We focused our attention on our sit spots for the morning, where students were asked to draw from memory a map of their special spot. And then the fun part, as we wondered what these places might look like when we are not there, we channeled our inner sneaky creatures (cheetahs, tigers, chipmunks, snakes, anything!) and quietly made our way to our Sit Spots with a specific task in mind: to listen.
Students remained quiet and still for sometimes more than 15 minutes and came back with many stories to share. Big fat Mama Robins, chirpy little chickadees, Red Tailed Hawks that found a home in the tallest tree of Maple Forest, Geese interrupting the peacefulness and so much more. We visualized and made up stories about what these birds were doing (some with elaborate backstories!), interpreted their bird language and inevitably slowed right down to help instill that sense of not just being a visitor, but belonging in Nature.
Tues-Thurs Groups
Afterwards, teamwork and creation came alive as we spent time constructing and working our sit spots and before we knew it, it was lunch. And of course, we just had to take advantage of of this snow, too. So our afternoon adventures had us headed out to Fossil Mountain (with a keen eye for birds and tracks) to toboggan and tube in Mid-April! And a great place for students to channel their inner penguins!
Friday – Field Trip: Clendennan Dam
After our bird watching, we headed in the van on our first Spring Field Trip to just outside of Clarksburg on the Beaver River. With no set km’s or agenda, a really cool thing happened when we arrived – it took us a full hour to move 100m! We were enticed by the flowing river – first by racing sticks and snowballs down, until we noticed some crayfish hiding and had to try to catch them. A little further along we found an old abandoned stone building which became “Castle Bank” and the epic saga of cops vs bandits ensued. And before we knew it, lunchtime!
After lunch we headed into the woods and got our hike underway. As we progressed, we slipped down slopes, jumped into animal roles during games (camouflage, manhunt) and took some quiet time to listen for the birds. And before we knew it, we had to head back! It’s incredible how fast time flies in Nature.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
This week at Forest School we had a a heavy focus on sensory awareness, quieting the mind and connection with the natural world – the “quiet mind” being an important attribute we hope to help develop in our students. What better way to take a long quiet break than with a focus on birds and their language? It helps our minds calm, become uncluttered and more observant.
As of late, we have been asking our students to share something they’ve noticed in the environment on the way to school or when arriving. And in turn we re-ask this at the end of the day. We’ve seen this turn into a collective view of our world and open our eyes, ears and even our feelings. We challenge you, too, to notice one thing every morning on your way to work or wherever you may be headed.
We also challenged our Thursday students to figure out who’s nest this belongs to:
It’s woven together from slender fibers that can include grass, strips of grapevine bark, wool, and horsehair, as well as artificial fibers.
Our hint to the student’s is that it’s a picture:
Our hint to you: it’s a baseball team.
Why didn’t we tell them what it is? Well we’ve found when you tell someone what something is, the story ends there – it can rob them of the chance to fully understand and know something. By creating this mystery, we’re inviting them into the story in an effort to create an on-going connection.
What started out as a bit of a scary weather day, turned into an awesome day at Forest School! As the temps became mild, and snow fell instead of freezing rain, our students spent all day playing, searching and building in the snow. It started with a secret hideout, made of a tarp and snow wall (and a nearby hammock) and our adventure grew from there.
After reading the book “Where the Wild Things Are” and noticing some funny tracks in the village, we were off on a hunt to find where the “Wild Rumpus” had occurred the night before. We followed the tracks and some clever clues, and meandered our way to not only find the location of the party, but the homes of all the friendly Wild Things! And we noticed one thing in particular – one of them had a mailbox. So we drew some pictures and sent a letter to the Wild Things in hopes of receiving one back next week.
After some quiet time in nature – quiet enough for a Robin to come right up close to us – a cool thing happened! That very Robin flew into our classroom to say hello. We watched and observed it, and got some up close looks at it. We then started to think about what it may be thinking and how it may be feeling. Students showed a lot of empathy, and when the Robin figured it’s way out the door, we all let out a big cheer! And afterwards, we had her following us around on our hike and felt a kindred connection with this creature (now named Reindeer the Robin, not be confused with Robin the Reindeer – ask your kids).
Oh, and a side note, something that all students loved was using our digital temp reader. We measured how warm our hands were, the heater, snow, even the Robin. It’s a good investment if they’re on mega sale!
