Summer Term - Week 1, Thursday 24th June 2021

The children chatted happily on the minibus about what they were going to do at forest school for the day. "I want to see a deer", "I want to go on the swing" and "I want to find the orange river" were the plans of the day. As we entered the forest, we looked at the different types of trees and plants which surrounded us. We were able to recognise the oak and silver birch as well as brambles and nettles. We discussed the dangers of being in the woodland. The children were able to point out that we should leave the berries on the trees for the birds as they were not safe for humans.

We followed the path which took us deeper into the woods. We met a kind lady who told us she had spotted a deer further up the path. We tiptoed quietly along the path searching for the deer. As we walked along, we spotted some of the old industrial buildings and structures which had been covered with ivy and bushes. Joseph pointed out that the structures were from a very long time ago when they moved coal around in the area. Unfortunately, we did not spot any deer on our way but we did find a meadow to have our lunch in which was filled with rabbits. 

After lunch we descended the hillside until we came to the infamous orange river, "That's my favourite colour" pointed out Auryn. Joshua climbed inside to splash whilst the other children threw sticks and watched them float away. We headed up the hill where we sat perched on some logs watching quietly and listening to the sounds of the forest. 

We followed the orange river down, across the bridge and down to a small flat section of land. Joshua was convinced he could cross the river, it was very slippy but he was determined. As he crossed, he realised the rocks were very wet and he slipped down into the water. This led Joshua to decide that next week we would have to build a bridge to cross as he didn't want to get wet again. The others agreed and a plan was made for the most spectacular bridge we could make. What tools and materials would we need? Some discussions were needed to build this magnificent bridge.

Summer Term - Week 4, Tuesday 15th June 2021

Our final week at forest school was 'fire week'. The children had discussed in the previous week what they would like to cook and it was decided that due to the amazing weather we were experiencing that a barbecue (cheese and tomato ketchup included) would be a great way to end our forest school sessions. 

We ordered all of our food and set off with a picnic basket bursting with yummy barbecue food. 

Before we could start our barbecue we assessed our new fire circle which was completed at the weekend. It was amazing but there was still lots of work to do to get it ready for cooking in. We began by removing the scrap pieces of wood and storing them in our new wood store ready for those wintry days when a fire will be key to keeping us nice and warm. We then moved our benches and table into our circle. Now our fire pit was ready for a barbecue. 

We ate burgers, sausage sandwiches and to finish pancakes with chocolate and strawberries. The consensus of the day was 'that was the best day ever!' 

Summer Term - Week 3, Tuesday 8th June 2021

After discussing our plans for the day, the children decided they would like to venture a little further into the woodland.  We walked across the meadow, down an embankment and we found a beautiful field filled with buttercups.  Hazel picked a buttercup and began a survey of friends who like butter.  This was easily decided by placing the buttercups under everyone's chins and looking for a yellow glow. After lots of detective work, she found that all of preschool like butter (even the grown ups!)  Everyone enjoyed running through the buttercup field until Jesse spotted a mysterious, dark path.  The children were asked, shall we head back up the path we had previously walked down or should we venture along the other route?  The children chose to go along the mysterious path. As we walked along the path it became quiet. Then it became darker and darker until we reached a gate.  Jesse wanted to go through the gate but oh no, we spotted danger ahead!  We spotted lots of bees whizzing around a tree further along the path.  We talked about the dangers of walking past the bees and the children decided it was best to stick to the safer route. 

We came to a small clearing where we spotted a shady area where we could have lunch out of the glare of the sun. The shaded area had three small trees with low hanging branches which looked perfect for climbing. After lunch, the children began to explore the trees. Charlotte, Jesse, Chloe and Nishka enjoyed attemping to climb the tree.  Nishka and Charlotte almost made it to the top!  Chloe was so proud of herself as she managed to achieve her goal of climbing into the tree and sitting down in it.  Albert, Jesse and Auryn enjoyed holding onto the low branches, lifting their feet up and swinging backwards and forwards. 

Oscar found 'the biggest stick in the world' and it was a truly huge stick.  Lewis then found a branch which he was very keen to move independently however he soon realised he would need a team of helpers to move it.  Very quickly a team of 'branch lifters' was assembled and the branch was moved to another part of the site.  It was hard work but lots of working together made the job easier.

Soon it was time to leave.  We walked through our 'high five' gate and up the big bank back to the minibus. This was a day full of adventure, mystery, new experiences and working together.  All the things that we love about forest school!

