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.
