This week was fire week and the children were very excited to cook on our open fire. We began our ‘three course’ meal with garlic bread. This is always a favourite! For our main we had loaded wedges and wow were they popular! Dessert was rice pudding. With our tummies full, we decided to head off into forest school for an explore. Our trolley was very heavy this week as it was laden down with our dishes ready to be cleaned back at nursery so it was all hands on deck to get the trolley through the forest. The children, as usual, were amazing and supported the adults by helping to push the trolley over the big bumps along the way!
Tuesday 30th September
This week at forest school the children were intrigued by the discovery of yet more acorns! But this time we noticed something a little different. Some of the acorns were beginning to sprout roots. We chatted about what that could mean and what could happen in the future. After identifying trees in the morning, the children were all aware that if we planted the little acorn, we may grow our very own oak tree. Now this would be an amazing experiment and so we took a couple back to nursery to see if we could grow one. The other children wanted to collect the acorns together in a pile for the squirrels. We had engaged in this activity in a previous week and when the children noticed the pile was gone, they believed the squirrels had taken them and they should repeat the activity, helping the squirrels in the process.
The rest of our day was spent exploring the terrain with climbing, running and jumping games. The children found a huge stone and immediately wanted to negotiate how to get up and down it. We also played some fun chasing games in the vast empty space which the children thought was hilarious!
Tuesday 23rd September
This week the children began their day exploring a small ditch they had discovered. The ditch provided lots of scope for problem solving skills as the children tried to work out how deep and wide it was and how they would cross it.
Our afternoon explorations found us in a wooded area where the children got to work building dens. Again, lots of problem solving skills were used to work out how to build a roof and walls which were secure. The children attempted building the den with various lengths of branches. They soon discovered that the longer branches were easier to build with but some were a little bit bendy which led to more discussions about how to make the walls secure enough so we could (in the words of one child) “live inside forever!”.
Tuesday 16th September
This week at forest school a new group of children joined us for woodland adventures. As we headed into forest school we were immediately met with a floor full of acorns. We chatted about where the acorns had come from and why they were there. One of the children pointed out they had come from an oak tree and they were for the squirrels. The children decided to collect as many acorns as possible and then piled them high. They thought the squirrels would be very happy as they didn’t need to find the acorns now as the children had done the job for them.
This week there was a lot of climbing and jumping from different heights. The children have been developing their confidence in the woodland and as the photographs show, they are happily exploring risk taking too.
We discovered a new area today and this has led to lots of questions and theories. We will be further exploring this site next week so watch this space!
Thursday 4th September
This week we spent our day on our forest school site. When we arrived, we quickly set up camp before spending the morning exploring. Some children were intrigued by the discovery of an eggshell. “It’s a baby bird egg but it’s empty. I wonder where it came from. It must be a nest!”. We searched around but were unable to spot a bird’s nest. We wondered if we continued exploring, we might find more clues. We continued our search and were amazed to find yet another eggshell. We wondered what type of bird may have hatched from it. Whilst some children enjoyed exploring the eggshells, the other group enjoyed using natural materials to build a fairy hotel. This included a pink roof and a cream carpet. The children were amazed to spot pink leaves but couldn’t work out where they had come from. Our forest school is amazing but does sometimes throw us some conundrums.
In the afternoon, we continued our explorations and discovered several log pile houses. Who could live there? Our mind went straight to the Gruffalo story. Who lives in the log pile house? A snake of course! We helped to develop the houses by adding more sticks. By the time we were finished, they were fine looking houses.
Thursday 21st August
This week we welcomed a brand new group of children to forest school and wow, what adventures we had! We started our day discussing our forest school promises and learning about the environment. We wanted to find the big pond and it took quite a while but on our way we spotted some blackberries, an apple tree and a silver birch! We spotted a large branch sticking out of the ground. Some of the children decided to try and pull it out but it was stuck! Even teamwork couldn’t get the branch out of the ground but it did create lots of conversation, negotiation and compromise.
After lunch, the children discover something they had never seen before, a large, deep, dark hole. What sort of animal could have made the hole? The children had some excellent guesses. Could it be a mouse, a vole, a badger, a fox or a rabbit? We started to look for clues and that is when we spotted another hole! This one was very similar to the other one so we decided it must have been the same creature who made it. We spotted some rabbit poo and the children concluded that it was definitely a rabbit home!
