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, 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.
This week Cherry Class all made their own birds. They identified one each from a sheet of British birds and coloured in the feathers and cut them out. Before we left school we looked at a map of Europe and the world to talk about where the birds might fly to when they migrate.
Each child had to find a suitable stick along their journey, to tape to their bird to make it fly along the route.
They listened to birdsong and looked out for birds and nests in trees along the ‘Forest Way’.
They are taking advantage of the ‘Cultural Capital’ of their local environment.
The children identified holly berries, rose hips and sloe berries for their birds to feed on, along with flies and spiders they had spotted in the meadows.
Once we were in the woods, the children were great at tapping sticks in time and following rhythm and movement patterns.
They played a game, listening out for different bird calls and using their bird identification sheets to learn the names of the birds they had made.
The children followed their own ideas and imaginations. There was lots of exploring and finding leaves and sticks. Some children created lovely nests for their birds to rest in after their long flight.
The recent rain has made the woodland stream flow, so the children set about creating bridges of sticks across the water.
There was time to explore and climb and fly their birds in and around the woodland.
The birds even queued for the hammock, where they played games and sang songs as they took turns with swinging, relaxing and pushing.
At the end of the afternoon the children were silent for a woodland whisper, which started as ‘robin’ and ended up completely as ‘robin’! excellent teamwork and listening skills Cherry Class!
The children discussed and reflected on what they had enjoyed about Forest School on their walk up the hill.
“I loved swinging”
“I liked making my bird and making a nest with colourful leaves”
“I liked going on the balancing rope”
Thanks to the brilliant volunteers who make going to Forest School possible. The children are lucky to have access to the woods to develop their independence, resilience and well-being. The Forest School association are calling for all children nationally to have access to nature like we do. “We are calling for a Nature Premium to fund regular nature experiences for every child.” Have a look at why here:
