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”.