We had a wet day at FNS, but it didn’t stop us from fully embracing it. In fact, by shifting our focus and recognizing all the positive things that rain brings to our lives and everything around us, it helps us approach the day in a totally different way. And when we are a bit wet and uncomfy, we try to remember just how much our newly sprouting plants really need this water.
While doing our best to stay dry, we were keen to continue playing-in and exploring the natural world. After fun new games that put us in the roles of animals – ask your kids about Bird Attack and Wolf vs Deer – we got to our lesson of the day: Natural Crafts using carving knives.
Tool use is an important part of Forest and Nature School and after an in-depth tutorial and safety lesson, students were off to their sit spots to find the perfect piece of wood for their creations. Our students demonstrated patience and determination in their craft, as it takes time to whittle masterpieces from wood. We got to see the beginnings of many awesome projects unfold: hammers, spoons, wands, a wooden knife, hedgehogs, spears, spatulas, paddles, mini canoes and more! Check out the pictures below!
Next Week:
Our Friday group is going on a Field Trip for a local hike!
This week our Tue-Thurs groups were off site on field trips. Check out where they went and the highlights below!
Tuesday
Destination: WebWood Falls, Heathcote(ish)
What a pleasant surprise when the Tuesday group arrived at the side of Old Mail Rd, unloaded from the car and immediately came across a massive waterfall! Dreams of summer came to life in that moment, of natural showers and swimming in the pools. We walked in along the Bruce, and with no set agenda, slowed right down and followed our hearts.
And our hearts led us to some crazy animal tracks! We followed squirrel, rabbit, raccoon, mice, deer, fox and more. Imaginations came to life as we wondered about what these creatures could possibly be doing. So why did the Raccoon cross the road? Well, to get to the other side our students figured. Our keen nature eyes even led us to a dead shrew, that we studied and tried to figure out what when on, with many theories being brought forth. Some students were even so attuned to nature, they were able to spot the remnants of subnivean tunnels that little critters had made during the winter.
Eventually, we headed into the valley and made ourselves comfy by the river for lunch. Rivers are both mesmerizing and alluring and before we knew it, we were ankle deep manipulating rocks, discovering clay, building bridges and searching for creatures.
We took some time to really slow down, read a story and picked quiet places to really focus on our senses other than sight. At this time, students were also ensuring that the Teachers were unable to sneak up behind them and steal their special token. And then it started to snow! A magical moment in the forest that led to some free play and the ultimate discovery of a giant class-sized natural see-saw.
Wednesday
Destination: Bighead River, Meaford
Our Wednesday group headed west to Matt’s hometown to hike one of his favourite trails. Starting at Beautiful Joe Park, we headed upstream along the banks of the swift moving Bighead River. With no set agenda, we were able to slow down and appreciate all our surroundings. We made snow slides, tried to balance rocks, and stomped our way through the mud and snow. Our student’s only objective was to “notice” something (a sound, smell, sight, feeling, etc) to share with the group later on.
Eventually we made our way to a space where we could venture our on the dry river bed where we played around in the huge felled trees and got a first hand lesson on the power of erosion (the river had quite literally eroded away part of the trail this spring.) We lit a bonfire, had lunch and spent some quiet solo time in nature, taking in all the noises – and ensuring the teachers didn’t sneak up and steal our chosen rock by using all our senses except for sight. And these rocks became our “Gratitude Rocks” meant to store all things we are grateful for – then taken home, placed in a special spot, perhaps forgotten about until found again one day to act as a reminder.
We spent some more unstructured time in our new oasis where students began to build a damn, climb massive roots, and do a little eroding of their own. When it was time go, we were sad to leave – the mark of a really great day. We played a quick game of camouflage and were greeted by FNS Educator Kim, new baby Abby and good old goofy Aden, who joined us for the hike out.
Our Thursday group wasn’t bothered by the rain and tackled about 5 km(!!!) of the Bruce and it’s side trails. We wandered in, taking time to follow subnivean tunnels (including a roundabout!), wonder about the life and happenings of the surrounding trees, scope out fungi and lichen, and tell tales of different tracks we came across. We were even surprised by a snowy owl, or it was surprised by us, as it flew just feet over our heads. Along the way, we spent some silent time sauntering along the trail, taking in the sounds, sights and noticing our own feelings that were happening. We uncovered shelters, climbed trees and imagined that many of the trees seemed to be sticking their tongues out at us.
