Group 1
Den Making 16/10/24
It is such a pity that is the last session with this group as you could tell that the children understood the principles of Forest School just in the way that they helped each other pull the heavy trolley through the sticky mud. They will have another session next year in year 2.
We had great fun using the slippery slopes as slides. The learning that the children have had showed again as the children were able to take a rope up and tie it off around a tree to use to help get back up the slope.
As you can imagine that after this much fun our session at the Forest School site was a bit shorter than normal. Since it was a bit rainy I had brought some extra tarpaulins and the children got to making some fine dens. We had lovely time making fantastic dens, to keep us going we had a bit of Johnny Cash to sing along a too. We used these dens to have our refreshments in. It started to rain a bit more heavily so I had to scrunch in but there was room for everyone.
It was great to get in a last quiet time to take in the beauty in the dene. I hope everyone feels proud with all the good work that they have done over the last 6 weeks.
Mud Slides and Fox Holes.
I knew it was going to be a wet one today so I packed extra socks and my super waterproof trousers. In the end it did not rain as much as I thought it would.
We set off through the mud. The trolley was super difficult to pull as the mud kept sticking to the wheels but we eventually made it to the dene. As we were exploring someone found a whole. At first, we thought it might be rabbits but when we looked we saw it was too big for a rabbit hole so we think it was a fox hole.
The hole was at the top of a slope which with all our climbing quickly turned into a super slide. It was so slippy that we could no longer climb up the bank, so we got a rope to use to climb up. At first, I thought I could hold the rope for everyone but after I got pulled down the slope we tied it to a tree. It was great fun.
With all the rain the stream was in spate. This surprised many children as they could not believe the difference in stream today. There was no way we could have a rope adventure over all that water.
When we got to our Forest School site I put up a tarpaulin shelter in case it rained more. Whilst I was doing that the children were playing Oogah Boogah with Miss Luke. When we sat down I bought out some puppets on of which was Renard the fox who was not very happy that people had been waking him up! He was looking for food. The children had to fid good hiding places for the other woodland creatures; a rabbit, mole, hedgehog and a squirrel. Luckily for the woodland creatures the children found some very good hiding places, so Renard went hungry.
After our refreshments and quiet time, we left for school. It was even more tuff to get the trolley back as the children were tired and it was just as muddy but we still found time to splash in as many puddles as we could find.
New Games 02/10/24
Our trip to the dene is beginning to take a familiar course. A stop to explore the school grounds, a wander to see the horses and then some fun on a slope before we get to the site we use for Forest School. I enjoy the time it takes to get to the site as it gives the children time to re-adjust to the pace of Forest School and start to think about some of the things that they would like to do.
This week I had bought hammers, nails and wood I had packed some rope and a few hammocks. I had also put a couple of hats in the trolley. These are great hats, they are monster hats with tassels, eyes and floppy ears. With these we made up a new game called ‘Oogah Boogah’. Children had to escape from whoever was wearing the hat, any oak tree was den. If they were caught they were put into a hazel clearing until they were released by a friend. It was a very exciting game to play.
After playing this, we settled into choosing our own activities. Not many children wanted to use the hammocks so I don’t think I will bring them next week. The children still enjoyed using the rope for slides and fun on a slope. Making and crafting was popular too. I had brought some nice paint pens which the children used to decorate their creations.
What a busy morning!
Adventuring 25/09/24
We had a lovely start to our trip to the dene. We had to delay a bit while we fixed up those who had not brought Forest School Kit. We do go out in all weathers and when it has ben raining it does get very muddy, which the children love. Old water proof clothes are ideal for dealing with the fun that the children have in such conditions.
We stopped to play with the last of the ‘Old Man’s Beard’ (Clematis Vitalba). It was very itchy but did make a great beard for those who wanted it. We also found that the ivy was starting to blossom and it was attracting many pollinators to it. Ivy is the last plant that flowers before the autumn shut down so is an important flower to our pollinators. On a nice day it will be full of buzzing insects.
When we got down to the dene we decided that we all wanted an adventure. We went down to the stream and used the rope to cross the ravine. It was great fun and everyone had a go even though it was super slippy. I think I might have been the only one to slip into the water. It was pleasant over the other side of the stream and there were lots of rocks that were great for making huge splashes. We than got lots of rocks to make a bridge back across.
As you can imagine, this took much more time than I had anticipated. We still had time to try out some wood working and play on the slope with a spare tarpaulin as a slide. Other children decided to make their own den. It was great it even had it’s own seesaw! After refreshments and quiet time it was a made rush back to get our lunch. We just made it.
Slopes and Ropes 18/09/24
I was very excited today as it was the first time that this group had been down to the dene and in the sunshine that we have been having recently I knew it would be a great day and it was.
The first job we had was to load the trolley. Since we are going off site it is important to carry all the things we need so we take a great big trolley with us to carry everything. Then we had to practice ‘dog angels’ . Dog angels are a way of standing to help stop dogs from jumping up at the children. We have to stand still with are arms folded and looking up and away. We then walked up the path found some horses and said hello and went down into the dene.
We couldn’t walk into the dene without celebrating it some how so we ran down the slope shouting are favourite things. The children and Ms. Luke decided to take a short cut while I walked around the long way. There was another slope to run down to meet up again, that was so much fun that we had a few turns each. In the end we got to the Forest School site. We talked about the three Forest School rules and how important they were. To help remember some of the things we had learnt we played a game and then set up the hammocks and a rope on a slope. The children could choose what they wanted to do some liked to chill or swing on the hammocks whilst others lover the rope on the slope. Others liked to make up their own games. It was soon time for some refreshments. During our drink and snack we talked about some of the things we had liked doing and what we would like to do next week. There was just time for us to find a quite space and listen to the woods for a few minutes before we had to come back to school.
Jamming 11/09/24
I can start to feel the coolness creep into the tail end of summer as the blackberries ripen upon the brambles. It won’t be long now until the leaves begin to drop. I thought we had better strike fast and pick ,pick , pick. We spent the first part of our Forest school session collecting as many of the blackberries as we could. The trouble with blackberry picking is the prickles and I don’t know why but the best berries always seem to be next to nettles. We managed to pick enough to make 5 jars of jam. I have given the biggest jar to breakfast club so anyone who goes can try it out.
Hide and seek is still a popular game so we had a go at that. The children remembered about the secret wood at the bottom of the school but we could not have big groups down there so after our game we split into two groups so that everyone could have a turn at exploring. Exploring soon turned into bridge building so the time quickly passed.
Whilst I was exploring Ms Luke was den building and having fun with the hammocks. After our refreshments we swapped groups so that everyone had a turn at each activity. We just had time to try out our jam on some bread. It was lovely and full of flavour.
The children so enjoyed exploring that I think it is time to go to the dene. Please make sure that your child is equipped with boots and an old coat.