Summer Term - Week 2, Tuesday 1st June 2021

This week we decided to go on an adventure to find the deer.  The children thought hard about the route we should take and how we could explore the WHOLE forest!  Our first stop was a walk through a meadow full of buttercups and we had to test if everyone liked butter as the buttercup was held under our chins.

We then decided to walk over the bridge that led us to the orange stream! When we reached the top, the children found the staircase that headed up the hill and remembered this route knowing that it was the way to the deer's home.  We followed the stairs and arrived at the big fallen down tree which we climbed on to see how high we could reach.

As we followed the narrow path to the very top of the steep hill, we quietly tip toed to the area where the deer were living and waited patiently to see what we might see.  We then wondered if the deer might have headed out for lunch, so we continued our adventure to the swamp as we had seen the deer grazing here in the past.

Jesse spotted a piece of rope hanging from one of the trees as we passed through and pulled it tight. He then wrapped it around the branch and attempted to tie a knot.  He decided this would help us to find our way back next week.

We then headed further into the woods and discovered a small stream.  As it was a lovely warm day, we decided to stop for a plodge in the water.  This was so exciting, and everyone joined in and soon the children were splashing each other and even splashed Kirsty!  At the edge of the banks there was a bed of sand Jesse thought it was like being at the beach and enjoyed covering his feet.

Auryn then ventured further in the stream and found a balancing beam (log) that he walked along very carefully, Charlotte followed him, and they helped each other as they moved along and jumped to the sandy banks.

It was then time to head back to nursery as we were wet and soggy.  Even though we did not find the deer this week, what an adventure we have had!

Summer Term 2021 : NEW GROUP Week 1 Tuesday 25th May

We started our forest school with a new group of children who were extremely excited to explore our site. We asked if the children would like to head down to our site along the usual route or would they like to go a different way and go on an adventure. Of course, the children (and grown-ups) all chose to go on an adventure after all that is what forest school is all about!

 We headed to the right side of the woodland and found a huge staircase which took us to a fallen tree and a tree which we could climb inside. From here we ventured down to the river. We splashed and stamped in the water. Some children sat on the bridge so they could peer down into the water, guessing how deep it might be and what might live there. Talk quickly moved onto trolls and where they live. Lewis carefully lay on the ground so he could observe the bridge from a different angle to confirm that the bridge was in fact 'troll free'. Dexter spotted a place where the water speed changed and wanted to explore this further. We walked to the end of the river to find an enormous waterfall. We were all amazed and immediately ventured further downstream to get a better view. 

 We decided to move on and walk through the woodland where we found an orange stream. We discussed why the stream was that colour. Some children believed that someone had thrown too many oranges in the stream, another commented that it had been dyed that colour with the autumnal leaves. Charlotte suggested it may be because of the old industrial past which had happened 'before we were here'. We walked deeper and deeper into the woodland, tiptoeing quietly in case we came upon a family of deer (which we sadly didn't). We stopped on several occasions to listen to the beautiful birdsong which filled the woodland. It was an amazingly calm and tranquil experience listening to the sounds of the forest. We can't wait for more adventures next week!

Summer Term 2021 : Week 4 Thursday 20th May

Our final week at forest school was ‘fire week’. This is a very exciting week for everyone as we prepare and cook all of our lunch and snacks on the fire. We discussed what type of foods we would want to cook and chocolate cake was a definite favourite. The children also wanted pizzas and marshmallows as well as pancakes with melted chocolate and strawberries. Yummy!  

The weather wasn’t great but that wasn’t going to stop us. We talked about how to be safe around a fire and what we would need. Lisa made a small tripod fire and then we added more and more wood until we had a roaring fire to cook on. We made chocolate orange cakes by scooping out the contents of oranges and pouring in a chocolate cake mixture as well as making our own pizzas. The children chose their own toppings and these warmed us up on a cold, wet day. We were not going to let the torrential rain stop us, we kept our fire going and fired up the Kelly kettle for some hot chocolate to keep us warm. After filling our tummies, we headed to the shed for a quiet story whilst we got ready to head back to nursery.  

Our final week at forest school was a cold, wet one but that did not dampen our spirits. Forest school is always a firm favourite amongst the children and staff. A super end to our forest school time! 