As our hike continued, we jumped onto a side trail that took us across the top of the escarpment, and while we couldn’t take our normal ice slide in because is was too dangerous, we found another adventure route down that (safely!) pushed us out of our comfort zones. Down in the crevasses, we crept and crawled our way through, in awe of the frozen moss on the walls. We even found our own ice slide before heading back out for a really late lunch!
See you next week! Just a heads up, that with the cold weather forecast, our planned activity (Fishing) will most likely be postponed.
After some time building with our loose parts and having a bonfire, students’ imaginations came alive as all the snow on the ground became a lake. They were trapped on an island (a-frame climbing gym), trying to escape the sharks (teachers), while jumping from bridge to bridge (stumps). Our students soon wanted to go in the “water” jumping into the role of baby whales, with the shark as their leader. It sounds like a crazy story, but it’s one of the wonderful experiences we can’t ever plan as teachers but get the privilege of being co-conspirators in this play – one of the million reasons we love doing what we do. When given the space, time and opportunity, it’s truly amazing to see what happens.
After snack, the tone was set with one of our favourite books: “We’re going on a bear hunt”. So naturally, we went on a bear hunt! With frog nets in hand we were off through the woods. We slowed down and quietly stalked our way through the forest, listening for any clues. And while we didn’t find a bear, we swear we may have heard one and heard a lot of other critters along the way, too.
After lunch, we jumped into the roles of prey and predator – fox vs rabbit, where the rabbits could escape to their burrows (black tubes) to avoid getting tagged. This turned into a lot of fun crawling and worming our way through the tubes, until we headed out on our next adventure to the “Fort”. Here we pushed comfort zones climbing trees and forts, swung on the swings, balanced on beams and slid on slides for the last part of of the day. And as you know, it was muddy!!
Well did we ever get hit by Winter again this week! We dawned our creative caps and here’s our recap below:
TUesday
After our core routines (smudge, check-ins and sit spots) we took a deep dive into the world of shelters on Tuesday in hopes of mastering this bush craft. We learned about the fundamentals of three important natural shelters: Lean-to’s, Debris Shelters and Teepees. After snack, we made our way to Grape Valley, in Maple Forest. Students divided into to teams and erected two awesome shelters – one huge debris shelter and the other a “Derbris-to”, which is a newly named hybrid. We added a bridge across the river by upcycling a used pallet all in an effort to create our new little community in the woods. We had some fun on the natural grape swing before heading back for (a late!) lunch. After some Forest School Idol, we ended our day with some unstructured play and reflection time.
Wednesday
What a wicked blizzard we had a Bygone Days! We braved the gusting winds, but were forced to stay pretty close to the Schoolhouse throughout the day. After our core routines and sit spots, we jumped into designing crafts and making our visions come to life. Many students felt drawn to planting seeds and came up with creative ways to give them a jump-start in life. We made a bunch of self-waterers out of old pop bottles and string, and also elaborate irrigation systems of pipes and containers. We saw many different greenhouse blueprints come to life as we learned about the effects a greenhouse can have on a plant (and the planet). Don’t be surprised if your child came home and immediately put their concoction in a south-facing window to maximize the sun’s energy – our student’s way of bringing a little sunshine to a very cloudy day!
We saw lots of other projects come to life to as we were really only limited by our imaginations. Clay pots and gravy boats, carved hammers, painted tiles and wood and so much more.
We wrapped up the day with flying kites, making make-shift tarp shelters in the wind and a team-building challenge.
Thursday
After our core routines students dove into some fun using materials from the classroom and nature. We saw some incredible things:
Water devices created with recycled bottles and pool noodles
Golf clubs that attach to arms
Shakers that also snow
Carved spoons, guitars and so much more
Pompoms from scratch
Fidget beads and sword holders
Self-watering plants
and much more!
After lunch, we headed out to our “Original” Campsite for a bonfire, some quiet reflection time in the woods along with a story, and some creative play. Minus a sudden darkening of the skies and a 10 min snowstorm, we had glorious weather all day!
