting hot enough to cook on, the children started to make their pizzas. They cut open their pitta bread and filled it with tomato puree and cheese. Then they wrapped it in foil and brought it over to the fire ready for cooking. As they waited patiently for their pitta pizza some of the class discussed what they thought it would taste like, “it will be a smoked pizza”. Once ready they were eaten very quickly and Dormouse felt that cooking pizza on the fire was a huge success!

There was some fantastic den building in one corner of Forest School today. A group of children wedged some wood into the fence to create a roof, then they used other curved pieces of wood to create a wall from one side of the fence to the other. Very creative den building Oaks!

Maples where given some cream to shake as they walked down to Forest School today, by shaking it they hoped to make some butter. It wasn’t long before they were successful. The class then had the chance to try the butter on some crackers, which I would say was well liked as many of the children came back for seconds.

Before setting off to explore, the class played a game of Touch Eagle Eye. Dormouse counted to 10 to give the children time to hide before she opened her eyes. By this point all the children must be hidden. Dormouse then closed her eyes for another count of 10 during which the children had to run and touch her hands before she got to 10 and opened her eyes. When she opened her eyes, if she could see any of the children they were ‘caught’ and had to come and help her.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

A few children chose to help put up the slack line. They made sure that it was not twisted as it went around the tree, then they carefully threaded it through the ratchet before testing their strength by cranking the ratchet as tightly as they could. Once it was up the class were told that today they would be using the slack line without the top line for balance. Instead they were given two sticks to use, it was great to see so many of the children give this a go. Some found it a little tricky as it can be quite wobbly when you’re up there. Some of the children chose to push themselves a little by trying to walk along the slackline holding only one stick, some even attempted it without any sticks. With a little more practice I don’t think it will be long before they are walking all the way along with-out any sticks to hold onto. Well done Maples!

A group of children chose to make their own improvements to a den that had been created by another class at the base of a large oak tree. They enlarged the opening and added a side area that they called “the medical unit”. They also added tyres at both paths leading to their den “we have made turrets”, that they sat in guarding their newly created den.

There were also some wonderful creations in the mud kitchen with all sorts of dishes being made using a variety of natural materials, from mud and grass to woodchip.

Maples finished their session by playing another game of Touch Eagle Eye, except this time those that had been caught took it in turns to shout “eagles eyes are closing for 10”, with the class then running in to touch their hands.

Willows started their Forest School session today by helping to move some woodchip down to our site at the bottom of the school field. They worked together to fill up the wheelbarrow and some trays. While we were doing this we talked about where the wood chip had come from, Willows were full of questions “why is it in little bits?” and “why is it smoking?”. Once down at Forest School they spread the woodchip around on some of the more muddy areas.

The class were shown where a bird has decided to make a nest up in the roof space of our shelter. They were asked what they had to do if they were near the nest – “be really quiet”. They said this was because of the baby birds and that if they were quiet then they would be able to hear the babies.

Some of the children then chose to create their own nest except their nests were for dragon eggs instead of bird eggs. They made their eggs by decorating some stones. They wove willow together to create a circle, wedging sticks into the sides to make the bottom of the nest and then lining it with grass.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

There were lots of things being cooked up in the mud kitchen this after-noon. The children spent quite a bit of time transporting water from another area back to the mud kitchen. They started this with a pot that was full of holes, however they soon discovered that they needed to change the container that was being used in order to move the water successfully. When asked what they were cooking I was told – “Dormouse pancakes”.

Oaks started their session today using wheelbarrows, buckets and any tubs they could find to move the wood chip from the car park down to our Forest School site. Once down there they spread the wood chip out in all the really muddy spots and around our fire circle. Some of the logs that the class sit on around the fire circle have become a little rotten, in pairs the children moved the logs and added them to our bug hotel. They then worked together to carry some new Oak branches to use as seats in the fire circle. These were a little heavier so more children were needed to help carry them – great team work from all of Oaks today! When we were finished, the whole class sat down to enjoy a cold refreshing ice lolly.

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 gained, 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.

Some of the class helped to put up the slack line, making sure to make it as tight as possible. Normally we put up another line for them to hold onto as they walk along the slack line however, this time the children found themselves two long sticks instead. Using the sticks to help themselves balance they walked along the slack line, the rest of the class encouraged them along the way. This is a really tricky thing to achieve but it was great to see the children keep trying and trying until they made it.

There was lots of free play on the hammock swing, taking it in turns to push each other as high as they could, with the occasional child swinging into the bushes!

Using the clay some of the children chose to make some clay animals. While they were sitting at the table they noticed that a nest had been built up in the roof space of the Forest School shelter. Hopefully this means that we have some baby birds sharing the space we use.

We started our Forest School session today by going to the pond area in groups to see what was living in the water. The class were asked what they thought they might catch before we started “a fish”, “a frog”. Although they did not find either of these things they did find plenty of other creatures. Using an ID sheet they were able to identify that they had caught some water louse, Ramshorn snails, Caddisfly larvae and a newt. Everything was put into a clear tray so the children were able to look at them from the bottom. Doing this they were able to see the newts tummy “it’s orange”.

The children then got into small groups for a scavenger hunt. The had lots of different things to find, from something long to something that crawls. They worked together to find as many things as they could, but finding something red proved to be a little tricky.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Maples then had the job of transporting as much woodchip down to Forest School as they could. Climbing on top of the woodchip pile they started to fill their containers “it smells like Christmas”. They then carried their containers down the field to the site. Some of the class stayed to spread out the woodchip inside the fire circle whereas others went back and forth bringing down more woodchip. They even managed to rope Oaks class into carrying some down as they did their daily Active Mile. As they got deeper into the pile they noticed that the woodchip was really warm. We talked about the reason why it was getting warm, which was because the pile was starting to decompose. It was great to see such team work from all the children at Park Mead. Some were so keen that they offered to continue to move it the next day!

There was lots of free play at Forest School today, we had some great imagination being used in the mud kitchen with all sorts of creations being made “I’m making pancakes with strawberries and vanilla”. There were also children with great tree climbing and den building skills.

Chestnuts set off in groups to try and find everything on their spring scavenger hunt. They worked well together and found something that crawls, something red and so much more.

Half the class then made their way to the pond by the vegetable patch for some pond dipping. When talking about what they may catch most of the class were convinced they would be catching some fish. The children crouched down to dip the nets into the water – “I have something wiggly in my net”. Everything they caught was carefully put into a tray of pond water. The children then used an ID sheet to work out what they had caught; between them they had a Rams-horn snail, a few water louse and a smooth newt. The newt was in clear water so they were able to look underneath at its tummy – “it has an orange spotty tummy”.

The other half of the class started to tidy Chestnuts vegetable garden. They did this by removing all the weeds and digging the soil over ready for planting. While digging they found some bulbs, these were carefully replanted.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

We then went down to the Forest School site where the children took it in turns to pond dip in the forest pond. This time they found something a little bigger and again using the ID sheet, they were able to work out that they had found a dragonfly nymph.

There was some great den building today. The children worked together to move long lengths of wood from one side of Forest School to the location of their den on the other side of the site. There was a rather large hole full of sticky mud that they had to go through to get to their den, so to make it easier they filled this hole with lumps of wood to use as stepping stones.

We finished today’s session by telling each other what we had enjoyed about Forest School today.

“finding the big thing in the pond”
“looking in the pond”

Willows started their Forest School session today by getting into pairs and going on a Spring scavenger hunt. They worked well in their pairs and found lots of different things, including something yellow and something that crawls. They made piles of their findings so they could show them to Dormouse.

The class then made their way to the pond area by the allotment. Before they started the children were asked what they thought may be hiding in the water “a tree frog”. Then they dipped their nets into the water and checked to see if they had caught anything.

Everything they caught was carefully put into a tray of pond water. The children then used an ID sheet to identify what they had caught. They caught a ramshorn snail and a few water louse. Once down at Forest School the children took it in turns to have a go at pond dipping in the other pond. They found something a little bigger, again using the ID sheet they were able to work out that they had found a Dragonfly Nymph.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Some children chose to collect different shaped and textured leaves. Then using paint they covered the leaf and printed it onto paper. They found out that this works best if you paint the underside of the leaf. Some were painted using one colour whereas others used lots of colours to create a rainbow effect.

Willows helped to put the slack line up today. They explained to Dormouse how it needed to be wrapped around the tree first and, with some help, they pulled it tight. Once it was up the whole class tried to balance on it. With so many children it became a little wobbly and tricky but they did all manage to stay on in the end.

Today the Year 1/2 classes from East Hoathly and Park Mead joined together for a sunny adventure on Eastbourne beach.

Once at the beach the children were really keen to start exploring and even more excited to go and paddle – “will it be warm?”

Some of the children looked amongst the stones. Then using an ID sheet they were able to work out what they had found. They found Mermaid’s Purses, whelk eggs, dry seaweed and some stones with holes that went all the way through.

Working in groups there was a sand castle construction. Some castles were mounds of sand surrounded by a watery moat. The children had to work hard to fill their moat with buckets of sea water before it soaked away into the sand. Other castles were made with stone, using wet sand as a kind of cement to hold them together. One group dug a rather large hole and placed stones around the edge. When asked what they were doing they said “we are making a rock pool”. Others chose to dig channels down to the sea so the water could flow down the beach. They kept having to make it longer as the tide was going out.

As the tide went out it exposed the bottom of the groins, this was a great place for us to see some marine life. The children found limpets, barnacles, whelks and anemones. Some of the anemones were open as the water was still just covering them. This allowed the children to see their tentacles whereas others that were out of the water were closed.

The children enjoyed paddling in the sea and running back up the beach trying not to get wet as the waves broke. Others tried jumping the waves, sometimes not getting it quite right and getting splashed.

It was great to see the two classes play and work together, it was a really amazing day Chestnuts.

Chestnuts have had a wonderful, fun filled last few weeks. The beach trip was fabulous; super paddling fun. They have all really enjoyed learning about Titanic too!

While getting themselves ready for Forest School today we talked about why birds build nests. The class told me that they build them for their eggs and baby birds. Once they were ready, the class tried walking like different animals as we made our way to Forest School. They crept like a fox, hopped like a frog, flapped their wings like a bird and buzzed like a bee.

We sat around the fire circle and reminded ourselves of the rules we follow to keep us safe around the fire; well done Willows for remembering all of them! Some of the class then helped build a fire making sure to put larger sticks at the bottom and smaller ones on the top. With a little help, they used a flint and steel to light some cotton wool to place on the fire. Once the fire had got going, we placed some popcorn kernels in the middle of two sieves and held them over the fire. Some other members of the class came over to watch the popcorn being made, “I’m waiting for it to pop, pop”. Once it was ready, a little sugar was added and it was enjoyed by the whole class.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Some children chose to play with the bird teddies which had come to Forest School again today. Using hay they created nests for the birds to sit in, which were placed into trees, “look it’s in a tree like a real nest”. Then Willows decorated stones to make colourful eggs for their nests, some with spots others with many different colours.

There were some creations in the mud kitchen, using some old charcoal from the fire. They put the charcoal into a saucepan and crushed it up, adding water and other materials to make a black soup.
With a little less water and large puddles at Forest School today there was a lot more mud to explore. The class walked through the sticky mud trying not to get stuck, leaving some great footprints as they walked.

We started today by learning a game called ‘Bat & Moth’. The class stood in a circle making a 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 and doing its best not to get caught.

We sat around the fire circle and reminded ourselves of the rules we need to follow to keep us safe. Some of the class stayed to help get the fire ready. They stacked the wood with the largest at the bottom and the smallest at the top. Then using a flint and steel they lit pieces of cotton wool to add to the fire. They found this a little tricky but with some help they managed to get the fire started. Once the fire was going the children held popcorn kernels over the fire waiting for it to start popping – “look it’s popping”. When it was ready it was shared out and enjoyed by the whole class.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

A selection of bird teddies joined us at Forest School today. Some children made nests for the birds using hay. These nests were placed around the site. Stones were decorated as eggs and placed into the nests. The eggs were very brightly coloured, some with spots and some with stripes.

There was some great independent play from Maples today. A variety of food creations were cooked up in the mud kitchen for Mr Lulham to try. Some children went ’mining for gold’ in the small stream that runs down one side of Forest School. They sieved through the mud and stones to find their treasure. Others chose to practice balancing on the slack line, which was rather tricky with muddy boots!

