Forest School News

6th January 2020

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Buckets of fun…
 
This morning, Firs class investigated simple pulleys, enjoying working out how to lift the buckets up and drop them back down to the ground. We added stones to feel different weights and to see how much harder we had to pull to raise the  buckets…
 
During the afternoon, Willows class also had a go at using the buckets. Some of the children were able to work out which bucket was heavier and then thought about how they could make it lighter…
 
We also had a go at decorating the tee-pee den…both classes selected ribbons to weave in and out of the strings…
 
And in the digging pit today, some dinosaurs had appeared! Firs enjoyed playing with them – using the logs and stumps as their homes…whilst children in Willows worked on creating different areas for the  dinosaurs to play in-including a fabulous swimming pool lined with pebbles.
 
It’s always great to get really stuck into an activity! This mud kitchen meal was lovingly prepared-each leaf, stick and stone carefully chosen before being added to the mix…
 
What a lovely, self directed shared activity…a game of peekaboo in the hammock, with shouts of ‘more!’ coming from inside!
 
And more shared play, a chance to practise core body strength by balancing on a moving skateboard, counting and sorting…and exploring the bushes looking for fairies!!
Acers Habitat Trail
 
It was Acers first time out in Forest School today, and they worked super hard learning the names of lots of woodland creatures…and also the names of their homes. They searched high and low around the site, looking for pictures of different animals and then matched them to pictures of different animal homes and habitats.
 
Back in the log circle we all practised naming the animal homes…we made funny actions to help us remember and we all called out as loud as we could!

Fox-Den…Rabbit-Warren…Badger-Sett…Squirrel-Drey…Mouse-Burrow…Bird-Nest…Worm-Soil and so on!

Then we played a circle game-we all chose an animal card and listened as Mrs Smith called out different animal names (then afterwards, the name of the animal homes.) Everyone listened carefully for their animal or animal home…and ran round the outside of the circle when the name matched their picture. It was great fun! And everyone tried very hard to remember this new information.
 
Acers really enjoyed their independent explorations of our site too…
 
And they were brilliant at choosing and completing their own sentences during our reflection time…“I was  good at finding all the different animals” “I liked it when we played the game” “I was happy when I made my own animal home” “Next time I want to go on the skateboard swing”.
 
Well done Acers…what a lovely start to the new term.