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”