Some of the class chose to have a go at making their own pens. They did this by cutting a small length of willow, then using a peeler they stripped off the bark – “wow, it’s so white”. A point was made on one end completing the pencil. As a group they gathered up some charcoal and crushed it into a pot, adding a little water and mixing it together to make a black paste. They then tried writing with the pencils they had made, which worked really well.

Oaks started their Forest School session today by playing a game called Bat and Moth. The group all held hands to create a cave with two children in the middle, one as the bat and one as the moth. The bat wore a blindfold and carefully listened for the moths squeak. The bat then tried to catch the moth as they ran around the cave.

We had a fire today to keep ourselves warm as well as make some popcorn. The children laid the fire ready for lighting making sure to start with bigger sticks at the bottom and smaller sticks at the top. Using a flint and steel they very quickly lit a piece of cotton wool and added it to the fire they had laid. Once the fire was warm enough they added some popcorn kernels to a sieve. This was then held over the fire to heat up and pop. When it was ready, sugar was added and the popcorn was enjoyed by all of Oaks.

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 gained, 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.

Some bird teddies also joined Forest School today. Some children chose to make nests for the birds using hay, quite a few of the nests were made inside sauce-pans! Using pens they decorated some stones to make colourful eggs for their birds to sit on.

Some of the class chose to try whittling. They did this by cutting a length of willow and then using a peeler to stripped off the bark. They then tied wool onto either end pulling it tight to create a bow. They came back to whittle more willow to make arrows.

There was a lot of tree climbing at Forest School today, Oaks would make very good monkeys. The mud kitchen was very busy with lots of mud being transported to create food. The children also took it in turns to push and twist each other using the hammock as a swing.

We started Forest School today by meeting a real hedgehog called Harry who had come to Park Mead to meet the children. They learnt lots of different facts about hedgehogs and were amazed when he curled up into a ball – “you can still see his nose”.

There were six bird teddies hiding in the classroom for the children to find once they were ready for Forest School. They found a robin, blackbird, jay, blue tit, goldfinch and green woodpecker. We then set off in the rain on the hunt for puddles, taking the birds with us. It wasn’t long before we found a puddle, the children walked in it slowly testing how deep it was – “I’m stuck in the mud”.

Some children chose to make toilet roll binoculars, wrapping them in string to fix the rolls together and adding string so they could wear them while looking for birds. Others chose to refill the toilet roll bird feeders that they had made before half term and re-hanging them in a tree ready for the birds to enjoy. While these were being made we looked at the bird teddies taking it in turns to listen to the sounds that the different birds make.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

There was a lot of water at Forest School today – “I found a waterfall”. Some of the children gathered up branches and other materials to try and stop the waterfall but the water always found a way through. One child tried using their wellie – “we need more boots”. We all placed our boots in the way to try and block the water but if flowed over the top or our wellies. The children worked as a team to try and empty the puddle that was feeding the waterfall, they did this with saucepans. They also spent a bit of time splashing their way through the rather large puddle.

The hammock was put up as a swing today, however this proved very tricky to use as the wind blew it around. The children had to chase it and jump to catch it before they could climb inside to have a swing.

There was some great free play in the mud kitchen with all sorts of creations being made. They walked around Forest School foraging through all the new vegetation that has started to grow, running back and forth with saucepans full of water to add to their cooking.

We started today by having a look at pictures of different birds we may spot while at Forest School. We talked about what they look like and I asked the class to describe them to me – “they have feathers and they can fly”.

We sat around the fire circle and reminded ourselves how to keep ourselves safe around a fire. The class practiced swapping places by going round the outside of the circle. They also learnt that they shout ‘red dragon’ if someone walks into the fire circle without being asked in by the Forest School leader.

A few children stayed to help lay the fire. They learnt that you start with larger sticks at the bottom, stacking up to smaller sticks on the top and then adding a handful of wood shavings. Using a flint and steel they tried to light a piece of cotton wool to add to the fire. This can be a little tricky but with some help it was lit and added to the fire.

Once the fire was going the children took it in turns to toast a marshmallow, this was then placed between two biscuits ready to be eaten – “so yummy”.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Some children chose to make toilet roll bird feeders. First they made holes at one end of the roll and posted a stick through, this is so the bird has something to land on. Then they covered the roll in lard and sprinkled it with seeds. The last thing to do was to make holes at the top and add string so it could be hung in a tree ready for the birds to enjoy.

There was some great independent play at Forest School today, some children choose to swing in the hammock with others adding sticks to an existing den and then climbing on top of it. Others chose to create their own pretend fires, which they pretend to light.

We finished today’s session by asking the children what they had enjoyed about their afternoon at Forest School.

Oaks started their Forest School session today working together as a team to move the wonderful donations we have received for our bug hotel.

Some of the class then helped light a fire. They stacked the wood, largest at the bottom to smallest at the top. Using a striker they lit some cotton wool, which was placed on the fire. Some of the children found this quite tricky but they persevered until they achieved a flame. It was nice to see the children that had managed to light it quickly help those who were struggling. Once the fire was established, the class took it in turns to toast a marshmallow ready to go in between two chocolate biscuits for eating.

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 gained, 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.

Using toilet rolls some of the children made binoculars; then they walked around Forest School looking for birds. Others chose to look at animal tracks, trying to see if they could guess which animal had made each track. Then they pushed the stones with the tracks on into some clay. This left an imprint of the track in the clay.

There was a lot of digging and den building going on today. One child used a broken trowel and a stick to create their own mini spade. They did this by using the palm drill to make a hole in the stick, pushed the trowel into it before securing it with string. The group building used fence posts to create their den. They worked together to transport the posts across Forest School, going through the mud trying their best not to get stuck!

There was a lot of free play in the hammock swing; some children chose to sit where as others chose to stand, which made them look like a giant chrysalis. They took it in turns to push each other. Sometimes they were pushed between five people creating a circular swing.

Maples set off for a chilly afternoon at Forest School. We played a game of Spirit of the Forest to get the class warmed up. The class chose which woodland animal they wanted to be; we had foxes, badgers and deer. The Spirit of the Forest then called the animals one at a time, they ran across to the other side trying not to get caught. If they were caught they became a tree with long branches to catch other animals.

Soon we had created a woodland full of trees!

The class sat around the fire circle, we went through some of the rules and reminded ourselves how to be safe by the fire. Some of the class helped to lay the fire, starting with larger sticks at the bottom, stacking it up to smaller sticks at the top. Then using a striker they lit some cotton wool to add to our fire. The fire was very popular today with the children sitting around it to warm up.

There were all sorts of cooking creations happening in the mud kitchen. The children found ice and added it to what they made. They brought the pans of woodland materials and ice over to the fire, carefully placing them on top to melt the ice.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Using stones that had animal tracks on them, the class made their own tracks using clay. They pushed the stones into the clay leaving an indent.

We finished the session today by asking Maples what new things they would like to try at Forest School:

“cooking pizza”

“popcorn”

“cinnamon apples again”

As you can see all the idea are very food based!

The class started their session by looking at animal footprints made with flour. They were very good at identifying which animal each track belonged to. Once at Forest School we went on the hunt for footprints made by real animals and found some in the mud that belonged to a pheasant and a fox.

We had a look at some stones with animal footprints on and Chestnuts had to work out which animal the footprint belonged to. Using the stones some children then created their own animal footprints. They did this by pushing the stone into clay making an indent.

Others chose to make bird feeders. Some were pine cones filled with lard and rolled in bird seed, others used pipe cleaners threaded with Cheerios. The feeders were then hung in the trees ready for the birds to enjoy. While making them we looked at photos of birds that may eat from the feeders.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

The children cooked up some great food in the mud kitchen. They worked together to gather all the things they needed to make something yummy for their teacher, even using ice they found as lumps of chocolate!

Another group of children created a new den. It was great to see them working together to transport the branches they needed from one side of Forest School to the other. The den had lots of different areas. There were areas for cooking, sitting and sleeping. It was great to see such teamwork and creativity.

We finished today’s session by telling each other what we had enjoyed about Forest School today.

“making tracks”

“building our base”

We started Forest School today by learning a new game called Spirit of the Forest. The class chose which woodland animal they wanted to be; we had foxes, badgers and squirrels. The Spirit of the Forest then called the animals one at a time. When they were called they had to run across to the other side trying not to get caught. If they were caught they became a tree with long branches to catch other animals. Soon we had created a woodland full of trees – ”I am a pear tree”.

We looked at stones with different animal footprints on and the children had to guess which animal had made the track. The children then used clay to create their own tracks by pushing the stone into the clay leaving an imprint of the animal track.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Some children chose to make pine cone bird feed-ers, filling the cone with lard and then rolling it in sunflower seeds – “I’m making mine for a robin”. They then chose where to hang their pine cone feeders in a tree ready for the birds – “hang mine high”, this was so that the birds would be safe while eating.

There was some great independent play on the hammock swing, taking it in turns to push each other and trying hard not to make each other too muddy. There were also lots of wonderful creations happening in the mud kitchen.

We have some great tree climbers in Willows. They worked their way along a fallen tree, carefully balancing until they reached the snake end where they jumped off and ran round to have another go.

We finished today’s session by talking about the things they had enjoyed during their afternoon at Forest School.

“I loved tree climbing”

“The swing”

Willows shuffled like Hedgehogs all the way down to Forest School today. When we got to the site we sat around the fire circle and reminded ourselves of the rules which help to keep us safe. We also talked about not picking or eating anything as it can make our tummies poorly.

Willows set off to explore the site and found a dead bird. We wondered what had happened to it. One child said “I think it was a cat” another said “I think it was a fox”. Together we removed the bird from Forest School.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Harold the hedgehog joined us today and a small group of children spent some time making him a house to live in.

The slack line was up so the children could practice their balancing. They took it in turns to climb up, carefully walk along the line using the rope above for balance, and jump off when they got to the other end.

The hammock was also put up and used as a swing. The children were great at taking it in turns to climb in and push each other. One child said “I’m a swinging sack of potatoes”.

Some children chose to make bird feeders. We talked about the reason we feed the birds and how it can be hard for them to find food in the winter months. They used lard to fill in the gaps on a pine cone and then rolled it in bird seed, making sure it was nicely covered. Once they had finished, they found somewhere to hang their pine cone ready for the birds to eat – “I would like to hang it where the birds can see it”.

Oaks started Forest School today with moving some fencing material down to our site. They worked in pairs to carry each rail as they were a little too long and heavy to carry alone.

A few children practised the fire lighting skills they had learnt in their previous sessions; they are defiantly getting faster at producing the spark that lights the cotton wool. Once the fire was established the kettle was filled and hung over the fire to boil. Oaks then took it in turns to sit by the fire and toast a marshmallow, this was then placed between two biscuits ready for eating – “so yummy”. The kettle soon boiled and everyone enjoyed a warm hot chocolate to go with the s’mores.

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 gained, 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.

Some of the class spent time removing the mud from the daily mile track. They did this by using shovels and brooms to scrape and then sweep as much of the mud away as they could. A channel was dug so that the water could run away. This became so muddy that a couple of the class lost their wellies in the channel, these had to be dug out to get them back!

Some of the children used palm drills to make a hole in a disc of wood, this was quite tricky as the wood was very seasoned but the children persevered until they had made it all the way through. They then used pens to decorate their disk, some as Christmas decorations; one was a picture of a Christmas tree – “a Christmas tree to hang on my Christmas tree”. Others were decorated with nature pictures with the children adding a piece of string so that they could be hung up.

Once Maples were ready we headed out onto the playground for a game of Keeper of the Keys. In this game, the children have to sneak in, take the keys and run back to their seat before the keeper catches them.

Once we were at the Forest School site, a group of children helped to lay the fire. To get the fire going, they used the fire lighting skills they had learnt from their previous session. The kettle was placed over the fire to boil ready for hot chocolate. Maples then took it in turns to toast a marshmallow, which was put between two biscuits ready for eating – “it’s so gooey”.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

The hammock was put up as a swing and the class took it in turns to climb inside and push each other.

There was some great team work when rebuilding the den in the corner of Forest School. The children worked together to push wood through the fence to create a roof.

With all the rain we have had there was a rather large puddle that needed to be explored. The class waded through it, splashed in it and also got stuck in it!

