This Forest School session is the last of Abbie's pilot! On the way in, the children remembered to say hello to the Grandmother tree and ask if they could come and play. We had Abbie H's boy with us to help today and the children were able to tell him all of the different things we did at Forest School and the routines, such as 'come on in' and the rules of Forest School. She found a different tree branch to hang the rope swing from as the last one was quite bouncy and we were so close to the floor. We found this one easier to climb on but there was less space! We will keep looking for the perfect branch! As the mud was so wet and squelchy from the rain, Abbie set up a mud kitchen. The children had great fun making mud pies, cakes and cups of tea.
We had a giant magnifier sheet, which was so much fun to look through. It made the surroundings massive, but also our faces, which was really funny! One child noticed some nests in the treetops, so we walked around and looked for nests - there were lots!
Some of the children wanted to thread with the elder beads again - this has been a popular activity throughout the whole pilot! Some of the children made 'crowns' and announced they were King and Queen! We also made broomsticks/rockets by collecting colourful leaves and sticks then tying them onto larger sticks then drove around on them!
One child asked for the hammer, so we hammered nails into a log slice, then another asked for the drill, so we drilled leaves so that we could thread them onto string and make leaf necklaces.
Some of the children made a car out of log slices and a longer log, then pretended to drive around!
We had a giant magnifier sheet, which was so much fun to look through. It made the surroundings massive, but also our faces, which was really funny! One child noticed some nests in the treetops, so we walked around and looked for nests - there were lots!
Some of the children wanted to thread with the elder beads again - this has been a popular activity throughout the whole pilot! Some of the children made 'crowns' and announced they were King and Queen! We also made broomsticks/rockets by collecting colourful leaves and sticks then tying them onto larger sticks then drove around on them!
One child asked for the hammer, so we hammered nails into a log slice, then another asked for the drill, so we drilled leaves so that we could thread them onto string and make leaf necklaces.
Some of the children made a car out of log slices and a longer log, then pretended to drive around!
We have had a great 6 weeks of Forest School while Abbie completes her training, we will continue doing Forest School activities and include some of the other children. Abbie is so impressed with how the children have grown in confidence, when the pilot started, they were unsure of what to do and often needed adult guidance, but now they are so independent that they are able to choose their own activities and play all on their own! They also have grown so competent in using the tools! Don't forget to return your Forest School questionnaire please to help Abbie to plan future sessions!
