Forest School Blog

 Y ear 1 began their last Forest School session by finding a favourite leaf on the walk down to the site. We compared the leaves, tried to identify which trees they came from, and took a mindful moment to blow gently into them. Then we played Crocodile, Crocodile, Can I Cross Your River? to get our energy going before making conker pumpkins, rolling conkers and turning painted leaves into ghostly ghosts. There was plenty of time for building and  playing in the hammock too, before we finished with a well-earned toasted marshmallow and hot chocolate 

 Y ear 1 began their last Forest School session by finding a favourite leaf on the walk down to the site. We compared the leaves, tried to identify which trees they came from, and took a mindful moment to blow gently into them. Then we played Crocodile, Crocodile, Can I Cross Your River? to get our energy going before making conker pumpkins, rolling conkers and turning painted leaves into ghostly ghosts. There was plenty of time for building and  playing in the hammock too, before we finished with a well-earned toasted marshmallow and hot chocolate 

  Rainy Forest School fun!   Year 1 ventured out into the rain today, wrapped up in wellies and waterproofs! We started by seeing how many raindrops we could catch on our tongues before sharing the very funny I Can’t Draw Worms and learning some fascinating facts about earthworms. 🪱 We hunted for worms, carefully collected and measured them, made worm crafts and collected rainwater. We also practised using the fire striker before enjoying a cosy fire, where we roasted halloumi with rosemary.  We finished off with hot chocolate and biscuits under the canopy — the rain certainly didn’t stop us having fun! 

Beach Class had a fantastic afternoon at Forest School today! On our walk down to the site, we became stick hunters, searching carefully for spaghetti-sized and pencil-sized sticks ready to use for our very first fire. We shared a story about an acorn and learnt about the life cycle of an oak tree , from a tiny acorn to a huge, mature tree. The children then got busy exploring and creating. There was lots of wood chopping, building and imaginative play with long pieces of bamboo . Some children chose to plant their own acorn and make a label for it, while others enjoyed painting acorns. The highlight of the afternoon was lighting our first Forest School fire! We talked carefully about fire safety before enjoying some delicious toasted brioche , followed by hot chocolate. The children are becoming really independent at making their own hot chocolate now and are getting better each week. A lovely afternoon full of practical skills, exploration, teamwork and plenty of Forest School fun...

  Year 1 had another busy Forest School session today, with lots of opportunities to practise practical skills, problem-solving and teamwork. Our challenge began before we had even reached the Forest School site! The children were told that their “entrance fee” was two dry sticks – one about the thickness of spaghetti and one about the thickness of a pencil. They had to search carefully on the ground, compare the sizes of different sticks and check that they were dry enough to snap. This was a great way to develop observation, comparing and estimating skills , as well as beginning to understand how we select suitable fuel for a fire. Once at Forest School, we sorted our sticks by thickness and talked about how we build a fire using different sizes of fuel. We also looked at flint and steel and learnt how striking them creates a spark that can be used to help start a fire. We then turned our attention to oak trees and acorns . We looked at the life cycle of an oak tree and carrie...