We finished the session with a woodland whisper; it got a little muddled so I think we may need to try this again.

These are some of the things that Maples class said they enjoyed about Forest School today-

“I liked the fire”
“All the water”
“S’mores”

Chestnuts got themselves into their waterproofs ready to explore a soggy Forest School. We stopped on the field on the way down for a game of Keeper of the Bell. The children took it in turns to sneak in, steal the bell and run as fast as possible back to their seat without being caught. As the field was so soggy it made running a little tricky.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

Once down at Forest School we recapped on the rules of the fire circle so that we were safe to have a fire. I was impressed at how many of them they remembered. There was some great perseverance shown with striking to get the fire going. Once the fire was roaring the children toasted marshmallows and ate s’mores. We also boiled the kettle and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate – “so yummy”.

The children had lots of great free play in the mud kitchen this afternoon. All sorts of amazing creations were cooked up!

With all the water flowing through Forest School it was great to see the imagination of the class. They found a waterfall that disappeared under the fence, using leaves and small sticks they experimented with what floated, watching it disappear. Lots of large lumps of wood were gathered to try and block the flow of water; however the water always found a way through. There was some great teamwork and some amazing ideas for more dam building that will hopefully be carried out in our next session.

To start forest school Willows worked as a team to transport all the materials that we needed to site. Some of the boxes that we had for den building needed two to carry them, great team work Willows!

These boxes were then used to create dens; the children used crayons and charcoal to decorate the outsides of the box dens.

We talked about Hedgehogs, what the look like, how they would feel and if anyone has seen one in their garden. Willows then created their own Hedgehogs using a selection of autumn leaves to make the spikes found on their backs.

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 gained, 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.

Using green leaves some children created beautiful leaf rubbing pictures, with crayons and charcoal. They did this by placing the leaf under the paper then rubbing the crayon or charcoal over the top leaving the leaf shape on the paper.

They also took it in turns to make a conker caterpillar/worm. They did this by using a palm drill to make holes through conkers which they then treaded it onto a pipe cleaner. This can be tricky as they have to push and twist at the same time. I was impressed at the effort they put in to make sure the palm drill went all the way through.

We finished our session with a game of keeper of the keys. There was great encouragement from the class, cheering on the thief of the keys to make it back to their seat before the keeper could catch them.

We started our Forest School session with a game of Keeper of the Keys; we discovered it is a little tricky to run in wellies.

Some of the children worked together to prepare the fire ready for lighting with big sticks at the bottom, working up to smaller ones at the top. Some children used a striker to light cotton wool to add to the fire. I was impressed at how they did not give up until it was lit and how other members of the class helped those that were finding it a little tricky, great teamwork Oaks.

They cored apples and sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar. The apples were then wrapped in foil and placed on the fire to cook. The result was very popular with many of the children coming back for seconds and saying “I’m making these at home”.

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 gained, 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.

Oaks worked very well together to make a tarpaulin and wooden shelter, the den was then tested to see how waterproof it was. They all climbed inside the den while a bowl of water was thrown over it. The den was found to be pretty waterproof, until the entrance was tested leaving some slightly soggy children!

Some beautiful leaf rubbings were created using charcoal and crayons. They worked out that thicker leaves work best.

There was some great free play on the slack line and all sorts of yummy food creations were made in the mud kitchen, really making the most of the activities our Forest School site has to offer.

One child found a worm which was named Jeff. They worked with some classmates to create him a lovely home inside a wash-ing up bowl. They even found him a worm friend called Jeremy so that he didn’t get lonely.

We headed out to start our session with a game of beetle tag. Four of the children were birds, catching the other children and turning them into little beetles wiggling on their backs. The little birds tried very hard to catch all the beetles but there were too many.

Once we were down in Forest School we had a quick refresh on how to keep ourselves safe. Mr Lulham was told off by the children for walking through the fire circle, they then demonstrated how to move safely by the fire circle ‘round the outside’.

Some of the children worked to build the fire, starting with the bigger logs at the bottom and finishing with small twigs on the top. They then used a striker to light some cotton wool to add to the fire; with some great perseverance they were successful. They then cored many apples, sprinkled them with cinnamon and sugar and wrapped them in foil. These were placed on the fire to cook. The result was very popular with many coming back for seconds – ”wow, it tastes like apple pie”.

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 gained, 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.

Maples worked really well together to make a tarpaulin shelter ready for it to be tested on its waterproof ability. They then hid inside their den while a bucket of water was thrown over it; they are very good at den construction, none of them got wet!

There was some great free play in the mud kitchen with all sorts of meals being prepared.

We finished the session off by sitting round the fire circle telling each other what we had enjoyed at Forest School today.

“Balancing on the slack line”
“I liked the apples”
“Building the den”

Willows got themselves ready with waterproofs and boots to go and explore Forest School for their first ever session.

As they walked down to Forest School we played a nature identifying game called ‘you are only safe when you are touching …‘. They touched grass, fallen leaves, yellow leaves and their teacher’s yellow wellies.

We explored the Forest School area, looking at what areas are safe and which areas you can only go in if you have an adult with you. They helped to identify some spiky brambles and some nettles that we discussed were best to not touch. They learned they shouldn’t ever eat anything they pick, unless an adult has said it is ok to do so.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons, and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

They had a chance to explore on their own. They had a go at climbing trees and creating food in the mud kitchen. The slack line was very popular, it was great to see them persevere as they found it a little tricky to start with. They also made Ladybirds that were popped onto the end of a stick to fly round Forest School.

A few children wanted to explore the bug hotel; they found a spider web and some woodlice. They then used hay and gathered leaves and sticks to fill in any gaps within the bug hotel. They said “it will keep them warm” as they worked together to make their improvements.

Willows ended their session by going round the circle and listening to what they had enjoyed about their afternoon at Forest School.

“Making Ladybirds”

“Playing on the slack line”

“I liked filling the bug hotel”

First session back and all of Chestnuts were very keen to get going and explore forest school. We set off onto the field and started with a game of beetle tag followed by a woodland whisper that ended up a little muddled but the time it got to the end.

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 gained, 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.

Using cups they collected blackberries ready to make paint. We talked about what colour they have to be that means they are ready to be picked. Chestnuts then squashed their collected berries into a paste add-ing a little water and painted some cotton, some children decided to crush charcoal into their paint to change the colour. Some blackberries were placed inside a large piece of cotton which we folded and they took it in turns so stomp on creating a beautiful picture.

Some of chestnuts worked hard in clearing some of the nettles and brambles that were growing over the paths. They put on gloves and used secateurs to clip them back.

Chestnuts used some of the natural materials they had collected to make potions and food creations in the mud kitchen.

There was a lot of great teamwork going on within Chestnuts today, helping each other to find and pick blackberries, balance along the slack line and when gathering materials for their potions.

Chestnuts ended their session by sitting round the fire circle and sharing what they had had enjoyed about the morning.

“Making potions”

“Playing beetle tag”

“Picking blackberries”

The last session of Forest School of the year brings a time of reflection. The whole class thought about their Forest School experience and the IMPACT it has had on them this year. 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.

YOU – Has Forest School affected how you feel about yourself and your well-being? If so how?

I feel energetic and happy…I like the fresh air”
“It makes me feel free…and happy that I can connect with nature”
“It takes me out of my life and makes me feel free”

NATURE – Has Forest School affected how you feel about nature? If so how?

“It makes me like trees more”
“I saw bunnies and it fascinated me”
“I am happy to be able to connect myself to nature”
“I already loved nature, so it is great”
“It has made us understand Mother Nature and the earth more”
“I have learned some things you can and can’t eat”
“I feel really good after Forest School, even if I am having a bad day”

LEARNING – What skills did you learn or develop this year at Forest School?

“I learned how to toast marshmallows to make smores”
“Balancing on the slack line….and how to put it up and take it down”
“I used a knife to make a mushroom out of wood”
“Fire making and crafting with wood”
“I learned how to cook and how to use a knife safely”
“I have learned how to make a pencil out of wood”
“How far I can climb up a tree”
“den building”
“How to make dandelion pancakes on a fire”
“What activities did you enjoy most or would like to do more of?
“I like playing with my friends…teamwork, creativity and aiming high”
“Making things like mud soup in the mud kitchen”
“I likes making the bricks out of clay”
“I liked making bacon sandwiches…and all of it”
“I loved digging the massive hole”
“Free play in the woods is my favourite”
“I loved making things with elder pens and pancakes”
“I like that there is a big range of activities that you can do”
“I would like to go on the swing more”

What did you like about the woodland space and Forest School environments?

“I like the trees…It is fun to climb on trees and play”
“I like my friends in the woods”
“I don’t like the nettles and thistles…you can use a dock leaf if you get stung”
“I don’t think the woodland needs to be improved, it is amazing enough as it is”

So many of the children were successful at independently starting a fire by the end of the session.

Once the fire was going, the class sorted some blackcurrants from their stems and leaves. We boiled up the berries to create paint and added sugar to some to make jam.

For the ink, we crushed ½ cup of berries through a sieve into a bowl. Added 1tsp of salt and 1tsp of vinegar. The vinegar binds the pigment and the salt preserves the ink. This is a traditional ink used in the 1600s. The children then used the ink to decorate fabric.

We took a jar of cream to try to create butter. The children took it in turns to shake the jar furiously throughout the afternoon and in the end it changed to make butter, which they tasted with crackers. Delicious!Then there was time to explore and play in the woodland. Oaks showed particular interests in physical risks and
challenges. They learned how to set up and take down the new slack line and hammock, thinking about the knots used to fix them safely to the trees and how to balance and manage their risks safely.

The last session of Forest School of the year brings a time of reflection. The whole class thought about their Forest School experience and its IMPACT on them this year. In small groups they chatted and we recorded some of their ideas. 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.

Has forest school affected how you feel about yourself and your well-being- If so how?

“Healthy…I feel grateful…I feel happy…Confident…relaxed…calm…positive….relaxed

Has forest school affected how you feel about nature – if so how?

“Nature makes me feel calm…Joyful….satisfied…calm, because sometimes it is quiet, but even if it is loud when we are playing games, that can be fun”

“I liked that we planted trees and did weeding…the bees really need the flowers and plants”

What skills did you learn or develop this year at Forest School?

“How to walk on a slack line….tree climbing…survival skills, we know what we can use and eat and what we can’t…I know how to ask for help with things…It has been cold and wet and we know we can be outside in different weather”

“I have learned not to go in the fire circle….creativity…I learned how to make a fire and how to stay safe around a fire”

What activities did you enjoy most or would like to do more of?

“I would like to learn more about nature…I love playing hide and seek….I like the creativity at Forest School….I like animal watching…I like the freedom we have…I like using clay….bird feeders…the hammock…making patterns on fabric”

“I like that you can go and explore parts where you haven’t been before…Making pancakes and the slackline were great”

What did you like about the woodland space and Forest School environments?

“ I like the swing, the hammock….digging in puddles….the mud was fun…I like the pond and the mud kitchen with water”

What could be improved about the woodland?

“The swing”

 This midsummer’s day the children collected samples of wildflowers and plants on sticky tape to practise their plant identification knowledge, they tried to create the colours of the rainbow. They talked about, buttercups, daisies, clover and pine needles. The class noticed there were lots of yellows and greens, but not many oranges and blues.

We took a jar of cream to try to create butter, inspired by the buttercup flowers covering the field. The children took it in turns to shake the jar furiously throughout the afternoon and in the end it changed to make butter, which they tasted by spreading it onto crackers! The children discussed the changing state of matter from liquid to solid with liquid and were amazed at how simple it was to make butter.

This week the children developed their use of tools by creating printed flower butterflies on fabric. They tapped the juices of each plant out onto fabric to create symmetrical butterflies. There was some great creative thoughts and designs, with the children making intricate insect and butterfly prints. Then there was time to explore and play in the woodland area. The Maples class showed particular interests in physical risks and challenges. They loved the mud kitchen area and spent a long time using the hand wash to create bubble mixtures and then wash all of the pots and pans in the kitchen!

Now that summer has created taller growing plants, the class remembered the games they played last session and spent some time hiding. This lead to a game of ‘Owl eyes’, where the children had 10 seconds to hide and then see if they could remain camouflaged and quiet enough that they couldn’t be seen.

