Group 2
The Wrong Way 04/12/24
Sometimes in life it appears to me that not always doing the same thing can lead to exciting opportunities. As we set off to the dene for another Forest School adventure, instead of taking the usual path along the top of the dene we went down to the stream straight away. It was very different down there, we could not hear the usual hubbub of traffic and trains. The path was grass and not cinder. There were cliffs and a lovely waterfall. The path took us a strange way and we had to haul the trolley up a very step slope, so steep in fact that we had to get a rope out to get extra help. It was very tough but we managed to haul the trolley up and found ourselves opposite Rodney and Lemon’s paddock – fancy that.
Quiet a few children have been telling me about the Christmas elf in the class and at home. I know of a special tree in the dene with a fairy door that you can go inside of. I wondered if the elf might also use the door. After a quick play along the short cut we left the trolley at the Forest School site and went off to find the fairy door. Along the way we played a new game called Cuckoo. It made the walk go very fast. I arrived first to the door and managed to fit all the way in, it is a big door. We looked but none of us could find a way to the elf land beyond, so instead we made wishes to the fairies.
When we got back to the Forest School site we chose some games to play whilst the hot chocolate cooled down enough for us to drink. Since it was the last session we had some special snacks which everyone enjoyed. There was time for us to have 5 minutes quiet time where we could think of all the wonderful things that we have been able to do in the woods.
It has been fantastic watching the children working together to overcome all sorts of difficulties. They have been out in all kinds of weather and still kept a cheerful demeanour, they have been a credit to themselves and their careers. I look forward to seeing them next year.
Hibernation 27/11/24
We had to spend a bit of time getting all the hats and gloves sorted today. I am sure that the temperature fell in the time I came to school and the time that it was Forest School. When everyone had a good warm layer on we set off.
The walk to our Forest School area is an important part of the session. This week we struggled with the weight of the trolley in the mud. I had wanted to make shelters and as you can imagine that involves a good amount of kit. We worked together and pulled the trolley there and back with a lot of good team work.
When we got to the dene we had fun playing on the fox den hill. We collected more leaves for the pile we have started. It is getting pretty big, it will be interesting to see how long it will last for, or we could move it as some animals might choose it to hibernate inside it.
Just as we arrived at the Forest School site it started to rain. All those tarps that I had came in super handy as I quickly put up a den for us to shelter in. Just about at the time I had got it set up it stopped raining, or that is what it seemed. A group of children got inspired by the idea of a camp and so used the lovely leaves to make a pretend fire to keep us all warm. I got out the puppets and looked at the animas that would hibernate and those who would not. That naughty Renard (the fox), was out for a bite to eat so we had to be careful not to get caught by him.
Ms. Luke had a new game to teach us, she called it Hibernation. It was great; we pretended to be the hibernating animals, cover our eyes and then she would cover one of us up. When we woke up we had to guess who was covered up and still asleep.
The hot drink was very yummy today and really helped keep us going. We managed to get in a quiet time before coming back to school arriving back to the school just as it stated to rain much more heavily – weren’t we lucky.
Cold Movement 20/11/24
When we can pick great big chunks of ice out of the big puddle then you know that it is going to be a cold session. I was pleased to see that most of the children came in lovely warm clothes which allowed them to enjoy the fresh weather. I had two pairs of socks on, a scarf, gloves and a lovely woolly hat, I was nice and warm.
We travelled down stopping off to say hello to our favourite ponies Lemon and Rodney. They did not want to say hello today as they were too busy eating their hay. When we were going into the dene we explored a bit and found some fox holes there was a front and a back door. The slope was great to play on so we spent some time playing on that. I put a rope down so it was easier to climb back up.
When we got to the Forest School site we had a game of tree tag. It is an excellent way to identify the different trees as only one species of tree is den at any one time. This week we were looking at the crinkly bark of the oak tree. It looks a bit like the skin of an old man’s hand. (My hand was the example ☹).
