Week Ending Friday 27th January 2023
Luckily, this week has been a little milder weather wise, although the mornings have still been quite chilly but it has warmed up as the day progresses.
The children have as always had lots of fun in the fresh air and we have been thinking about our feathered friends that maybe need a little extra help finding food supplies in this cold weather.
The children have made pinecone bird feeders this week and have explored a new texture: vegetable fat, which they have manipulated and squeezed around the pinecone before rolling it in birdseed. This not only provides pupils with an understanding of what birds may do whilst looking for food in the winter, but is also an excellent activity to build and develop their fine motor skills. Which plays an important part when pupils start to mark make using tools such as pencils and paintbrushes.
Pupils have also continued to use the coppiced hazel to make a stick man and have used peelers to whittle a face before decorating it to their own design. Key Stage two classes have started to also use the hazel, on this occasion to make a spinning top. This involves using three different sets of tools:- the bow saw to cut a wooden disc, secateurs to cut a rod to go through the middle and peelers to create a point on the end to enable it to spin. This may run into a second week as we have found out already as it has been taking the children extra time to use all of the tools safely, under guidance and support.
Some of the activities in Forest School do usually run over a two-week period for some classes, as session numbers are dependent on their abilities and child to staff ratio.
Early years classes have been using natural resources to practice their weaving techniques and learning about ‘big and small’ items that are found in Forest School. The slack line is always a hit with classes and it is a great opportunity for the children to build on their balance, core strength and gross motor skills.
Jellyfish class have continued to expand on their Little Red Riding Hood story and key parts of the story are now embedded, allowing the children to reflect on their learning and respond to questions through their method of communication.
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