The last Forest School session of the year brings a time of reflection. The whole class thought about their Forest School experience and it’s IMPACT on them. In pairs they chatted and recorded some of their ideas. 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.

“I feel brilliant at Forest School”
“I feel really excited…it makes me feel like fizzy pop”
“I feel adventurous”
“The nature makes me feel calm and good”
“I like the nature because of all of the colours, they make me feel calm”
“I am very happy at Forest School, the nature makes me feel safe”
”I have learned how to look after nature”
“I know how to snap wood to make a fire”
“I learned jumping, climbing trees, identifying birds and sounds and making nests and feeding birds”
“I learned not to pick all the flowers, because bees need flowers and they pollinate
plants to make food and we need that to eat, so don’t pick all the flowers”
“I like being kind to all the animals”
“I love the slack line, and ropes and swinging in the hammock and on the rope swing”
“I like playing with my friends and planting the trees”
“We made tree signs, that was good and the bug hotel”
“The shady trees are good and the flowers and the swing”
“It is a happy place”

Then year 1 and 2 set off for their session together on a sunny, hot afternoon to the cool shady Forest School space under the trees. The children collected samples of wildflowers and plants on sticky tape, they tried to collect as many different colours as they could. They talked about, buttercups, daisies. clover, oak leaves, oak leaves and grasses.

We took a jar of cream along the way to try to create butter, inspired by the buttercups. We shook the jar furiously throughout the afternoon and in the end it changed to make butter, which they tasted with crackers. It turns out the buttercups were correct- they do like butter, it was delicious!

This week the children created butterflies with paper and pastels, taking care to try to make symmetrical butterflies. Some children then went on to create leaf and flower printed butterflies on fabric, by hammering the plants and seeing the result as a symmetrical print on the fabric. The children took such care and showed some brilliant individual ideas.

The class spent time playing in the dens they have made, swinging on the rope swing, balancing on the slack line, swinging and pushing each other on the hammock and climbing trees. The mud kitchen was really busy with children creating fantastic muddy mixtures and a lot of flower rich soups and stews. Well done Chestnuts, what a busy afternoon!

To start the session, Willows class talked about how milk comes from cows and how it is a liquid like water. We poured cream into a jar to try to create butter, inspired by the buttercups growing all over the school and Forest School site. The children took it in turns to hold buttercups under each other’s chins and to shake the jar furiously throughout the afternoon and in the end, they created butter, which they tasted with crackers in the shelter! They were so good at spreading their own crackers independently with a knife. It turns out the buttercups were correct- they do like butter!
On the way down the school field, the children climbed along the trim trail, showing great perseverance and physical challenge. The children worked together to hold a white sheet out under some different trees. Once the trees were shaken, the class could easily see what flowers, seeds, leaves and bugs fell out.

“There is a green beetle…and we found a spider… and some flowers”

We identified, collected and smelled the scent of some elderflowers and cooked them on the fire to make elderflower pancakes. The children carefully checked it for bugs, then dipped the elder flowers in egg free batter. After lighting the fire, which the children did with great perseverance and enjoyment the elder pancakes were cooked in a pan. They tasted sweet and delicious!

This week the children continued ‘leaf wapping’; printing with leaves and flowers. They developed their ideas from last time, by finding sticks and threading them onto the fabric to create flags. They also proudly showed off the bunting in their outside area, which had been made from the fabric leaf prints they created last term- it looks fantastic! This term the Willows topic is all about water, so the children enjoyed playing in the mud kitchen this afternoon, mixing mud, flowers, leaves and other plants with water. They noticed what floated and sank in the water.

“Mud goes to the bottom….it sinks”

“The buttercups are floating on top of the water….like marshmallows in a hot chocolate!”

We looked at how our wildflower seeds that the children had sprinkled around the site had developed and watered them, along with the trees which the children planted during the last sessions. Some of the class spent time exploring, climbing trees and playing games with their friends. There was lots of time spent with much enjoyment on the slack line and the hammock swing. What a busy afternoon, well done Willows!

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.

This term Willows topic is all about growing. Today the children learnt how to identify buttercups and daisies at school. We talked about the importance of not picking wild flowers and plants unless an adult had said it was safe to do so. The children talked about how some plants might sting and prickle them, how they might be poisonous and how important they are to insects.

On the way down the school field, the children played a game of ‘beetle tag’, taking it in turns to be beetles and birds to chase and tag each other.

The children collected buttercups and daisies, along with different leaves, green alkanet, forget me not, herb robert and periwinkle flowers, all from the grounds of Park Mead School. They then printing them onto fabric. They thought about where to place the leaves, folded their fabric in half and tapped carefully with hammers to print the pattern and colour from the leaves to make some lovely designs. The children then went on to cut holes in the fabric to make flags by attaching them to sticks.

We looked at how the wildflower seeds that the children had sprinkled around the site previously had developed. We then watered them, along with the trees the children planted during our last session. Some of the class spent time exploring, climbing trees and playing games with their friends. They spent lots of time in the mud kitchen cooking and had much enjoyment on the slack line and the hammock swing. What a busy afternoon, well done Willows!

At the end of the session, the children took it in turns to hold ‘Stick Man’ and share what they had enjoyed about the afternoon.

“I liked balancing on the rope….yes and swinging on the hammock”

“I liked making cheese sandwiches and coffee in the mud kitchen”

“I liked making hot chocolate in the mud kitchen, I mixed in buttercups, mud and grass with the water”

“I liked printing with leaves and making a flag…I made 2!”

“I liked watching the game of ‘beetle tag’, all the children played really well”

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.

This week the class helped to transport some woodchip down to the shelter area to help combat the wet, muddy ground. They worked with spades, wheelbarrows and buckets together to carry and spread out the woodchip under the shelter area, to create a better surface for everyone using the site. It looks fantastic and has made a great difference to everyone at Park Mead who will use the space- well done Oaks!

Part of the Forest School experience is about risk and challenge and taking responsibility for their individual choices and actions. We talked about how to assess risk and how to use tools, techniques and the Forest School area as safely as we could.

They collected some sticky weed and made crowns adorned with dandelions. Some of the children tried a sticky weed juice which we had made. They collected the plant, washed it, carved off some bark from a hazel stick and pounded it in clean drinking water until the water turned green. Then more sticky weed was made into a nest shape, used as a sieve and it was ready to taste.

Then there was time to explore and play in the woodland. Oaks showed particular interests in physical risks and challenges. They learned how to set up and take down the new slack line and hammock, thinking about the knots used to fix them safely to the trees and how to balance and manage their risks safely.

This week some of the children continued to develop their tool skills, by using knives to carve with. They were great at listening to learn how to use the tools in a safe way. First they used pruning saws to cut the wood to a useable length. Then they had a go at peeling bark and sharpening the ends of sticks. Some children started to create patterns on their ticks and even tried to carve small mushrooms.

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.

This week the class helped to transport some woodchip down to the shelter area to help combat the wet, muddy ground. They worked together with spades, wheelbarrows and buckets to carry and spread out the woodchip which created a better surface for everyone using the site. It looks fantastic and has made a great difference to everyone at Park Mead who will use the space – well done Maples!

Part of the Forest School experience is about risk and challenge and taking responsibility for their individual choices and actions. We talked about how to assess risk and how to use tools, techniques and the Forest School area as safely as we could.

Maples continued to practise their fire lighting skills this week; recalling the skills practised in their last 2 sessions. They showed great perseverance when trying to create sparks to ignite their fire and showed good peer to peer support; demonstrating how to use fire strikers and encouraging each other with the challenge. Once the fire was alight, the children cooked some egg free dandelion pancake lollipops by dipping them in batter and frying them on the fire. It was good to see the children trying new and unfamiliar foraged food.

Then there was time to explore and play in the woodland. Maples showed particular interests in physical risks and challenges.

Maples enjoyed getting messy in the mud kitchen and digging channels for any excess rainwater to flow away.

They planted two more sapling trees along the roped border of the Forest school space.

The children continued playing with the toy birds in the Forest School area and spent a long time creating animals and creatures out of clay.

Now that spring has finally sprung, the class noticed how the plants have really grown and spent some time hiding. This lead to a game of ‘Owl Eyes’, where the children had 10 seconds to hide and then see if they could remain camouflaged and quiet enough so that they couldn’t be seen.

We finished with a game of ‘Fox and Rabbit’, where the children had to work together to be a ‘warren’, defending the rabbit from its fox predator.

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.

This term Chestnuts topic is all about growing, so this week the children planted some tree saplings along the boundary with the field, looking carefully at the complexity of the roots of the saplings and how the shoots were developing this year’s new leaves. They found lots of worms and woodlice when they were digging and used a mini beasts identification sheet to check what they had found. We spent some time banging in stakes around the sapling trees to support and protect them to help them grow.

The saplings are hawthorn, silver birch and rowan. Referring to information in books and tree identification cards, Chestnuts created some lovely ID tags to hang on the trees in the Forest School area. Some of the children also tried making bark rubbings of the oak tree bark with paper and wax crayons.

The children put up two planters on the mud kitchen and filled them with compost and some butterfly friendly wild flower seeds and gave them a good water to help them start to germinate and then grow. They also planted some of the wild flower seeds carefully around the base of their newly planted saplings.

The class spent time playing in the dens they have made, swinging on the rope swing and climbing trees. We noticed that there were tadpoles in the pond, so the class had an enjoyable time watching them dart around the pond. The mud kitchen was really busy, with children creating fantastic muddy mixtures and a ‘scrumptious stew!’

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.

Willows have been spotting birds throughout the winter and have created their own bird feeders with pine cones. They topped up the seeds on the bird feeders to continue to feed the birds throughout the nesting season.

This term the Willows topic is all about growing, so the children had a go at learning to identify some trees around the school site. They created their own tree identification labels, which we then hung up on the corresponding trees.

Some children had a go at making bark rubbings with paper and wax crayons. They moved a sapling hazel tree, planting it in a better place away from the pond.

We found some wildflower seeds which the children sprinkled around the site to grow. Some of the class spent time replenishing the bug hotel with broken clay pots, sticks, leaves and wood. They found lots of bugs living there and made up some lovely stories about the creatures they had found. There was lots of time spent in the mud kitchen cooking and much enjoyment on the slack line and the rope swing. What a busy afternoon, well done Willows!

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 class looked around the school grounds for signs of spring, using identification sheets to help them. They found daffodils and snowdrops flowering near the gardening area. Then they took a moment to find a quiet ‘sit spot’ in the Forest School area to observe and listen to the woodland.

This week Chestnuts started to learn a bit about recognising birds. The children played with toy birds and learned to identify them by their colours and bird calls. They talked about the materials birds might use to build nest and had a go themselves with hay, leaves, sticks and clay which they dug from the woodland floor.

The children had a go at making their own birds with card, chalk pastels and sticks and then flew them around the Forest School area.

The class spent time building dens from branches, playing in the mud kitchen and climbing trees.

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.

At the end of the session the class played a game of ‘Spirit of the Forest’, where they each became a bird and had to get from one side of the forest to the other without being caught and turning into a tree.

Willows have been spotting birds throughout the winter and had created their own bird feeders with pine cones. They topped up the seeds on the bird feeders to continue to feed the birds through the coming months.

Willows talked about the story they have been reading in class this week-‘The Three Little Pigs’. We talked about the different materials the houses were made of and how, why and if they were good materials for house building.

The children then had a go at using straw, sticks and clay to build different houses. Some of the children thought they could make houses, or nests for birds and most of the children spent time engaging with the properties of the materials, rather than house construction! They spent a long time digging the clay and mud and experimenting with adding water and straw to mix it. Then they pushed their mixture into the frog of a brick to create their own clay bricks with.

The children played independently, climbing the trees, using the slack line and the hammock, playing with the birds, digging clay, mixing clay with hay, making clay bricks and creating in the mud kitchen.

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.

At the end of the session each child shared what they had enjoyed about their session. It was great to hear such good thoughts and witness such great listening skills.

“I like making the bird feeders….the birds keep eating all of the seeds!”

“I liked playing with the birds”

“I liked making food in the mud kitchen…I made pancakes for Doormouse”

“I liked climbing the trees and going on the slack line”

“I like digging in the clay and the mud, if it is too dry, you have to add water”

“I think that the pond could be a home to the ducks, they are not there now, and maybe they flew away, because ducks have wings”.