Tuesday 22nd July
For our last ever block of forest school adventures we have let the children do lots of deciding, problem solving and leading. On the mini bus Lisa asked the children where they wanted to go, several of our friends expressed an interest to explore the balancing stones, and the others wanted to see the orange river following a chat with Kirsten.
So we had a very busy day ahead especially if we wanted to fit everything in. One of the children led the way, keeping a sharp look out for any dangers, calling back to his friends when needed. He then spotted some poo on the path which the children were intrigued by as it looked different. After some researching we narrowed it down to either fox or deer poo. A little bit more research was needed and we collectively decided it was fox poo!
We then chose another friend to have a turn at leading the way, he worked closely with another child who helped navigate the way to the balancing stones.
Once there the children went off exploring in all directions. One of our friends found a hidden walk way and inside was a massive house of sticks. We wonder who lives in a house of sticks?
Well… we spotted some more poo! There were lots of fabulous guesses as to the animal this poo may belong to, so we took some pictures and Agreed we would carrying out some further research as soon as we could.
The children demonstrated their amazing physical skills as they balanced their way over the stones, some playing with sticks pretending to be deer and unicorns, others enjoying picking and smelling the mint, and others went off taking risks in the climbing tree. One of our friends spotted some deer poo and wondered if the deer decided to poo here because of all the beautiful smelling mint, another friend suggested we pick some mint as there was a lot and took it back to nursery to explore. After co-researching with Kirsten using the our seek app, we found out that the mint we found was watermint and is an edible plant.
After gathering some mint it was time to stop for our lunch. During lunch we had a little visit from a deer! It was grazing on the nearby plants and we couldn’t believe our eyes with how close the deer came.
After lunch it was the tricky task of navigating a very big and steep hill but working two at a time, using our arms outstretched and keeping our knees bent, the children safely made their way down the hill demonstrating their amazing abilities. It was a little trickier getting the trolley down but with some team work Kirsten and Lisa managed it. But uh oh! A fence and a bridge. It was like we were in a real life bear hunt story. The children gave us some amazing encouragement as Kelly, Lisa, and Kirsten worked together to lift the heavy trolley up and over the fence then ever so carefully over the very wobbly bridge. But uh oh! The wobbly bridge wobbled and the heavy trolley toppled and oh no! Lisa fell into the swamp (good job it had all dried up!)
Then ever so quietly the children tiptoed one at a time over the bridge, hoping not to scare the bear or the troll! We made it!
Once safely at the other side we began our descent to find the orange river. Using our sharp senses the children could hear the rushing current of water and were very pleased to spot the orange river. Although we weren’t as happy with the Very smelly and strong egg smell!
As we began our adventure further into the woodland we began spotting lots of beautiful butterflies, and Lisa came prepared! We each took a butterfly check list and began using our sharp eyes to see how many different types of butterflies we could see. Ranging from painted ladies, to speckled wood.
As we headed up towards the mini bus we decided to stop at our main site to show Kelly since it was her first time with us at Blaydon Burn, but unfortunately the plants were so overgrown it was nearly impossible to get through!
Before we knew it the minibus was there and waiting for us. After a super busy day we all enjoyed some quiet time on the bus, some of us even nodded off for a while!
Thursday 10th July
This week we asked our driver to drop us at the very edge of our forest school where the huge ponds are. The children took charge and we appointed a ‘leader’ who would try and navigate through the forest to find the biggest pond. On the way we spotted butterflies, dogs and lots of birds. Eventually we spotted some water and as we walked around the corner we were greeted by a HUGE pond! The children were completely amazed! We talked about water safety and there were several signs which showed us how to be keep ourselves safe. We looked on watching ripples on the water, the birds flying overhead and anglers attempting to catch a fish.
After leaving the pond, we headed down towards the deeper part of forest school. On the way we spotted a stony area where the children demonstrated their balancing skills. We all attempted to walk along the stones and stay off the ground which was pretty tricky! We decided we would use the rocks to create a bridge across the grass and see how far we could get. The children stood in a line and passed stones along before placing them at the end. The path went on and on and on. What amazing teamwork!
After lunch, it was time to leave and we headed towards the minibus pick up point. This time another child took charge. We were a little earlier than we expected so had enough time to go on a mini adventure. One of the children pointed out that the woodland was very dense and it looked like the ‘deep, dark woods’. We quietly headed inside before we all heard our leader shout those words we love to hear, “deer, deer, there’s a deer’ and sure enough a beautiful deer ran past. What a great way to end our day!
