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.