Willows had been spotting birds last session and had created their own bird feeders with pine cones. They topped up the seeds on the bird feeders so the birds could continue to feed throughout the cold months.

The children played a game called ‘Spirit of the Forest’. They each chose to be a bird; a robin, a wood pecker or an owl and had to run and dodge, turning into a tree if they were tagged.

This week the children were introduced to more bird identification. They talked about the colours and patterns on the bird feathers and listened to bird calls to try and identifying them.

Then they found a quiet ‘sit spot’ and spent 5 minutes quietly watching and listening to birds. They then looked at bird identification sheets, some used their phonics knowledge to sound out and read the captions; robin, green finch, song thrush.

We made a fire and talked about fire safety. We used the fire to make a hot drink to have with a biscuit.

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.

Then the children played independently, climbing the trees, playing with the birds, making nests and creating in the mud kitchen.

At the end of the session each child shared what they had enjoyed about their session. It was great to hear such good thoughts and witness such great listening skills.

“I liked the hot chocolate”

“I liked playing with the birds”

“I liked making the big nest…it was a circle”

“I liked making food in the mud kitchen…and eating a biscuit with hot chocolate”

“I liked making the fire”

“I liked listening to the birds and sitting quietly”

Oaks set off for their Forest School session in the week of the Lunar new year. The class have been learning about the story of ‘The Great Race’ in which the order of the animals in the Chinese Lunar New Year are determined. This year is the year of the rabbit. They played a game of ‘fox and rabbit’.

The class learned about how to identify animals by their tracks and used flour, sieves and stencils to create some tracks on the woodland floor. They also had a go at moving like rabbits, to try to create their distinctive track marks and learn about how rabbits move.

On the way to the Forest School area, the Oaks looked at compasses. They all found North and learned how to set their compasses correctly. We played a game, learning about the different directions and the degrees in which North, East, South and West point in a 360 degree circle. Some children continued using their compasses in the Forest School area as part of their play.

The water in the Forest School area is finally starting to dry up, so the whole class spent some time clearing the area which has become very overgrown. They collected wood and sticks, removed rubbish and footballs from the area and worked together as a team to move large pieces of wood and palettes. It was great to see them working together so well and to have more space to explore and play in.

Some of the large sticks and branches were used to build dens. Some children used rope to tie some branches together to make a ladder and they even designed and made a coat rack for their den!

The children dug out some clay and had a go at continuing to create bricks which they started last session.

We put up a slack line between some of the trees in the wooded area and the children took turns taking physical risks and challenges by walking along it.

This week some of the children developed their tool skills, by using knives to start to carve with. They were great at listening to how to use the tools in a safe way. First they used pruning saws to cut the wood to a useable length. Then they had a go at peeling bark, sharpening the ends of sticks and some started to create patterns on their sticks and even tried to carve small mushrooms.

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.

Before the session, the class listened to a bit of the story of ‘Billy and the Minpins’, by Roald Dahl, linking with their learning journey topic this year. They heard the chapter where Billy climbs a very tall tree and then had a go on the trees in the forest school area themselves.

Some of the group used small logs and wooden pieces to create their own miniature Forest School area on the table under the shelter.

The Maples class continued to practise their fire lighting skills this week, recalling the skills practised from their last session. They helped sort the sticks into different sizes to start the fire with. Once the fire was going, the children heated water to make a hot chocolate, to warm them on the chilly afternoon. Some individuals were great at preparing the cups and drinks for everyone.

Then there was time to explore and play in the woodland. The Maples class showed particular interests in physical risks and challenges. They showed this through tree climbing, digging, stick creativity, swinging and by using the slack line.

There was some turn taking and balancing on the slack line. It was good to see the children taking risks and challenging themselves with working out how to balance, how to work out the best way of moving along the line carefully and how to turn take and share the space with each other.

Part of the Forest School experience is about risk and challenge and taking responsibility for their individual choices and actions. And also about how the weather affects them and the environment.

There was lots of ice around and the children explored the ice with great interest. They tried melting it, breaking it up into pieces and discussed the thickness of it. They really loved the bubbles inside the ice and were creative with using it as an ingredient along with mud and acorns in their mud kitchen. When the hot chocolate had been made, some took the pans to the fire to see how quickly the ice melted in pans on the fire. It is great to see their enthusiasm with scientific enquiry and changing states of matter.

Some of the class created some bird feeders using threaded cereal onto pipe cleaners and hung them around the Forest School area.

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.

This week the Chestnuts class 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 outside, like the animals in the story. The children also shared that they had made tracks in the snow when it fell in December.

The class set off outside into the wind, creating animal foot prints all around their outside area. After watching how to create footprints with stencils, sieves and flour; it was brilliant to see how engaged they were with having a go independently. They learned how to identify animals by their tracks. Deer have a print with 2 marks, fox have 4 paw prints and badgers have 5.

The class had a go at clearing out weeds from their gardening area. The children used rakes, trowels, buckets, wheelbarrows and gloves to help them. There was lots of interest in looking at the roots of the weeds and using magnifying glasses to look at some of the worms and insects they found. They talked about compost and put all of their weeds into the compost bins to use later on in the year to fertilise their plot.

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 Chestnuts are thinking about the ‘Great Fire of London’ as their learning journey this term, so today they shared their knowledge of what they had learned about the event so far. In the pouring rain, they watched as some sparks made a fire and observed it spread quickly as it did in London in 1666. They talked about fire safety and what a fire needs to burn; fuel, spark, air.

They discussed the materials and their properties that the houses were built with, how they were so close together and how this led to the spread of the fire. The children were very observant, watching how the fire changed as it spread, seeing smoke and sparks jumping from one building to another. Finally we used some water to extinguish the fire completely at the end of the session.

This week Willows 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 outside, just like the animals in the story. The children also shared that they had made tracks in the snow when it fell in December.

The class set off outside into the wind, creating animal foot prints all around their outside area. After watching how to create footprints with stencils, sieves and flour; it was brilliant to see how engaged they were with having a go independently.

Some children then went on to create clay footprint impressions and learned to identify badger, fox and deer footprints, by counting the marks of the footprints.

Willows had been spotting birds and feeding them when it snowed at the end of last year, so this week they created their own bird feeders with pine cones. Developing their gross and fine motor skills as they worked, the children covered the cones with lard and dipped them in seeds, before choosing which tree branches they wanted to hang them from.

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.

Then the children played independently, making up games, running around in the wind and continuing to play with the flour, stencils and animal identification sheets.

The children then all played a game of ‘Spirit of the Forest’. They each chose to be an animal and then a bird and had to run and dodge, turning into a tree if they got tagged.

After the children were inside and dry, they held Stick Man in turn, and shared what they had enjoyed about their session. It was great to hear such good thoughts and witness such great listening skills.

“I liked making prints with the clay”

“I liked using the flour…the deer print is my favourite

“I liked playing the game, I was a woodpecker and I was really fast”

“I liked going in the puddle on the running mile….and making foot prints with flour”.

“I liked playing with my friends…I was a blackbird”

“I liked making the bird feeder and the flour and the clay and everything!”

This week the Willows class used willow which we had cut from the pond area, to create stick men. They used peelers to carefully peel the bark off the sticks and then drew faces onto them with pens. They used pipe cleaners to create arms. They used their stick men to go and play with around the Forest School area.

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.

Then the children had the chance to play with the mud kitchen and go on the hammock. They made some excellent dishes in the mud kitchen and served them to Dormouse.

They used their stick men to go and play with around the Forest School area. At the end of the session the children each held stick man to take it in turns to share what they had enjoyed about their session. They shared with each other what they had enjoyed about their Forest School session.

“I loved being on the hammock with my friends”

“I liked making a stick man, it has wings!”

“I liked going on the (slack) line, it was wobbly and I was a bit scared but I did it again and again.”

Due to the recent torrential rain and its effect on the Forest School area, Oaks Class walked up to the Upper Dicker Park this afternoon for their Forest School session.

On the way each of the children had a stick, which they used to collect fallen leaves. They had to try to find as many different leaves as they could to make a leaf kebab.

The whole class explored the playground together. They showed great confidence and personal challenge trying to climb from one end of the climbing structure to the other without touching the ground. There were some great acrobatics, along with problem solving, when working out how to manoeuvre themselves through and over areas they found tricky.

Some of the class went on the see saw together, shifting their collective weight from one side to the other and even trying to balance in the middle of it.

We put up a balancing rope between some of the trees in the wooded area and the children had a go at taking physical risks and challenges by walking along it. Some of them used each other to steady themselves and some used sticks to help them balance along the length of the rope.

Some children made up their own games and enjoyed playing hide and seek in the wooded area.

There were lots of accessible climbing trees, and it was great to see the individual capabilities of the children with their climbing. Also to hear how they felt by being up high and the change in perspective it gave them.

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.

Oaks ended their session on the playground, with an energetic game of ‘fox and rabbit’. Then they thought about the activities and wrote a fact and an opinion about the things they had enjoyed and achieved during the afternoon.

“I liked playing hide and seek with my friends”
“I liked hanging upside down on the climbing frame”
“We went to the park for Forest School this afternoon and I liked balancing on the ropes”
“I didn’t like the rain…the wooded area was like a huge umbrella sheltering us from the rain”
“We went to the woods at the park…I liked it when my friends swung me really high in the hammock”
“It is my birthday today…going to the park for Forest School was great”

Before the session, it was great to see Maples topic books with their reflections about their last session. They had annotated photographs of themselves at Forest School and written about what they had enjoyed and why.

Maples continued to practise their fire lighting skills this week, recalling the skills practised from their last session. They helped sort the sticks into different sizes to start the fire with. Once the fire was going, the children watched popcorn ‘pop’ by heating it on their fire with great engagement! And of course eating it! Some children helped to fix the popcorn maker, talking through their problem solving ideas to make it better for the second round of cooking.

Then there was time to explore and play in the woodland. Maples showed particular interests in physical risks and challenges. They showed this through tree climbing, digging, stick creativity, swinging and by using the slack line.

There was some excellent turn taking and balancing on the slack line. It was great to see the children taking risks and challenging themselves with working out how to balance, how to work out the best way of moving along the line carefully and how to take turns and share the space with each other.

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.

Using tools to dig in the large ‘dinosaur footprint’ hole they had created was very popular. They were very engaged in making clay balls with the clay which they had dug out.

Due to all of the rain, a stream and a pool of water had been created. Some of the class were very interested in working out how to dam and then divert the flow of the water into the ditch behind the Forest School area. It was brilliant to see such great teamwork, such as using cups to pass water along a line and pour it into the ditch.

Part of the Forest School experience is about risk and challenge and taking responsibility for their individual choices. Some children chose to stay under the shelter and create with wood, pens and wool. Some other children got very wet and muddy and started to learn about their choices, how they explored and how their choices affected how they felt as a result of the weather and elements they engaged in. Some got water in their boots, as they chose to go in the water. Some got very muddy as they chose to engage with digging and exploring in the mud. Afterwards we talked about taking individual responsibility for ourselves and considering the cause and effect of the weather, seasons and elements.

There were some creative uses of found objects- making bows and developing the creations they had made last session. Some children used coloured string and wool to decorate, wrap and weave around sticks following their own ideas. There were also some designs beautifully drawn on wood.

The Chestnuts class developed their fire lighting skills this week, recalling the fire skills from their last session. They helped sort the sticks into different sizes to start the fire with. Once the fire was going, the children watched popcorn ‘pop’ by heating it on their fire with great excitement! And of course eating it!

The whole class also explored the Forest School area and chose to follow their own interests.

There was lots of rain left from the recent we days, which went into ‘cooking’ muddy dishes in the mud kitchen.

Some children found that they could sculpt the mud into snowmen, or mudmen! The children carefully created different sized spheres and connected them together with their fingers, sculpting the mud. They put them carefully in the shelter of the bug hotel to dry out and look at next session.

The class took digging tools to the large hole and explored digging out the rain soaked mud, watched the rainwater flow through the site and into the ditch and experimented with trowels, pots and pans, to try to work out how to transport the rain water and mud around the site for their sculpting and mud kitchen play.

The fallen tree and branches proved popular again with the children, who spent time climbing and challenging themselves to balance and move along the branches in different ways.

We put up a slack line, which was popular with the class. They showed balance, resilience, risk taking and perseverance when trying to move themselves along the length of the slack line. It was great to see their pride in developing their skills.

