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.