Summer Term 2021 : Week 3 Thursday 13th May

This week we had already decided that we were going to search for the swing. Joseph recalled that he was sure it was on a hill beside some very large trees. We decided to head to our original forest school site to see if we could find it. On the way, we came across a rather large obstacle – a swamp! The swamp was huge and we all agreed we would need to find a safer way to cross. We found a fallen tree which lay across the entire swamped area. Could we negotiate the tree in order to cross it and find the swing? We decided to give it a try. It was very tricky but Joseph and William were on hand to help their friends get across safely. Once across we were astounded by the sea of bluebells that littered the hill. Hugh thought it should be called ‘Bluebell Hill’. It certainly lived up to its name.  

 Off we went up the hill and amazingly we found the swing. Unfortunately, all that was left was a piece of rope attached to a branch. Joseph was devastated. All of this time spent looked for the swing and eventually we had found it and it was broken. Undefeated he decided to look for the other part of the swing. We scoured the hills until we eventually found it. Joseph was delighted, he immediately tied it to the branch and the children enjoyed using it as a hand swing. It was lots of fun swinging! 

 We wanted to explore all this new site had to offer and we found a hole which was filled with branches. Some of the children thought it looked like a snake pit! As we moved in and out the branches we discovered another huge hill. We managed to move down and around to observe the entirety of our forest school site. It was breath-taking to see how large our forest school site actually is. We could see our swamped area, the hills, the meadow and our base.  

We decided to walk down the hills and see what we could find. We spotted lots of rabbit holes, a fire pit and some bricks. William and Gabriel began to build a wall whilst other children began to dig holes with sticks. Sadly, our day came to an end. But lots to look forward to next week as it is fire week! What shall we cook on our fire? After a busy day, we sat on our minibus and chatted about what we might want to cook on our fire. Everyone was in agreement, chocolate orange cake!

2021 Summer Term : Week 2 Thursday 6th May 2021

Our second visit to Forest School started rather differently to our previous week.  After tracking the electric signs, we were confronted with a digger and two workers. This was our chance to ask lots of questions! After a chat about what they were working on, they were kind enough to allow us to sit in their digger.  What an amazing experience!  

Joseph had decided he must find the elusive swing we had been searching for previously so off we went.  Leaving our trolley behind we were able to negotiate the huge hills where we spotted an orange/brown stream, a badger sett, hills of beautiful bluebells, huge climbing trees and a bridge. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the swing and it began to grow dark. We thought the weather was going to change quickly so we headed back to our shed for lunch. We would search for the swing again next week.  

After a late lunch we enjoyed a tour of our polytunnel (the children have been growing lots of plants within nursery and there has been lots of talk about our poly tunnel so stepping inside for the first time was very exciting). We also took a look at our pond to see if we could spot any tadpoles or even frogs!  

Unfortunately, the time had come to leave our beloved forest school for the day.  As we headed back on our minibus, we discussed our day and what we had enjoyed. The minibus was a little quieter than usual as we approached nursery. Everyone was feeling very tired after our busy day and decided to have a rest and of course Hugh had fallen asleep ….. again!!   We can’t wait for next week!

2021 Summer Term : Week 1 Thursday 29th April

The children were very excited to finally get back to Forest School.  Our day began with a discussion about what we would need for our forest adventure.  We packed a trolley with food, water, shelter, string and our trusty First Aid kit.

 As we headed down into the forest some of the children were able to recall the area, routes and dangers.  As we got deeper and deeper into the forest, we spotted some red marks on the ground.  A worker told us that they were searching our forest for electricity.  We were able to follow a track of red marks all the way down into the forest. We were amazed that there was electricity in the woodland. We wondered why it was there.

 We discovered a new path which we had never seen before.  We followed it down to a small river where the children decided to work for the day.  We began to experiment with different ways of crossing the river.  Some areas were shallow enough for us to walk across, another required stepping stones, another a bridge and another was just too deep, which some of the children discovered.

After extending our existing knowledge on depth we were surprised by some differing weather.  We experienced hail, snow, rain and finally sunshine.  It’s very difficult building a shelter in these types of weather but we succeeded because as we say in preschool…. “team work makes the dream work”.

On our way back to Nursery we chatted about our day while Hugh had a lovely snooze!

Forest School Week 2

Our second forest school week was just as eventful as the first! As we entered the woodland, the children began to explore a large bushed area where we weaved and dodged low hanging branches until we discovered a small, enclosed area. To our amazement there, lying on the ground, was a small round object. Wow! What could it be? Walter thought it was a snow dragon’s egg. But why was it there? Had it dropped out of the tree? How would the snow dragon Mummy find the egg?

