On the way to the woods Maple Class started to spot the signs of spring. The children all played a game of ‘You are only safe’ to help them start to identify some of the signs of spring emerging. We saw crocuses, snowdrops, daffodils and had a go at learning to identify the cuckoo pint plant.
The class had a sheet as reference-spotting for the signs of spring and shared their careful observations as they walked along the path to the woods.
At the bridge the children acted out the story of ‘The Billy Goats Gruff’. They were very good at explaining the story and the repeated refrains of:
“Who’s that trip-trapping over my bridge?”!
Maple Class then continued their session by talking about the story they have been reading in class this week, ‘The Three Little Pigs’, including the different materials the houses were made of and how, why and if they were good materials for house building. The children thought about the vocabulary they had used in their science lesson to describe materials and shared some more words to describe the woods.
“… crunchy leaves, colourful, beautiful flowers, spiky brambles, scratchy hay, squishy mud, hard wood, bumpy, elephant oak trees, orangey water, silvery tree…”
The children then had a go at using straw, sticks and clay to explore with, many of them making nests for birds with the hay and taking the spades and forks to the stream to dig up the mud. There was also time to play in the stream, swing on the swings and the hammock. The children added fresh seeds to their bird feeders which they had made during their last session.
This week the children shared what they had enjoyed about the session as we left the woods.
“I liked digging…I like swinging high in the hammock…I liked playing with the birds…I like being the billy goat gruff”
Well done Maple Class, and a massive thanks to our lovely volunteers who make our sessions possible by supporting the children in the woods.