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.

Well done Chestnuts for a very busy afternoon.

The children helped to collect a wheelbarrow full of sticks, which had been blown off the trees by the wind. They used these to make a fire. The children talked about fire safety and why it was important to keep themselves and others safe around fires.

“You have a glove to keep your hands safe”

“You need water to put out the fire”

“Firemen are good at putting out fires”

“Fire is hot and can burn you”

They had a go at walking around the fire circle space, rather than across it. Then the children all worked together to build a fire with their sticks, talking about the different sizes of sticks from thick to thin. When the fire was laid, they took it in turns to use fire strikers to have a go at creating sparks to ignite the cotton wool. It took some courage and perseverance but the children worked really well and lit a fantastic fire!

Once the fire had burned down, the children watched as we cooked popcorn in a sieve on it. They were very excited to see the kernels popping and very enthusiastic about eating it! They then talked about what sound the popcorn made and had a go at sounding out the initial sound of the word.

“It is ‘p’ for popcorn”

The class listened to a story about a Hedgehog who lived in a pile of leaves as they ate their popcorn around the fire.

There was time for the children to make their own firework ribbons by tying wool onto sticks. They then made movements, danced and tried to draw graphemes they had leaned with their fireworks. The wind was blustering, so it was a lot of fun and it was great to see the children proudly showing off their fireworks to the rest of the children at Park Mead and they ran their golden mile past the Forest School space.

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.

Then the children had the chance to play with the mud kitchen and go on the rope swing.

At the end of the session they helped put out the fire by pouring cups of water onto the fire pit. They shared with each other what they had enjoyed about their Forest School session.

“I loved eating the popcorn”

“I liked making my firework”

“I like playing with my firework”

To start the afternoon, Willows shared their knowledge about autumn and how the leaves fall from the trees. Each child had a stick and went and collected lots of different types of leaves and put them onto the stick to make a leaf kebab. We talked about looking closely at the shapes of the leaves as a way of identifying them. We found many different colours— curvy oak leaves, yellow birch leaves, red cherry leaves and some heart shaped leaves.

The children played a game of ‘beetle tag’ on the field. They took turns in being beetles and birds and had to try not being tagged, by showing agility and being able to run, turn, stop and dodge. When they got tagged the children had to lie on their backs like beetles with their arms and legs in the air! It was great to see teamwork and turn taking during the game. Well done Willows.

The children listened to the story of ‘Leaf Man’ who goes where the wind blows.

They then had a go at using palm drills to try to drill holes in conkers and acorns. The children showed good perseverance with drilling and then threading them onto pipe cleaners. Willows were good at counting how many they had drilled and threaded. They then hung them up in the Forest School shelter. The children were then inspired to put their drilled conkers on sticks which they put into a pumpkin. They found feathers and their leaf kebabs which they decorated the pumpkin with also.

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.

Then the children had the chance to choose their own exploration and play. They spent a long time playing in the mud kitchen with acorns. Lots of them enjoyed exploring the bug hotel and in the fallen tree area.

Willows ended their session by passing ‘Stick Man’ round the circle and sharing what they had enjoyed about the afternoon.

“I liked swinging on the hammock”
“I liked playing the beetle game”
“I liked playing in the mud kitchen”
“I liked drilling the conkers and making them to hang on the tree”
“I liked collecting leaves”

Oaks Class started their afternoon with a game of ‘fox and rabbit’. They worked really well as a class, and were good at noticing which members of the class had had a go and were very agile with their running!

Some of the class showed great perseverance when using the fire strikers to light the fire. They practised being patient in taking turns to use the tools and with the strong wind, which threatened to put out the fire as they were lighting it! They then used sticks to toast marshmallows and sandwiched them between biscuits to make smores, which were delicious on a cold, windy day!

The whole class then explored the Forest School area and chose to follow their own interests.

There was lots of drilling into conkers and acorns with palm drills. The children showed a developing independence in using tools to carefully drill holes on them, then threading them onto string and adding details of colour and design with pens.

Some children created with clay. Creating small sculptures and adding details of textures and features using clay tools and autumn finds such as blackberries and hawthorn berries.

There was lots of industrious moving of branches and logs to create a den with a trampoline in the overgrown fallen tree area.

A group of children were really involved in digging in the clay rich soil. They then discovered they could ram the soil into the ‘frog’ of a brick to create their own bricks. “We just need to make 100,000 more, then we can use it to build walls of our den”

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.

Oaks ended their session by working in pairs to discuss what they had done, enjoyed and achieved during the afternoon. They each wrote a series of words on reflection stickers after discussing together.

It was great to see the perseverance of the children getting themselves ready; with their wellies and waterproofs to venture out into the rain and Forest School.

The children played some nature identification games called ‘You are only safe when you are touching…’ They looked at clover leaves, yellow flowers, fallen leaves, sycamore helicopters, oak trees and acorns. One of the children brilliantly shared their knowledge of acorns, carefully explaining how they are the babies of the oaks and they grow into big trees.

They learned they shouldn’t ever eat anything they pick, unless their supporting adults have discussed it with them, because it might make them ill.

The children had a go at copying rhythms with sticks and learned a song to sing with tapping sticks.

They explored the Forest School area, identifying which places were safe and which parts they had could only explore with adults. They learned how to wash their hands whilst in the Forest School area. There were some tall nettles, prickly brambles and large wet, muddy puddles which the children saw and then stayed away from. The children spotted the bird boxes and all jumped when a bird flew out of the large owl box on the oak tree!

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.

Then the children had the chance to play with the mud kitchen and go on the rope swing. They spent a long time making ‘soup’ and other concoctions with all of the acorns they had collected from the floor.

“This is some vegetable soup for you and the grass is grated cheese on top”
“I changed this acorn to be money, you can buy some food from the mud kitchen now”

Some children were very interested in exploring the bug hotel and looking under the logs to look for minibeasts. They found some spider webs, a moth, some woodlice and some slugs.

Willows ended their session by passing ‘Stick Man’ round the circle and sharing what they had enjoyed about the afternoon.

“I loved swinging on the rope”
“I liked playing in the mud kitchen”
“I like the slugs I found”
“I liked collecting acorns, I got more than 8!”

Finally Willows had a go at passing a ‘Woodland Whisper’ along the line from child to child. It started out as ‘acorns’ and finished as ‘hotdogs’! We will practise again next time! Well done Willows for engaging and playing so well at your first Forest School session.

The sun has finally started shining, so the Chestnuts set off along the shade of the hedge to the Forest School area with hats and water bottles. Along the way the children found lots of sticky weed growing in the hedge and some made crowns out of the plants they found!

“It is really scratchy”
“I would like to be a King in a castle with my crown”
“Look! The sticky weed is sticking to your clothes!”

The class started with a circle around the fire pit in the cool shade of the shelter. We talked about the summer and how midsummer’s day is next week, with the longest day of the year.

The class all smelled the midsummer flowers of the elder tree and set about making some elderflower cordial. The first step was collecting wood to make a fire, which they did completely independently, remembering they needed really dry wood and that they had to sort it into a variety of sizes from thick to really thin.

The class used their skills builder knowledge to support each other with their fire lighting by talking through how to use the fire strikers, listening well, supporting each other with encouragement and showing great teamwork with sharing the resources.

Once the fire was lit, they helped prepare the ingredients for the cordial. This involved talking through the recipe, picking flowers, adding sugar and lemon and taking turns to stir their cooking and tending the fire.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children have gained from the Forest School experience. The developing independence in fire making skills was evident today.

The impact can be seen through the skills gained, 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 rest of the afternoon saw Chestnuts following their own ideas.

Some of the Chestnuts talked about symmetrical butterfly patterns as they created their own imaginative representations and flew them around the Forest School area.

Some went to the pond to investigate, following on from their last session. They found and looked closely at the skins left from damselflies which had developed from larvae in the pond.

Throughout the session the children reflected on the impact of Forest School, by discussing and evaluating their year. There were lots of brilliant comments:

“I like Forest School, the green and plants and nature make me feel calm”
“I have learned listening skills and creativity and teamwork”
“I like playing games together”
“I loved making fires!”

There was also lots of climbing of the trees and swinging on the tyre swing and the hammock and playing in the mud kitchen. Lots of the children chose to make bows out of wood that they had found and some spent time adding to the bug hotel.

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children. And that they can reflect upon and acknowledge the impact of the experience of Forest School. Well done Chestnuts!

Today Oaks Class started their session by identifying and collecting sticky weed. We made it into a ball to practise throwing and catching as a name game.

We went to the field and played a brilliant game of ‘Beetle Tag’. The children all were beetles and scurried around trying to run away from the birds who were trying to ‘tag’ them. When they were tagged they had to lie on their backs like an upturned beetle until one of their friends rescued them.

The class all took turns to be the birds and were very fast and agile with their game play in the sunshine.

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 and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

This week Oaks learned to light a fire and how to be safe around it. They used cotton wool and fire strikers to ignite it, then placed it onto the top of the fire to burn down.

They talked about how they could tell which way the wind was blowing, by noticing the wood smoke flowing in a particular direction.
The class learned to identify Elderflower by the flowers and their scent. They then used their wood fire to make pancake fritters. We tried elderflower and dandelion fritters and all the children who tried them agreed they were delicious!

Then the children went on to learn more about different flowers on the Forest School site by collecting and printing them onto fabric with a hammers.

Lots of the children spent time playing in the wild areas of the site, following their own ideas and interests. They loved the tyre swing, the hammock and climbing trees independently.

There was lots of digging in the big hole at the back of the site and playing in the mud kitchen with saucepans and water.

Some of the children continued playing the 3 in a row, ladybird noughts and crosses game which they started playing at their last session.

At the end of the session the children tried passing a ‘woodland whisper’ along the full length of the line of 29 children. It started as elderflower and ended up… good attempt, but we will need to practise again! The children were lovely and quiet enough for everyone to hear the birdsong throughout.

Today Willows Class started their session by going to their garden patch to look at the daffodils they had planted. They counted 3 that were flowering and noticed that there were more which were dying because they had already flowered. Then they each threw in the ‘seed bombs’ they had made out of clay, mud and lots of calendula seeds.

“They are a sphere shape”

“Yeah, when you flatten it, it will be a circle!”

“I think the flowers will look beautiful”

“Then we can get more seeds from the flowers next year to grow some more”

We went to the field and played a brilliant game of ‘Beetle Tag’. The children all pretended to be beetles and scurried around, trying to run away from the birds who were trying to ‘tag’ them. When the beetles were tagged, they had to lie on their backs like an upturned beetle until one of their friends rescued them. The class all took turns to be the birds and were really great at noticing which ‘beetles’ needed to be rescued. Well done Willows!

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 and trees in relation to the seasons as well as the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

This week the Willows learned to make a fire and how to be safe around the fire. They practised being ‘Green Dragons’ by switching log seats and walking around the edge of the circle to be safe. They worked as a team, using their understanding of size and measure, to sort sticks into different thicknesses. In turns they put them into the bowl to build a fire with the large sticks at the bottom, building up to the smallest.

They talked about how they could tell which way the wind was blowing by noticing the wood smoke flowing in a particular direction.

Then the children went on to learn about different flowers on the Forest School site by collecting them and printing onto fabric using hammers.

Lots of the children spent time playing in the den which is evolving in the wild area of our site. They loved the tyre swing and the hammock, working on their vestibular and gross motor control development.

There was lots of digging in the big hole at the back of the site and playing in the mud kitchen with saucepans and water.

Some of the children continued playing the 3 in a row ladybird noughts and crosses game which they started playing at their last session.

Each child took it in turns to share and listen to what they had enjoyed about the afternoon.

“I liked banging the leaves with the hammers”

“I liked the woods and the fire”

“I liked the game, It was fun being a beetle”

The class started their afternoon by playing game of ‘keeper of the keys’. They took turns to have a blindfold and had to creep up silently to retrieve some keys from a metal bowl. It took care and stealth to do it successfully!

The children then had a go at printing with the plants and flowers to deepen their learning of different spring plants. They all smelled ground ivy and garlic mustard which are growing on the site. They made some leaf prints by folding plants in fabric and hitting them with a hammer onto wood to create prints from the juices inside the plants.

