We have had a fun but cold week in Forest School this week. Thursday gave us a lovely wintery blanket of snow to enjoy and the children shared experiences in the snow.
Fish, Dolphins, Octopus, Starfish and Turtles class made the most to the start of the week and were independent enquirers whilst they explored the Forest School area looking for different signs of spring. Luckily, our recently planted crocus, daffodil and tulips have started to emerge, also the last of the pussy willows and catkins are still evident, allowing some pupils to extend and develop their descriptive language skills. The children used a frame that they made from the recently coppiced hazel and engaged in the new and challenging technique of square lashing to join them together.
To differentiate the activity some classes used tools to cut their own pieces of hazel and used pipe cleaners rather than twine and the square lashing technique.
Whilst practising our lashing techniques, it provided pupils with the opportunity to practise their knot tying skills, which is a frequent challenge we face in Forest School. Pupils used the practice kits to begin to become more confident when tying knots.
Tuesday was our whole school Art Day event, where pupils demonstrated their creativity by taking part in an art attack! Each class used a range of resources and interpretation to cover their own class logo. We were very lucky in Forest School as seals chose to complete theirs in the session and therefore we decided that we were going to use natural resources to complete the creation. Pupils chose their own material to use and all contributed to the final piece.
In the afternoon session, Lobsters class continued on the art theme and created pieces of transient art, which means “moveable art”. It includes creating a design out of loose pieces that are not fixed, to create something that is not permanent. Pupils chose their own materials and were inspired by an artist called Andy Goldsworthy, who creates some amazing pieces of work using natural resources.
Early Years classes stayed on the spring theme and explored a range of resources, which we might see linked to the season. They created their own daffodils using a variety of materials and enjoyed using their senses to explore the flowers.
Seahorses and Rays class made the most of the snow day and explored the Forest School area in the snow; most of the pupils were mesmerized at the snow and demonstrated a natural curiosity for its touch and taste. We also had lots of fun having snowball fights and making marks in the snow.
Jellyfish class continued to familiarise themselves with their new story of the ‘Three Little Pigs’ during their Twinkleboost session and had fun building their own house using different materials.
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