We needed a plan.  Jonah decided to put the egg into his pocket to keep it safe. The children discussed what to do next. They decided to build a nest and place the egg inside. We started to head out of the bushes but - oh no -Tara got stuck!  Walter and Patrick helped Tara to negotiate a very low branch, then used their ropes to finally pull her to safety. Time to get on with building the nest!

We found a small secluded area under a tree where we could build the nest.  The children agreed it was a safe place. Jonah carefully laid the egg down. The mummy snow dragon would be so pleased the children took such great care of her egg.

As we walked along the path we found a frozen puddle. We wondered why it was frozen. After a few skating attempts we headed down the path to what Walter refers to as “the secret door”.   Passing through, we headed across the lane to the bridge. Talk turned to who lived under the bridge. Could it be a troll? We carefully walked quietly over the bridge, trying to avoid those words “Who’s that trip-trapping over my bridge”. We succeeded!  Now time to set up camp and have lunch.

After lunch we explored the river. We paddled in the shallows before finding the deeper part of the river, which we avoided. The children began to construct a bridge to a small island in the middle of the river. This was hard work and we had to search for some very large stones. The children began to explore how they would manage to carry the large stones over to the bridge, so lots of team work occurred. After lots of floating and sinking investigation, it was time to head back to nursery.

Another busy day, what will next week bring?

Forest School Week 3

On our way to Forest School, Diane pointed out ‘the castle’. The children instantly wanted to explore it so, after packing up our trollies for the day’s adventures, we set off along the path.  On the way we all enjoyed playing ‘1, 2, 3, where are you?’, which is our hide and seek game.

When we finally arrived at the castle, Walter asked Tara to be a troll. Tara stomped around, attempting to catch children.  Everyone thought it was hilarious and ran away screaming. Tara showed the children where her troll home was. It provided the perfect climbing area; huge boulders created a climbing wall which everyone was able to negotiate.  It encouraged much problem solving, sharing of ideas and supporting friends.

After a quick drink (it’s thirsty work climbing all morning) it was time to head to our site for lunch. The children wanted to check on their snow dragon egg on the way. To their surprise, it was still there! Jonah decided to keep it in his pocket, where it would be safe.

Down to the river, camp set and lunch out! After our yummy soup, which was made by 3-4s, it was time to investigate the river. But where was our bridge? It had disappeared. The children noticed the large stones have been pushed down the river. Theo decided to throw some small stones into the river and we all talked about the noise they made when they landed. How could we make different noises? Inez and Riley decided to take some huge stones on to the top of the bridge and drop them into the river. Wow! They made a huge splash!

Unfortunately, our time in the woods had to come to an end. A lot of tired children were ready to return to nursery.

Another great adventure! Another great day!

Forest School Week 4

After crossing the lane into the forest, the children stood quietly to observe two robins who were playing together in the grass. We then headed off to our site but - as usual - the sights, smells and sounds of the forest distracted us.

Jacob thought we may see a bear in the woodland – he could be right! Imaginations were in full swing as the children began to play rescue games, naming each other as a character from Octonauts. As the wind blew harder, the more important the rescue missions became. Children collected long sticks in order to support their friends and rescue them when climbing the large hills – ‘pull and heave’ were good words.

After lunch, we decided to visit the ‘giant’s castle’. As we headed up the path, Sebastian explained that he wanted to ‘explore’. Well … to explore the area, it was time to head off the beaten track and venture into the wilderness. We climbed over logs and holes, dodging nettles and brambles. To Jacob’s amazement, we found a strange grass which looked like bamboo. Maybe he was right after all, maybe the forest was home to a bear! We explored the bamboo, pulling the slim branches downwards and watching it spring back into place.

Riley found a deep, dark hole. Who could this belong to? Riley climbed down into the hole to investigate further but – oh no - Riley got stuck!  Luckily Riley used his thinking skills and managed to free himself.  Phew!!

A day of exploring and battling against the wild and noisy wind came to an end too soon. The children (and staff) were very tired.

We now know that the wild wind can make exploring in the woodland more difficult.  “You need strong legs to stay standing up!!” said the children.

Forest School

We haven't published an update for a while, but our children are enthusiastically exploring and learning in the forest, under the expert eyes of our Forest School leaders. The Kelly Kettle is bubbling, the wellies are mud-covered, and the smiles are wide...

Forest School Week 1

This week was the first forest school experience for many of our three to four year old children, some were a little apprehensive about what would lie ahead and what ‘forest school’ is all about. However, as we arrived at our woodland site those feelings of uncertainty quickly turned to excitement and intrigue as the children marvelled at the natural environment. All children suited and booted and wrapped up warm!!  Ready for what would be a magical and imaginative day.