The children extended their ideas by decorating the wood further and making signs for the bug hotel. They want to continue this next time, so will hopefully use tools to construct small boxes with their decorated wood to add to the bug hotel.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learn-ing how to play Forest School games.

The rest of the afternoon saw Maples following their own ideas and interests.

Some of the children went off to explore what evidence of animals they could find. There were different footprints in the mud by the pond. They thought they might be a squirrel, badger, duck and other bird prints. Hopefully next time we can use plaster of paris to take casts of the prints to keep.

There was of lots of tree climbing as well as swinging on the tyre swing and hammock.

Some of the children continued to dig in their giant hole using sticks and trowels! They worked out how to add water to their mud and mix it to make clay.

Dormouse brought in a tree to plant, so with spades and extra compost they planted it together by the shelter area.

Some children made bows with string and freshly cut willow from the pond area. They tried to learn how to tie knots.

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children.

The class were asked what their favourite Forest School experience was:

“I like making dens and different bases with my friends”

“I liked making paint from berries the best”

“I like being in nature”

“I like the mud kitchen “

“I like making things with clay, models and animals”

“I really liked making the bug hotel and making it bigger and drawing signs for it”

“ I like all of it!”

The class started their afternoon by imagining they were balancing along the branch of a tree, trying really hard not to wobble and fall off.

Then they all played a game of ‘you are only safe…’ where they learned to identify some of the plants in the Forest School area such as stinging nettles, dock leaves, buttercups, ground ivy, cow parsley and garlic mustard.

The children then tried printing with plants and flowers to deepen their learning of different spring plants on the site. They made some leaf prints by folding plants in fabric and hitting them with a hammer to create prints from the juices inside the plants. The class used some adjectives to describe their prints:

“Beautiful, colourful, patterned, and interesting”

“I really liked making my flower prints, they look really good”

Some of the class then made some ‘green man and women’ tree faces with clay and the plants, leaves and sticks that they had found. They developed their fine motor control by pressing the clay onto trees and sculpting face details using their fingers and sticks as modelling tools. Glance upwards as you approach or enter many of Britain’s great cathedrals and churches and it is more than likely you will catch sight of the Green Man looking down at you.

It was brilliant to see so many different faces and the class foraging to collect items to help develop their creativity from the woodland.

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 gained, 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 rest of the afternoon saw Chestnuts following their own ideas.

This afternoon the ladybird board game was popular and the children played each other to get three matching ladybirds in a row and block their opponents.

There was also lots of tree climbing, playing on the tyre swing and hammock and playing in the mud kitchen.

“I am making some lovely muddy raspberry pie”

“I need some buttercups to add to my silly soup”

Some of the children continued to dig their giant dinosaur footprint in the mud. They got very excited and thought that they might uncover dinosaur bones, or a skull! They worked out how to add water to their mud and mix it to make clay.

“I mixed the mud and rolled it and then sprinkled some dust on top of it and I have made some dinosaur eggs!”

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children.

This term Willows have a new learning journey- ‘Splash- What do you know about water?’ So we started our session by going to explore the two ponds at school.

The children each had a magnifying pot to look closely and had a go with a net to catch some of the pond life they found. With an identification chart the children managed to catch and identify damsel fly larvae, dragonfly larvae and some pond skaters.

They were very curious and engaged with observing the pond life and discussing what they had found, enriching and developing their vocabulary. The children found that there was a lot more wildlife in the pond at the forest school area and quietly approached it as there were three ducks who look very at home there.

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.

Lots of the children spent time playing in the den which is evolving in the wild area of our site. They moved lots of wood and enjoyed the physical challenge of climbing on the fallen tree. They then went on to create a ‘circus’ under a tarpaulin, moved logs for the audience to sit on and gave out dock leaf tickets. They performed a story they had made up about a sheep being rescued by a doctor! Very entertaining!

There was lots of digging in the big hole at the back of the site and playing in the mud kitchen with saucepans and water.

Some of the children had a go at the 3 in a row, ladybird noughts and crosses game. They ended up making their own rules and patterns and then went off to hide some other painted stones for Chestnuts class to find next time.

Well done Willows class for such a busy and engaged afternoon.

Willows class listened to the birds singing outside their classroom at the beginning of the session held in the spring sunshine this week.

They played a game ‘Spirit of the Forest’ where they pretended to be woodland birds: robins, woodpeckers and owls and had to fly through the forest without being caught by the trees.

Willows joined in with the rhythms and words of a song and then used tapping sticks to make up new rhythm patterns and took turns in leading the class. They played a listening and guessing game, by trying to identify some birds by their bird calls.

Then each of the children made their own colourful card bird, which they took off to fly around the Forest School area. Some children made nests for them, they counted their birds, took them into their den and made up a bird dance with them, talked about the patterns and colours of their birds, made bird feeders for them with pine cones and seeds and then proudly showed them off to Maples Class whilst they were out running their mile.
The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge they have gained from their Forest School experience.

The impact can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, the art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of fruit, plants and trees in relation to the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

Some children took their birds to explore the bug hotel and found some woodlice and worms, which they thought their birds could eat. They also created a see saw and a bridge for the bugs in the bug hotel!

Some children enjoyed jumping in the muddy hole and playing in the mud kitchen.

They then passed ‘Stick Man’ around the circle to share what they enjoyed about the session.

“I liked going on the tyre swing and making my bird”
“I liked playing in the den with my friends”
“I liked making bird feeders, look, I hung them up on the trees”
“I liked making a nest for all of the birds, there was 11,12,13 birds”
“ I liked making my yellow hammer bird”

Well done Willows class for such a busy and engaged afternoon.

Doormouse lead Oaks last Forest School session for this term.

They started with a game of Tail Tag. Then they dug a large hole and using buckets, they filled it up with water. They said they were making an outside hot tub!

They also spent some time decorating stones with bugs and then hid them in Forest School ready for Willows to find in their session the following week.

They enjoyed making lots of things out of clay, as well as den building and tree climbing.

The session finished with a game of Fox and Rabbit.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge they have gained from their Forest School experience.

The impact can be seen through the skills gained, tools used, the art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of fruit, plants and trees in relation to the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

The children talked about the signs of spring which they could spot. Daffodils are growing and the new growth of plants is starting. They independently planted some daffodil bulbs for next year’s spring along the edge of the forest school area.

The class learned a song and joined in with actions;

‘Spring is here’ said the bumblebee,
how do you know?’ said the old oak tree,
Because I saw a daffodil,
Dancing with the fairies on the windy hill’.

The children had a go at making some bird feeders of their own.

The Impact of Forest School for the children is the knowledge the children gain from the Forest School experience. The impact can be seen through the skills gained, 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 rest of the afternoon saw Maples following their own ideas.

There was lots of independent creating with sticks, to make signs, decorations and boats, which they tested on the pond.

Maples really enjoyed their den building and used secateurs independently to continue to cut back brambles from their den area.

They thoroughly enjoyed digging today, creating a huge hole and filling buckets with clay, which we can use during future sessions.

There was also lots of climbing and swinging and running around!

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children.

The class started their afternoon by learning a song about Spring with actions.

‘Spring is here’ said the bumblebee

‘How do you know?’ said the old oak tree

‘Because I saw a daffodil,
Dancing with the fairies on the windy hill’

The children then split into two groups and one set off to weed their school garden beds and plant daffodils ready for next year. They worked brilliantly together and were very excited to find worms and small beetle larvae in the soil. They had also saved some apple pips from their snack and planted these in small pots.

“If we grow these into apple trees, we can plant them at Forest School and always have something to eat here!”

The class then made some tiny bees with alder cones and yellow string. They developed their fine motor control, by carefully winding the string around the cones, attaching a small pair of wings to them. Chestnuts took their bees to the vegetable garden to let them feed on the nectar of daffodils and even found a real bumble bee resting inside a daffodil trumpet!

Once the daffodils were planted the class set off to the Forest School area with a wheelbarrow full of weeds to compost and lots of tiny bumble bees.

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 gained, 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 rest of the afternoon saw Chestnuts following their own ideas. They really wanted to continue with the den area and spent lots of time moving large pieces of wood to place them as walls for the den. They climbed a part of the den next to the fence to look over at the surrounding fields and saw lots of crows.

This afternoon the lady bird board game was back and the children spent a long time trying to win the game, like noughts and crosses, to get three matching ladybirds in a row and block their opponents.

There was also lots of tree climbing, swinging and playing in the mud kitchen.

Some of the children found what they thought was a giant dinosaur footprint in the mud! They got very excited and went off to find some trowels to dig around it to uncover it more.

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children.

Willows class new topic this term is ‘How does it grow?’, so we set off to the school garden.

After explaining about how “plants need soil, and water and sun to grow, and rain, that is water and plants grow from seeds you know? and they grow in mud”. The children set about digging over the school garden patch. They found the roots of the plants and were very excited to explain their knowledge about how the roots give the plants their food.

Whilst digging they found lots of worms, and some ants eggs and tiny centipedes. It was so good to see such engagement and enthusiasm for their learning along with great working as a team.

Once the plot was cleared, they planted some bulbs leftover from the autumn and took great care to think about how deep the holes needed to be, how they had to cover them and pat down the soil.

With a wheelbarrow full of weeds, they set off down the Forest School area to tip them on the ground.

“The worms will like them down here”

“Other animals might come and eat the weeds here”

Willows joined in with the rhythms and words of a song and then used tapping sticks to make up new rhythm patterns to take turns in leading the class with.

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 fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

The children kept themselves very busy with clearing any fallen twigs and small branches from the recent storm.

“This will be really good to make a fire!”

“Look at how big this branch is, it is taller than me!”

Some of them then used some of the wood to rebuild the den in the corner of the site. They worked together to build and balance and help each other carry larger bits of woods.

Other children returned to climbing in the large ivy bush today, where they had spent lots of time last session making a den.

They then passed ‘Stick Man’ around the circle to share what they enjoyed about the session.

“I likes planting and digging”

“I like building the den with my friends”

“I like finding worms, mine was massive!”

“I like going on the swing and pushing my friends on it”

The children talked about which animals were native in the wild in England. They then spotted some animal tracks and looked closely at the shapes and number of marks there were, before identifying each print. Some children then used stencils to create their own tracks with flour and a sieve. Some used the stencils to create clay prints of the woodland animals.

There were some animal skulls, bones and feathers to investigate and the children responded by asking lots of questions.

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 gained, 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 rest of the afternoon saw Maples following their own ideas. They really wanted to continue with their work on the bug hotel, so searched for sticks and moss and other items in the Forest School site.
They also made a sign independently, including some lovely illustrations of the resident worms and insects!

There was lots of independent creating with clay, from clay animals prints, to sculpture, pots and beautiful creations with pine cones.

Maples really enjoyed their den building and used secateurs independently to cut back brambles from their den area. The other tools they used were peelers to peel some. Old Christmas tree branches to make deer antlers and a handsaw to cut pieces of wood to support their independent play.

There was also lots of climbing and swinging and running around!

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children.

The class started their afternoon by practising ‘fox walking’. They all had to try to silently walk in a ‘sneaky, stalky’ kind of way, as foxes do when they are approaching their prey. The children tried hard to walk toe first, then heel, to make as little noise as possible.

The children then spotted some animal tracks and looked closely at the shapes and number of marks there were, before identifying each print. Some children then used stencils to create their own tracks with flour and a sieve. Some used the stencils to create clay prints of the wood-land animals.

There were some animal skulls, bones and feathers to investigate and the children responded by asking lots of questions.

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 gained, 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 rest of the afternoon saw Chestnuts following their own ideas. They really wanted to continue with their work on the bug hotel, so searched for old pots and sticks to add to it and even found some clay in the ground whilst doing this.

They worked well together to create a barrier to remind everyone to keep away from the really wet areas and paths in the Forest School site.

This then led to some lovely den building. The groups of children moved logs into their dens to create sitting circles and then thought they would like a fire in the middle “to keep us warm…it is cold!” So they collected some woods and then had a go at practising their fire striking skills.

There was also lots of climbing and swinging and playing in the mud kitchen.

It is great to see the confidence in self-chosen activities at Forest School developing in all of the children.
There was time at the end of the session to share and listen to what they had all enjoyed about the session whist drinking a cup of warm apple juice.

“I liked making the animal tracks and sprinkling the flour”

“I like making the fire, I did it from a spark!”