Thursday 26th June
We are so lucky to have a huge forest school and each week we discover new spaces which challenge children’s thinking. This week we were dropped off at the very top of our site. This was a new area to the children and very quickly the children became intrigued by the space. We began observing a beautiful wildflower area where we spotted an abundance of creatures. There were ladybirds, moths, butterflies and bees present.
The children spotted a brick wall with arches. They wondered what it could have been. Was it a wall? Was it a bridge or was it was a home for a troll? We headed further into forest school to discover different walls but these ones had small holes in them. Some were square whilst others were circular. We had lots of theories about what these might be. The children eventually concluded, they must be animal homes.
After lunch we decided to venture further down the path until we found a small stream with a bridge. The children immediately began to explore the area. This led to the children exploring floating with various natural materials. The forest school environment provides many opportunities for scientific discovery. The children quickly discovered what would and would not float.
Tuesday 17th June
This week at forest school, it was fire week! The children were all excited and even more so when they realised it was pizza and pancakes for lunch! This is one of our favourite meals to cook on the open fire. The children had a range of ingredients to choose from so they could make the perfect pizza.
We discussed fire safety and each child tried out our firelighter. They were all amazing and managed to create a spark completely independently.
After lunch we got busy working on our allotment. The children worked extremely hard to pull more of the weeds out at the top of the garden in preparation for our new herb bed. We hope to add some fresh herbs to our pizza next time.
Tuesday 10th June
This week the children decided they would like to go on another forest school adventure and this one would be completely different from our usual weeks. We asked our driver to drop us off at a different part of our site and this would access a space which the children had never visited.
At the very bottom of our forest school site is the River Tyne. We walked down the bank, under the bridge and the children were amazed to see the huge river. We sat for a while looking for various wildlife. As the river is linked to the sea, we were hopeful to spot some octopus', dolphins, sharks, jellyfish and whales but sadly on this occasion we didn’t see any of these things. We did however find lots and lots of seaweed and a family of horses!
The children were intrigued by the river and wondered where all the water was coming from. We quickly formulated a plan to find the source of the water and off we went. On the way we found a very interesting old building which the children were sure must have been a castle. We followed the sound of water until we came to a bridge and found a beautiful waterfall. We decided to create some small boats made from leaves and sticks which we could float down the river. The children made some amazing creations which sailed off out to sea.
After lunch, we headed back towards the minibus but on the way we heard a strange noise. It sounded like a pterodactyl. Surely, there were no dinosaurs living in our forest. We were not waiting to find out and walked a little quicker up the path. One of the children spotted a T-Rex lurking in the bushes and this began a fun hiding game. We quickly ran up onto one of the hills to hide in the bushes. It was a very steep bank but with a little help from our friends we all climbed up safely. Once we thought it was safe to do so, we headed back to the path but the T-Rex was back. One of the adults explained to the children that if we saw a T-Rex we had to curl up into a little ball and make ourselves as small as possible so it couldn’t see us. The children thought this was hilarious and great fun. Each time the adult shouted “T-Rex”, the children (and grown-ups) curled up small. It was a great source of entertainment but we did have some curious looks from local dog walkers!
Tuesday 3rd June
This week at forest school we decided to explore a part of forest school which we hadn't visited for quite some time. The children were keen to see if anything had changed and quickly discovered seeds and snail. We then headed along the path and found a beautiful open meadow which the children enjoyed exploring. The meadow gave the children the freedom and space to run really fast before discovering a dried out swamp area which was perfect for a spot of balancing. There was also a huge hill which the children wanted to explore but first they had to get over the deep ditch. With a bit of support from one another, they were quickly on their way.
One group of children got involved with some mud drawings which was lots of fun whilst others played one, two, three, where are you? and everyone else explored the stoney desert.
The rest of the day was spent building stones sculptures, checking our holes in the hill, finding a bear den and providing first aid to a bee. What a day!
Tuesday 27th May
This week’s forest school took a different turn. We headed off into the woodland with lots of different ideas as to what we would do that day. The day started with a sighting of, not one but four little rabbits running across our path. What a delight! As we reached the wooded space, one of the grown-ups asked if everyone could find four sticks of roughly the same size. The children got busy immediately finding their sticks and created a frame. The children then looked around to find some natural materials to create their own work of art. The children showed their amazingly creative talents, creating beautiful art pieces.