I'm excited about forest school!

As we walked through the woods, we began listening to all the sounds around us. The children discussed who may live in the woods, giraffe, elephants, Squirrels, a bear, a giant? A GIANT!!!!!! Oh no, a giant, really? Only one way to find out! As we ventured out to find the inhabitants of the woodland, we discovered a dark and secluded space beneath some bushes. But who could live here? Perhaps the children were correct and it was the home of the bear. Riley and Walter creeped inside but they were quick to point out that there was no bear inside.  Well, let’s keep looking, we look from the highest hill!

"Where's the bear?"

Patrick and Inez thought we may be on a bear hunt! Well we had found one cave! After discovering a huge hill to explore, Sima, Theo, Jonah and Yannik were mesmerised by the biggest, muddiest area we had ever seen! There was only one thing for it – let’s get in! However, this soon turned into a rescue mission. Riley’s idea of a long stick to help pull them out was a great idea, he held out a long stick to support his friends escape and Meg, Inez and Patrick supported the effort with rescue ropes. Would we save the children in time? After some hard work everyone was safe. Well that was the squelch squelch of the bear hunt, where should we go next?

Squelch squelch .....

"So how is mud made?"

As we walked along the path, we discovered a hill. Tara thought someone was watching us and sure enough there were two muddy faces in the tree. We all tried to make some more muddy faces before blasting off in our rocket ship to the giant’s castle. We all creeped up the winding path until we discovered the castle and an open door. But no one was inside, then we heard, “Fee Fi Fo Fum”. It’s the giant, run!!!!  Theo discovered the giant’s treasure. It was definitely time to leave and get lunch. We may see the giant another day!

After a tasty and tummy-warming lunch under our shelter, we decided to go climbing. After searching for the best trees to climb, we discovered a huge fallen tree. It was immediately changed to an aeroplane. “Let’s go to the ice cream shop” shouted Inez. But ‘oh no’ we had run out of petrol. Luckily, Jacob and Yannick were on hand with some spare petrol, (sticks are a super resource, fantastic for petrol pipes) Soon the aeroplane was ready to go. Hold on everyone. Lets go!

Forest School

As it was their last session in the forest, the children were feeling sad as they did not want it to end.  They decided they would like to visit as many places as possible as it is all soooo… exciting!! Our first stop was our forest school site, where we continued to explore the woodland.  We were looking for signs of the birds, at the bird houses and the feeders and then continuing with the painting from the previous week.  After lunch, we wanted to visit some of the sights, so the children chose to see the windmill and St John's Castle.

As the children prepared to leave the site to venture to the windmill, they decided they would like to leave a present for the forest as it was almost Christmas.  A group of children collected a ball of string from the trolley and began weaving the string amongst the twigs of a small bush.  They decided this would be their Christmas tree, as the string looked like decorations they had on their own trees at home.  Once the tree was decorated, they began to sing songs around the tree; a favourite was ‘Oh Christmas Tree’. 

Happy that we had left our site clear and ready for Christmas, we made our way towards the windmill.  This was an exciting time, as the children could look inside the windmill and discovered there were bats living at the very top. We then ventured to St John's Castle.

Upon arrival at St John's Castle we began looking at the ruin and discussing why it no longer looked like a castle.  There were many interesting questions, such as "Where have the windows gone?",  "Did the castle have stairs?"   We used the information board as a point of reference to gain information about the site.  The children also enjoyed capturing photographs, so that they could show the children back at nursery the amazing sites at forest school.

Forest School Week 5

To continue the interest in the birds and their natural habitats we looked at spaces in the woodland that the birds may choose to live and it led to a discussion about the different types of trees and leaves that the birds may use to build their nests.  After we had used the Kelly kettle to heat the water to wash our hands, we decided to let the ashes cool and use them as part of our paint mixture so we could continue our painting from last week.  We added the ashes to mud and water and made a lovely gooey paint which the children used to paint the small bird houses we brought that the children wanted to hang up in the trees.  The children wanted to ensure the houses were camouflaged really well so they worked together to paint every side of the house.

Forest School Week 4

Following on from last week’s activities of making bird feeders, the children were excited to discover that the birds had eaten all of the food and the feeders had disappeared! The birds were obviously hungry and the children must have done a great job creating their own feeders!

