Forest School
June
We have been picking, washing and eating our very own home grown lettuce. We grated carrot and sliced tomato to add, as well as salad dressing.
We made amazing bread with Mrs Miller’s wonderful bread dough and garlic butter.
April
We have been very busy planting in the new area we have cleared. We planted some fruit trees and some lettuce, carrots, onions, potatoes and pumpkins.
The bluebells are out in full force in the woods. We are all noticing subtle changes every time we go down to the woods and also when we visit the school site.
We cooked popcorn over our campfire which was a bit hit this week. Luke said, “I have never had popcorn outside of a cinema before!”
March
We have cleared out the area in front of the car park. We dug out all of the weeds and dug some holes for our new trees.
February
We are noticing a few signs of spring in the forest now. We saw the bluebell shoots and lots of sticky buds on the trees.
We have been doing lots of tree climbing.
There have been some very muddy sessions. Which we have really enjoyed the benefits of having no restriction to activities based on how muddy we get is very good for our wellbeing and development.
We made some quesadillas over our fire too.
January
We have been cooking sausage sandwiches and pancakes so far. They have gone down very well. The children’s firelighting skills are really coming on. They were also brilliant at using cooking utensils to keep the food moving so it didn’t burn.
We have been making lots of dens and other creations too. We have enjoyed making use of old Christmas trees, lopping off the branches and using them for shelters.
Lots of children made a pulley system with ropes and Mr Fellender and a team of helpers have been hoisting people up and down. This has been very popular. We have even had some forest skipping!
December
We had a lovely few chilly sessions in December
Lots of fires and cooking and Christmas crafts.
Santa even came to visit us and join us for a mulled apple juice.
November 2023
Our fire skills are really improving. We can make a waffle lay and light a fire with flints. We can also keep it going and are beginning to recognise when to ‘feed it.’ We have roasted marshmallows and we have had a go at roasting apples and sprinkling them with sugar and cinnamon to make apple pie on a stick.
We had a session working with Trustgreen and we made a hibernaculum for the local forest creatures as well as identifying local leaves.
We have been working on whittling with sheath knives and have been doing some very relaxing autumn Forest bathing which is very good for the soul!
This children make very creative and elaborate dens and have been noticing how the forest is changing over the season.
We made beans on toast on the fire!
October 2023
We have been using bow saw, sheath knives and starting to make sparks to light cotton wool with flints. We are learning the rules for fires and will build up to making a full fire soon.
We have made some amazing dens so far and we are enjoying using ropes.
We used sheath knives and learned square lashing and clove hitch knots to make lots of different things like photo frames, wind chimes and dream catchers.
September 2023
We have had a great start to Forest School and the children are showing us how well they can follow rules. This is building up trust and enabling us to introduce new things. We have had a go at loppers so far. We have listened to the tool talk and are using them in the way we have been taught.
We have also made hot chocolate, made blackberry ink, played lots of games and have built lots of dens. We even made peace offerings to the ‘little people in the woods’ to show them we are friendly and care for the Forest!
