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.