Our first week in the forest was an exciting affair for the children. For some, this was their first experience of forest school. For others, another chance to engage with the natural environment. Spirits were high, even if the weather wasn’t. After introductions from children, staff and our older visitors, we had a recap of our forest school rules and it was time to head off and explore!
The morning began with shelter building and knot tying, providing us with a secure and dry spot to rest and eat. As the day progressed, imaginations and creative skills ran wild with the construction of animal homes. This included a spider and beetle home, squirrel house (complete with acorns and Beech nuts) and a rabbit home (which children dug into the ground).
The day also saw children exploring climbing, negotiating pathways across varying gradients and supporting one another’s ascent with ropes and sticks, we had to help our visitors up the hill, pulling them up and holding hands was necessary! Needless to say we were all exhausted, including staff and visitors. It was a good job we built shelter - our visitors needed to sit and… lie down at one point! It’s tiring having adventures in the woods, but we still want to go back next week… and so do our visitors – hurray!!