We then had our hot drink, which was needed and a snack to keep us going. Since everyone enjoyed the fox’s slope so much I took the children to ‘THE SLOPE OF DOOOOOOOOM’. This was great fun but unfortunately, we had run out of time so we could only have a couple of turns each.
The sun came out just in time for our quite time which finished off the session nicely. As you can see we did a lot of movement in this session as this is the best way to keep warm. It left me needing a nap in the afternoon though.
The Spirit of Autumn 13/11/24
I wish I knew what it is that makes for a truly magic Forest School session. Sometimes the session just seems to flow with the children engaged and focused from the start to the finish. Today was one of those days.
We started our session by going to the equipment shed - through the rabbit hole. After we got ready in water proof kit and extra warm tops we set off. The children are great at sharing the responsibility of transporting the kit. Although less than half a mile away it seems to take us at least thirty minutes to get to our Forest School site. This time we got to say hello to Rodney and Lemon, two tiny ponies. We found that Rodney had vey articulate lips that tried to get into everyone’s pockets! Lemon was much better behaved and just wanted to have scratch under his chin.
We then went down in to the dene and had great fun playing all the leaves again. This time we were jumping into them. When we had all had a go we moved to the Forest School site where I showed the children how to make an autumn crown. We found all sorts of berries, leaves and interesting things to stick onto our crowns. Whilst some children were decorating crowns, others were playing with the ropes on the slope, others were having a game of camouflage and I put up a slack line. This proved to very popular to bounce on. We did some balancing but bouncing seemed to the most popular thing.
Just time for a hot drink and a snack before our quite time and then a walk back to school. This takes a lot less time as it is downhill nearly all the way.
Team Work Makes for Dream Work 06/11/24
It was our first visit with Forest School to the dene. Our Forest School site looks absolutely stunning at this time of year. I would recommend a visit if you have the time.
To get there we had to get ourselves ready and that involved a trip through the rabbit hole in the hedge. It is not as exciting a few weeks ago since a lot of the leaves that used to hide the passage have gone, but we still had fun, especially when a ‘fox’ came to visit! I think we might play some more games with the fox next week.
We took out the big trolley for the first time and I was supper impressed with how the children all worked together to help carry the equipment to the Forest School site. The picture above is all the children using a rope to get the trolley up the steep hill on the way back to school.
When we got to the site we had great fun playing a game called ‘Camouflage’. It is a type of hide and seek game, it is a great way for the children to get used to the site and find where the boundaries of where we can go. We set up some ropes and a couple of hammocks for the children to use which proved to be very popular. Some children preferred to make leaf angels in all the leaves on the ground. I liked collecting the different coloured leaves to make hair. There were so many leaves that we collected up a huge pile which were great for jumping in. What fun we all had.
Newburn Apple Day 23/10/24/
It is always a treat to start with a new group but this week was extra special. We had managed to borrow some heavy-duty apple mashers and squishers.
First, we had to get to our school Forest School site. Of course, we had to go the route the rabbits might take and so through the hole in the hedge we went. Then to get changed as, although it was not wet we are kneeling in the dirt. I loved the unicorn coats, I don’t think they make one in my size though. ☹
When we got to the site and saw the equipment everyone was on board for going on an apple hunt, it took some doing but we found a load of windfalls next to the old apple tree. There were six tasks; collect the apples, wash the apples, cut the apples into quarters, put the apples through the masher, do that again for good measure then finally sqeeeeeeze the apples in the apple press to get the juice out. Oh, there was one other task and that was to taste the juice. Yum – well sort of it was very fresh and totally unsweetened so some found it a bit sour.
Once everyone had had a go then we split into groups. One group stayed and made more juice whilst the other group went to have adventures with the hammocks in the trees. They had a great time and there are some excellent tree climbers. Some children decided that they had enough of making juice, they had a great time playing hide and seek in the wooded area. The trees are losing their leaves so it is not as good for hiding as it was in the summer, when they last were in Forest School.
After the groups had swapped over there was just time for a snack. We did not have any hot chocolate today since we had lots of apple juice instead.
I am looking forward to another five weeks in the new term.