After lunch we headed to the pond and discovered something rather amazing! Two swans and six cygnets and they were beautiful! We also noticed something else lurking in the water. The children wondered what it could be and the final decision was - it was a crocodile!!!!!!!
So next time you venture off into the woodland and you find a pond, keep a close eye on the water! There may be something watching you!
Thursday 22nd May
Our final week of forest school was upon us, and we were extremely excited for fire week! The children listened beautifully as Diane explained the rules of fire week, to ensure we all understood and were able to keep ourselves and friends safe. We watched in awe and wonder as Diane began laying the structure for the fire, learning some new words such as kindling, tinder, flint, and steel! The children showed their amazing understanding of the rules as they kindly reminded Kirsten, Lisa and Tara of the safety rules as they moved around the fire circle. The children listened carefully to the fire and enjoyed a quiet moment as we could hear the snap, crackle and pop of the flames against the wood. Sitting around the fire we all enjoyed some open fire cooked pizza before finishing off with some chocolate covered pancakes with strawberries! What a treat, and it was super delicious!
Once the fire was out and the allotment became a safe space again, the children all helped Lisa and Tara to fill up their buckets with some bark from our recent delivery and transport it back into our allotment. This was very tiring work, so we took regular water breaks as well as ending our day with a relaxing sit in the sunshine, working together to pull out some weeds amongst our beautiful purple flowers.
Thursday 15th May
Today we arrived at forest school and walked straight to our site ready to start our day. On arrival, we chatted briefly about keeping safe but the children were keen to get busy. Some children chose to work on the den, others explored the bouncy log whilst a few children chose to practice climbing the tree.
Later in the morning some children began exploring the boundaries of our site. They wondered how they could get to the hill but were met with a huge boggy swamp and nettles. We wondered if there was another way to explore the hill so we began looking around. We found an old bridge which a previous group of children had made but it was beginning to look old. We decided to rebuild the bridge so we could cross. It was hard work to find big branches and even more tricky to move them to the right place. The children worked as a team to carry the biggest branches to the bridge. They were then placed in between the existing branches to repair the bridge.
Once complete, we headed across the bridge. This would be the beginning of a forest school adventure! We looked around and wondered how we would get back to our camp. Some children thought we could turn left whilst other thought we could head right. We voted and the decision was to turn right. We headed up the boggy hill, navigating ferns, squishy mud and fallen trees. Once at the top we thought about which way we would walk. Both choices meant we had to climb up hills, balance walking back down hills and finally walk back along the path back to our site. This provided the children with many opportunities to develop their skills in balancing, negotiating spaces and compromise.
Thursday 8th May
This week we decided to get onto our site as quickly as we could to ensure we had lots of time to explore. On the way, the children chatted about what they might see when we arrive. We were hopeful we might spot rabbits, squirrels, deer, a Gruffalo and maybe even a cheetah! Well, you never know!
On arrival we chatted about how to keep ourselves safe and the children quickly reiterated our forest school promises. We headed off down the path and stopped just as we reached our site. Now was the time for tip toe toes and quiet voices just incase we spotted any animals. Sadly, on this occasion, there were no animals waiting for us but we did spot something interesting. it was a tiny fragment of egg. We wondered where the egg could have come from. We could hear birds all around us and one of the children was adamant the noise came from a blackbird.
After a quick chat, we got busy. The children had already planned for their day and their grown-ups didn’t feature it! There was den building, role play, balancing, sliding, tree climbing, writing in the mud with sticks, negotiating new pathways through the garlic and animal hole spotting to name a few. The children demonstrated their newly learned forest school skills as well as those acquired at home and nursery. There was communication, negotiation, compromise, risk assessing, supporting others, working together, spacial awareness, physical skills (both fine and gross), balancing, the list goes on! All of this from self-chosen, independent activities with their friends in a wonderful environment. No wonder forest school is such a hit!
Thursday 1st May
The 3-4’s group had an incredible first session at Forest School! Excitement filled the air as we boarded the minibus, eager to embark on our adventure. Upon arriving at the site, the children were brimming with enthusiasm, ready to explore.
We began by discussing our Forest School expectations to ensure everyone’s safety. As we paused to listen, one child observed, “I can hear different birds up there”, while another wisely noted, “We need to use calm voices, or we’ll frighten them away”. We even identified a warning call from a blue tit, likely alerting others to our presence as we wandered through its habitat.
