Log dogs, hobby horses, leaf bashing and eating stinging nettle crisps have been just some of the highlights of the last few weeks up at forest school.
With a little more sunshine and warmer weather, it has been wonderful to see the woodland bursting into an array of greens. We have been learning to identify more of the trees and have also learned which plants are edible and pleasant to eat. The children have foraged and nibbled on hawthorn leaves as well as making stinging nettle crisps and dandelion fitters on the fire, all of which went down surprisingly well! The children have also enjoyed picking small samples of the different leaves and bashing them onto fabric with a hammer to reveal their patterns and shapes.
We have been focusing on tying a variety of knots. The children have been learning to tie half hitches to make bracelets and using colourful wool to lash two sticks together. They also used the clove hitch to tie a rope to a log (as seen in the “Log Dog’ leads). The children enjoyed sawing logs to make their log dogs and then hammering on ears and tails, tying a rope for the lead and pulling their new pet around the woods or down the corridors at school.
Some of the Year 4 children asked to make hobby horses for their forest school play activity. They began the project in ernest which involved sourcing a suitable stick, sawing, whittling, splitting pieces for ears and drilling holes to attach various parts. More pictures to follow of the finished products. Meanwhile, Hugo in reception borrowed the hobby horse idea and made his own version, with some support, in just one session this Thursday morning!
Ms Wild