“I liked the clay, but it was really cold and washing my hands was cold too!”

“I liked making the den with my friends, we carried the wood together and I liked our log seats”

“I love the mud kitchen”

Willows class were on the lookout for animal tracks and footprints today. They found some prints on the path and thought that they might belong to Jimmy the school dog.

“His prints look like circles and small triangles”

They then found a clue and sounded out the word ‘FOX’ and learned that fox prints are similar to dogs, but you can draw a X through a fox print.

Then they found some deer prints and thought that they might have been left by Father Christmas’ reindeer Rudolf!

The class then spent time exploring and following their own ideas in the Forest School area. There was lots of busy play in the mud kitchen and the children were very resourceful finding water to mix into their creations. The children’s negotiating skills were evident in the way they played and shared resources with each other.

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 fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

The WIllows children were very involved in climbing in the large ivy bush today and were proud of their skills of taking turns and working together to problem solve, when one of the branches snapped, by working together to move and reposition branches and other logs around their playing area.

Some of the Willows used stencils to push into wet clay, to create animal footprints. They talked about how the clay felt really cold and then rolled it into balls before squashing it into shape to create impressions of animal footprints. They then had a go at writing labels to accompany their clay prints.

At the end of the session the class listened to the story of The Gruffalo’s child, joining in with some of the repeated refrains and looking at the animal tracks which were in the snow in the illustrations.

They then passed ‘Stick Man’ around the circle to share what they enjoyed about the session, whilst enjoying a cup of hot apple juice.

The class started their afternoon with a game of ‘fox and rabbits’ to warm themselves up on the chilly afternoon outside. They took it in turns really well to chase the rabbit and try to make themselves ‘safe’ by creating pairs of children to be ‘burrows’.

Some of the children had a go at lighting the fire and then chopped oranges and apples up to create some hot, spiced apple juice. They added water, apple concentrate and cinnamon bark to the water and stirred it carefully as they brought it to the boil on their fire. This created a delicious hot drink, which was most welcome on the cold afternoon. It was great to see some children trying new tastes and flavours with increased confidence.

Next some of the children had a go at sawing a wooden hazel slice to decorate. They learned to hold the wood securely for each other and how to work in pairs to pull the bow saw to cut a thin slice of wood. They then used palm drills to drill a hole to thread string through. This required lots of persistence and concentration, which the Oaks showed as developing skills. Having threaded the slices onto string, they set about decorating them to create Christmas decorations. They also drilled holes to put sticks and cones into which gave the effect of miniature trees.

The class spent time taking turns on the tyre swing and using secateurs to cut back brambles to create a den together in the overgrown part of the space.

Their tree climbing skill are also developing, with some of them climbing high enough into the tree to see over the hedges and trees into the setting sun on the sheep fields beyond.

Finally some of the Oaks had a go at pulling some dead ivy from the oak tree. We discussed how it was a great habitat for many insects and found lots of woodlice and spiders. They then used string to tie the amazing sculptural ivy to the Forest School shelter as a decorative feature.

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 gained, 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.

Some of the children’s reflections about their session today were:

“ I love Forest School, it is my best lesson, because I learn to do new things like sawing woods and drilling it to make things…and I like playing in the mud kitchen with my friends too”

“ I wasn’t going to try the apple drink, but it smelled lovely, so I tried it and ended up eating the orange too”

“ I would like to use tools again, maybe to whittle some things next time”

The class started their afternoon with a game of ‘fox and rabbits’ to warm themselves up on the chilly afternoon outside. They took it in turns to chase the rabbit and try to make themselves ‘safe’ by creating pairs of children to be ‘burrows’.

The children had two challenges this after-noon. Firstly to light a fire to warm them-selves and to boil a kettle to make hot ap-ple juice for the end of the session.

The children sorted the sticks into widths and learned how to lay a fire. They then used fire strikers to create sparks to ignite cotton wool, which lit the fire. It is a tricky challenge, requir-ing motivation, persistence and quite sophisti-cated fine motor co-ordination. It was fantastic to see the perseverance and to enjoy a warm drink together as a reward for the hard work.

The second challenge for the children was to have a go at sawing a wooden willow slice to decorate. They learned to hold the wood securely for each other and how to work as a team to pull the bow saw and cut a thin slice of wood. They then used palm drills to make a hole to thread string through. This required lots of persistence and concentration and Maples showed their determination and focus with this. Having threaded the slices onto string, they set about decorating them to create necklaces and Christmas decorations.

Along with their challenges, Maples moved some more resources in the Forest School area to add to the bug hotel which was started last week.
They also spent time taking turns on the tyre swing and hammock and using seca-teurs to cut back brambles to create a den together in the overgrown part of the space.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

At the end of the day the children shared what they had enjoyed and want to do next time.

“I liked lighting the fire”

“I liked swinging on the hammock”

“I liked sawing best of all”

“I liked using the cutters to cut back the brambles to make our den”

“I like the decorating”

Well done for such a productive and engaged afternoon at Forest School and for working so well together and completing your two challenges!

The class started their afternoon with a game of ‘fox and rabbits’ to warm themselves up on the chilly afternoon outside. They took it in turns to chase the rabbit and try to make themselves ‘safe’ by creating pairs of children to be ‘burrows’.

The children had two challenges this afternoon. Firstly to light a fire to warm themselves, and boil a kettle to make hot apple juice for the end of the session.

The children sorted the sticks into widths and learned how to lay a fire. They then used fire strikers to create sparks and to ignite cotton wool, which then lit the fire. It is a tricky challenge, requiring motivation, persistence and quite sophisticated fine motor coordination. It was fantastic to see the perseverance and to enjoy a warm drink together as a reward for the hard work.

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 gained, tools used, art and craft activities, observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.

The second challenge for the children was linked to their science curriculum, all about mini beasts and their habitats. Chestnuts worked hard to lift and carry pallets and wood to create the framework for a new bug hotel. They then started to fill it with pots, old crockery, wood, pine cones and leaves to create a habitat for the bugs in their Forest School space. They saw lots of woodlice whilst constructing and came up with some really engaged, creative ideas.

“We found clay…we can use it to fix the pots to the bug hotel”

“I have been out foraging and found these pine cones, we can use these”

“I have put clay on the pot, it has a face on it now”

“This wood can be a chimney on the top of the bug hotel”

Along with their challenges Chestnuts created in the mud kitchen and took it in turns to swing on the tyre swing and hammock.

At the end of the session they shared and listened to what they had all enjoyed about the session.

“I liked playing in the mud kitchen with my friends”

“I like making the fire”

“I liked all of it….everything!”

Well done Chestnuts for working so well together and completing your two challenges!

Willows class were thinking about autumn during their Forest School session this week. They looked at the trees and noticed the changing colours and leaves.

They started by playing a game of ‘Eagle Eyes’, where they tried their hardest to try to hide from the watching eagle. They had 10 seconds to move closer to the eagle’s nest, when the eagle closed their eyes, then had to hide again. Some of the children were fantastic at being quiet and stealthy and there was some excellent team-work, counting together.

During our last session the children had threaded food for birds, so this week they developed their fine motor skills by threading some leaves using a needle and some wool to decorate their Forest School shelter.

Some children went on to creating their own leaf kebab, by threading fallen leaves onto sticks. They then took these to the mud kitchen and spent a long time making ‘food’ with water, bubbles and leaves from around the Forest School site.

“If I mix yellow leaves and green leaves, what will happen?”

“Can you help me with the water?…We are doing good teamwork here”

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 fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons and the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

Willows talked about their learning as they were playing:

“I have go 4 leaves on my stick, now 5….now 6!””

“I liked playing the eagle eyes game”

“I like threading the leaves”

This afternoon we had Forest School in the pouring rain! Because it was so wet and rainy we enjoyed splashing in the puddles and some of the children found leaves to float down the pouring water stream created by the rain. It was so much fun! We then went into the hall to do lots of fun activities!

They started by playing a game of ‘guess the animal’ asking simple questions to try to discover what animal Dormouse had thought of.

During our last session the children had collected leaves and flowers and pressed them in the flower press. They talked about how the leaves would be too wet to use today and how the flower press had flattened them and dried them out.

The children used the flowers to create lovely collages of hedgehogs and then listened carefully to a story about a hedgehog. They talked about how they could do nice things for their friends, like the hedgehog did in the story.

Willows played a game of ‘rabbit, rabbit, fox’, taking it in turns to chase each other around a circle and try to get back to their space before they got caught by the fox.

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 fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons ans the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School Games.

Then the Willows talked about birds and how they needed food throughout the winter and then created some bird feeders. They carefully threaded cereal hoops onto pipecleaners and twisted the tops to make circular feeders to hang at home.

Willows ended their session by taking it in turns to share what they had enjoyed about their afternoon.

“I liked splashing in the muddy puddles”

“I liked making the bird feeder”

“I like the hedgehog picture”

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.

It was great to see the perseverance of the children getting themselves ready, with their wellies and waterproofs for the first time.

The children picked some blackberries after identifying them correctly with the adults. They learned they shouldn’t ever eat anything they pick, unless their supporting adults have discussed it with them, because it might make them ill.

Some of the children had a go at painting and mask making with blackberry paint, made from the mushed up blackberries they had collected.

We explored the Forest School area, as if we were ‘going on a bear hunt’, identifying which places were safe and which parts we had to stay away from this week. There were some tall nettles, prickly brambles and large wet and muddy puddles, which the children saw and then stayed away from.

Then the children had the chance to play with the mud kitchen and go on the swing.

Some children used a flower press to press some willow leaves “…these are us!”, some petals and some ground ivy leaves they had found.

Willows ended their session by passing ‘Stick Man’ round the circle and sharing what they had enjoyed about the afternoon.

“I loved the swing”

“I liked ‘going on a bear hunt”

“I liked the flower pressing”

Our first time at Forest School was great!

We all had so much fun, we cannot wait to go again!

It was great to see the perseverance of the children getting themselves ready, with their wellies and waterproofs as a class, they raced against a 7 minute timer.

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 gained, 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.

Chestnuts played a game of fox and rabbit. They had a lot of fun, working together as a class, to protect the rabbit inside their circle, from the fox outside!

The children picked some blackberries, hawthorn berries and sloes after identifying them correctly with the adults. They learned they shouldn’t ever eat anything they pick, unless their supporting adults have discussed it with them, because it might make them ill. They managed to collect a huge range of berries, creating a plentiful supply to make their paint with.

Some of the children had a go at painting and mark making with blackberry paint, made from the mushed up blackberries they had collected. They created a beautiful painting on a large sheet of fabric. In the sunshine it was great to see the variety of colours and hues of purples and reds and to see the children’s creative ideas and name writing.

Using some clay and some mud dug from the ground, the children created some ‘seed bombs’ by squishing the clay and incorporating the calendula and poppy seeds inside their rolled spheres. They carefully set them to dry, so they can throw them into their garden beds in the spring as a ‘seed bomb’ to create a lovely flower patch, to then collect seeds from next year. “I wish I could make more and more and more and throw them on the grass to change the school field into a meadow”.

All of the children reflected on what they had done and enjoyed during the session by writing down their favourite activity at the end of the day, supporting each other with discussion and help with sounding out and writing.

Well done Chestnuts class, what a productive, fun filled afternoon!

If anyone has any old, flat white fabric sheets, we could always use them for creative projects with the children at Forest School.

The Autumn sunshine was beautiful for the Oaks today as they talked about signs of the season. They found sticks to collect their leaves onto and created some leaf kebabs!

Using the Autumn leaves they learned how to preserve them by dipping them into molten beeswax. The children used their senses to work out what kind of wax they were using…”it smells like honey!” Some worked together to then create a beautiful hanging leaf mobile, which they hung in their Forest School shelter.

Some of the children took rubbings of their wax dipped leaves and talked about the different colours and textures of the leaves they had found. Some found Oak galls which created a bumpy texture on the underside of the leaves, which looked great in the leaf rubbings.

The class played a game of fox and rabbit, taking it in turns to chase and find a ‘safe’ place in a rabbit burrow as they played.

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 gained, 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 mud kitchen was popular, with the children creating messy dishes, but also learning some of the names of plants and berries which they added to their creations. There was lots of grassy mud ‘noodles’ and some found some minty ground ivy and blood red hawthorn berries to add into their mixes.