This week the children enjoyed exploring creating their own marks using natural media, it began when the children found puddles on a fallen tree and began to splash and create patterns on the log. This developed into the children choosing to dig in the mud and found small puddles to explore. With the children, we created natural paint brushes using twigs, leaves and string.  We then collected mud in a small container and added some water from the puddle and mixed up our own paint.

Forest School Week 3

This week the children were very excited to continue to discover the world of birds and wondered if any birds had returned to the feeders to eat the food that the children had previously left out for them.  As we ventured through the woodland towards the feeders the children began to creep slowly down the hill looking to see which birds they could identify.  The children were astonished to see the food we had previously left had been eaten, this began a conversation as to who had eaten the food?

                                             Was it a bird?............. Was it a squirrel?.................

The children used the cameras to capture images of the surrounding areas looking for clues, we continued on our way to the forest school site discussing the mystery of the missing food.  The children became inquisitive about the variety of trees we passed on our way, looking at the holes and spaces they discovered within the trees.  They found trees with holes at the top which lead to discussions about which kinds of birds may hide in holes at the tops of trees.

Once on the forest school site the children engaged in a planned session and enjoyed independently creating their own bird feeders using pine cones, lard and porridge oats.  The group explored different ways to transfer the lard onto the pine cone beginning using a spoon which proved rather tricky as the lard did not want to stay on the pine cone, some of the children attempted to use sticks and then resorted to using their hands as this proved to be the most effective and allowed the children to push the lard into the gaps and then roll the cone in the oats.  Once the bird feeders were ready the children talked about the best place to hang them, we discovered a tree close by that was perfect for hanging the bird feeders, we were excited to see what we would find the following week.

Forest School Week 2

This week the children took on the challenge of the hill!  This area of the site is a favourite for the children and they really enjoyed discovering ways to support one another to reach their goal of climbing to the top of the hill independently.  Once one of the children reached the top of the hill they looked for ways in which to help the others get up the hill, George then had a fantastic idea “I need rope” he quickly headed back down the hill and retrieved rope from the trolley and returned back to the hill, once back at the top he unravelled the rope and threw it back down the hill.  He soon realised that to make the rope more secure he would need to attach it to a tree so asked an adult for support, the children then began to hold onto the rope and pull themselves up the hill.

There were many other ways to get up and down the hill including using the rake to climb up and sitting down to slide all the way to the bottom.  Working together every child discovered a new and interesting way to get up or down the hill and had so much fun, this was a great experience that left us very dirty!!

As we trek on our usual route home we headed towards the birds feeders, this time to leave some food for the birds, we put out several fat balls and some bird seed in the hanging bowls.  The children talked about what we might find the following week when we returned. Would the birds eat it or perhaps the squirrels will steal it!!

Forest School Week 1

The children were very excited for their very first week at forest school and for most of the children this was their first time visiting our site. The children were very eager to explore their new environments and surroundings and showed a good level of confidence to explore.

As this was the first time to forest school, we introduced children to our rules and ways of the forest, the children listened intently as staff demonstrated how to cross roads safely, how to behave around dogs or strangers and about the importance of not picking up rubbish, berries or anything else they were unsure of (this is when staff enjoy role play too, pretending to go pick berries!!) The children showed a good level of understanding of these rules and were soon ready for our adventures through the forest.

Once at camp, the children and adults worked together to carry some large branches to our new camp area and we all made ourselves at home using these as seats. This was also an important time to go over some more rules of the forest. We talked about the children being able to see an adult at all times, “If you can’t see the grown up…..then the grown up can’t see you.”  We also talked about our camp fires and keeping ourselves and others safe. The children were fascinated when Lisa showed them the Kelly Kettle and the children had their own ideas for what it was for. Soren thought we might make hot chocolate in the Kelly kettle……very close Soren! Once the fire was lit for the Kelly Kettle, Harrison was amazed and so entranced by the small flames.

As it was autumn time there were so many leaves all around us on the ground. Back at nursery we had been doing lots of activities using fallen leaves including printing, sorting by colour, identifying the trees they were from and using them to make arrangements in art/transient ways. Isobel and Scarlett were very keen to collect leaves and they initiated their own game of finding matching leaves. The girls did very well and managed to collect almost identical leaves from Oak, Maple and Horse Chestnut trees.

As we headed home from forest school we discovered a small area where there were many different bird feeders, as we watched a small squirrel scurried by.  We sat patiently watching as the birds came and went but the squirrel hid away.  This left the children with lots of thoughts ready for the following week.