Once we reached our main site, the children enjoyed a guided tour, while the adults shared fascinating plant and tree facts. Then, an unexpected surprise—Kirsten had gone missing! We were astonished to find that our grown-up friend had forgotten the golden rule: ‘Stay together’. To bring her back, we played the "One, two, three—where are you?" game, eventually finding Kirsten who reassured us she would stick with the team moving forward.
After our adventure, we settled down for a picnic and enjoyed ample time to explore. Some children engaged in imaginative role play, others climbed trees and a few worked together to build a sturdy den. The freedom to investigate, create, and immerse ourselves in nature made for a truly memorable day.
We can’t wait to return next week for more discoveries and fun!
Tuesday 22nd April
This week at forest school, the children enjoyed one of their favourite things – fire week! As we arrived, we had a quick check in the pond to see what amazing creatures may be living in it. We immediately spotted hundreds of tadpoles. They were very active and were enjoying themselves swimming around and even occasionally popping their head out of the water. We then sat in our fire pit where Jen gave us a fire safety chat. Soon it was time to get to work building the fire. The children discussed what sorts of resources we may need to create a fire but there was one thing no one had used before, a fire lighter!
We lit the fire but then it was time for the children to have a go. After a quick demonstration, they were pros! Everyone managed to make a spark. We enjoyed our lunch and pudding. There is nothing quite like pancakes with melted chocolate and strawberries cooked on the fire. Delicious!
Look at what we found in our shed!
After lunch, we cleared our fire pit, ensuring we followed our forest school rules of always leaving the area as you find it and off we headed into the forest. This time round, we were heading in from a different direction so there were lots of new things to see and engage with. The children found a huge meadow which gave us the opportunity to stretch our legs and run as quickly as our legs could carry us, making everyone chuckle. As we headed down the big path, Jen pointed out the ‘sneaky path’ which all children who have ever been to forest school know about. This path allows the children to walk down by themselves and the grownups meet at the bottom (we can of course see the children clearly but they don’t know that). The children thought this was amazing and they displayed their forest school knowledge by putting out their arms and bending their knees to balance. This led to the children climbing other small hills and before we knew it our day was over. See you next time forest school!
Tuesday 15th April
This week we have been extremely busy filling our day with fun and adventures. As we arrived at camp we decided as a group that a shelter may be needed as the weather forecast predicted rain showers. We worked together to pull out the tarp and attach it to the trees, luckily the rain stayed away and we had a lovely dry day.
The children very quickly began exploring and the tree slide was the first place to visit!
One of the children had observed the trees as we walked through the woods and continued this as she explored the site. She was intrigued by the fallen trees and described them as being upside down. We discussed why the trees may have fallen down and what would happen to them. The children thought they would make great animal homes. One of the grown ups explain that dry sticks are great to use as fire wood. As it is fire week next week we then collected sticks to use on our fire, we found lots of different sticks, long, short and even different shapes.
We had lots of fun making our own mud dough! This activity was a one that divided the group as some loved the messy activity but some children were not sure about the texture. The children were very creative and used the natural resources to add to their dough.
After a busy morning we had lunch and then decided to explore the woodland further. This was a great opportunity for the children to explore different terrain and test their physical skills. We climbed a big hill which was tricky but we made it!
The children negotiated narrow walk ways, slippy embankments and there were so many opportunities to balance. We also took time to lie back and take in the surroundings. We listen to the birds and how tranquil the woods are.
We had an amazing day and look forward to next week!
Tuesday 8th April
This week the children have continued their explorations in the forest. The children have been interested in climbing, balancing and finding different ways to move around the woodland. This helps the children to develop confidence in the space as well as developing physical skills, spacial awareness and risk assessing.
The children are intrigued by sticks and what they can be used for. This week we planned to create fishing rods which the children used in the river to catch fish. We caught a Nemo fish, a Dory fish and some tuna fish which was lucky because we needed something tasty for our lunch!
The interest in sticks continued and the children began to explore the height of sticks. Some children tried to find the longest sticks possible and began to measure them against their friend but who could find a stick taller than a grownup? After a lot of mathematical learning the children began to use their sticks in different ways. We added some to our den, we reached up high as we attempted to touch the tallest trees and some were even used as swords!
