Willow Class started Forest School by learning a new game called ‘Bat and Moth’; the children all stood in a big circle to create the cave and two were then chosen to go in the middle. One child was the bat and other the moth. The bat was blindfolded and had to listen for the moths squeak, trying their best to catch them as they ran away around the cave! Much fun was had by all and it was a great way to start the lesson.
The class then moved on to bird identification. Sitting as a group they looked at nine different bird teddies testing the class knowledge on bird recognition. They had a go at guessing what each one was, doing rather well and only getting stuck on a few! They even managed to get the Jay which was the one the Forest School Leader thought they would find a little tricky. They said they:
“could tell it was a Jay because it has blue feathers on the wings”.
Having identified the birds, the children made nests for them with some hay which they twisted round to make a circle. Making sure there was plenty of hay to line the bottom of their nests, stones were decorated, some with stripes and some with spots and were placed as eggs in the nests ready to be sat on by our birds! Some children chose to place their nests in the tees or in the hedge, and it was great to see so many colourful creations in the trees.
The class then worked on creating some lovely bird drawings on disc of wood. Helping each other they worked well in pairs and took turns to saw a wooden disc off the end of a Silver Birch branch; one child held the branch still while the other did the sawing. Some found this a little tricky but no-one gave up, and it was great to see them using their skills of perseverance which they spent so much time learning about last term!
We are so thankful to have the opportunity for the children to attend Forest School classes as the impact of these lessons for the children is can be seen in the knowledge they gain from the whole experience, the skills gained, tools used, art and craft activities developed, their observations and knowledge of the fruit, plants and trees in relation to the seasons together with the skills involved in learning how to play Forest School games.
Thank you to Dormouse (Abi Sharp), our Forest School leader and to all of the volunteers who facilitate these opportunities for our children.
