Guest Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 Just wanted to share my morning! We had a forest school style morning outside today with our children aged 2 to 4. None of us are trained yet but took lots of the ideas apart from fire! The children had made special namecards for themselves to self register this morning to make a distinction that today was a different kind of session. They had collected treasures from outside (leaves, petals, seedheads etc) and laid them on a laminator sheet along with their name. Once laminated we hole punched and threaded with string. The children found theirs this morning when they arrived and hung it on a tree branch (stood in a Christmas tree stand!). It looked gorgeous! There has been a bit of a Pirate/treasure theme going on this week so we extended it outdoors: Built a pirate ship with crates and walked the plank. Made dens on the island. Cooked beans outside and ate in our dens. Mixed mud paint and berry paint and painted a flag which we then hoisted above our ship. Dug and panned for golden coins in the sand. Made jewellery from Elder branches. We have a tiny outside area but this still worked - albeit with a small group of 10 children. It was such a lot of fun and just a start for us. Hoping to access Forest Leader training in our area. Great to have this dedicated section for the outdoors - looking forward to hearing other's ideas on Forest school sessions that have worked for them.
AnonyMouse_30128 Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 ah we have been in the forest all day today - i stink of bonfires i wanted to do lots of different things to the last time we went but the children insisted we did everything the same!! we did a great orientering excersise with forest animals on cards around the forest. the children had leaves to go and find the animals and at each point there was a sticker to collect...six animals so six stickers! apart from that lots of pancakes and marshmallows (yeh healthy eating ) and a few competative mums and dads!
Guest Posted October 5, 2010 Posted October 5, 2010 sounds wonderful, I love the idea of a Forest Schools. We have such a good outdoor area and I am so keen to develop it, but we are awaiting a new building and are not sure what impact that is going to have on our outdoor area so I am reluctant to start anything that may be lost next year. We do go out a lot, and use outside a lot, with our waterproof trousers on and umbrella's the children love the freedom of being outside
AnonyMouse_20748 Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 Its my day off tomorrow and I am supposed to be revising for K204 exam but I have changed my plans and I am taking the children to the forest in the morning, we have planned cook popcorn and search for chestnuts, there at loads where we go But really want some conkers I am hoping that the fresh air will get my brain going ready to revise in the afternoon GREAT EXCUSE !!!! Big Sue
Guest Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 We have had a busy week outdoors, so far we have been on a senses walk where we touched the lavender and rosemary growing nearby, listened to the birds singing and tried to guess what type they were, touchd the different types of walls and moss that was growing on them, looked at the beautiful cloud formations and tasted yummy blackberries from the hedgerows. Today we visited a neighbours garden and helped to plant a row of winter curly kale and spiniach. On Friday we are having a special trip out to a local country park where we are hoping to stock up on conkers for activities next week.
Guest Posted October 6, 2010 Posted October 6, 2010 Fantastic and inspiring! It's great to hear what others are doing. Bonfires - woodsmoke - wonderful but do I need to wait until we have someone qualified as a Forest School Leader to do that? Groan!! I really, really want to cook popcorn too using the two sieves together - sounds like such good fun. We too have a big day planned on Friday - an adventure on the local school field with parents and families as well- it's not a forest but does have some large trees and lots of space. We don't have any woodland near us unfortunately We are going to be doing lots of collecting - treasure baskets, wheelbarrows, journey sticks. Some early orienteering(looking for hidden rabbits), a treasure hunt and den building. Antoher one the children like is camoflaging each other in carrot sacks with leaves etc - lots of laughs to guess who's missing. Not to forget hot chocolate and marshmallows which is what the parents have requested! Gosh - reading about your sensory walk Bluestar felt like a reminder to slow down and really take in that natural world that's all around us - we have had a very busy outside time this week and I think we'll be ready for slowing down a bit next week! And looks like we will have good weather this Friday - yippee! Big Sue sounds like just the thing to get your brain into the right gear - have fun. Keep on posting your exploits - it really is inspiring to hear about them.
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