Friday
On Friday we ventured out to the little known Grape Valley after a lesson on shelter building. Students added their special forts to our growing campground community out there. We installed new shelters, a new bridge, began a rock wall and even discovered a huge old tree that turned into a “hotel”. It’s a stunning tree on a hillside, so a simple step up on the North side (to essentially a natural platform) gets you 15ft up on the South side – an instant favourite!
And then a nice, light snow began and we decided to slow things down. We gathered round the fire pit, read a story about quiet places, and took some solo time reflecting in the silence of the woods. Upon return, we uncovered there’s a lot of noise in silence.
After lunch, we headed out to sit spots where the “Sumac Store” was opened carrying a variety of products – most notably Sumac Popcorn for the Forest School Idol competition. And while the teachers were yanked off the stage, good times were had by all. We also had some students work hard against the snow to earn their Fire Keeper beads by lighting a fire using flint and steel. Congrats!
Next Week:
Monday – welcome back Chickadees after a week off! We are at the school.
Tues-Thurs – FIELD TRIP! We are going on various hikes and will be gone for most of the day. Please ensure you child brings a backpack!
Friday – Natural Art at Bygone Days!
A crazy mix of weather this week to help us instill the importance of outdoor skills! Here’s the recap:
Tuesday
Our Tuesday group braved the weather and fully embraced their time playing, building and exploring. And though the constant chilly rain limited our mobility a bit, it didn’t dampen our spirits. We got covered in mud and set out to choose (or rediscover) our sit spots. As part of core routines students will spend time every week in their special places, becoming stewards of the land. We use this area for quiet time, reflection, play, creation and so much more.
And with all this cold rain what better conditions to practice (and fully appreciate!) the oh-so-important skill of Fire Building! After learning about the basic needs of a fire, students were put to the test and in small groups were each successful in creating and maintaining fires in some pretty unforgiving conditions. If you can light a fire it that, you can light a fire anywhere!
Wednesday
After our core routines (smudge, check-ins and sit spots) we took a deep dive into the world of shelters on Wednesday. We learned about the fundamentals of three important natural shelters: Lean-to’s, Debris Shelters and Teepees. After a quick break for archery along the way, students arrived in a new area we scouted the previous week in Maple Forest (now known as Grape Valley.) We had a camp out lunch with some interesting “kebobs” on the fire (ie: pretzels, grapes and more) and spent the day making the first steps toward our new little community. Numerous shelters were erected, a bridge to get us safely across the river, a fire pit and much more. We uncovered numerous homes for critters and with a sharp eye were able to find some aquatic bugs. And the most magical things of all? The 3 amazing grapevine swings (hence the new name!).
Thursday
We had a very similar day to the Wednesday group and after our lesson headed to the same area (Grape Valley), but had very different wet weather! The rain turned this area into a mess of mud (as parents’ cars probably know)… but mud is just so much fun! And the muddier we are is a key indicator of how much fun we had. Students built awesome shelters, upgraded the bridge and added a new one, and of course found the grapevine swing (calling themselves “graceful deer” flying through the forest). Awesome teamwork and cooperation unfolded and we are really proud of this group.
After lunch – some baked oranges and cucumbers over the fire (fyi oranges were rated good, cucumbers not so much) – and an epic mud battle, we headed out of Maple Forest, played some of our favourite games (person-hunt and camouflage) and called it a day!
Next Week:
We are getting crafty with some folks, and fire keeping with others!
Our Chickadees spent the beautiful sunny day doing what we do best: exploring! After our core routines (and some hammock time, loose parts, and slacklining) we headed out to our sit spots, only to be sidetracked by emergent interests: climbing the tire mountain, making our way across the balance beam to the army crawl and up and over the “portal of discovery” and eventually over to Lakeside View. And this is where the imaginations and building came together for a magical morning.
Building off last weeks Mud Meals, students created a new “oven” ( an old cabinet flipped on its side with drawn on burners and wood chip buttons). A quick run back to the school house and we had pots, trays, spoons and spatulas. Next thing we knew we were treated to “Chocolate Soup” and Sumac candle Mud Cake complete with a stellar rendition of Happy Birthday!
All that work made us hungry, and after lunch, during our unstructured play, the wind blew us something special: a secret map! We followed the map to find hidden eggs the Easter Bunny had left filled with vegetable seeds! So we planted them and took them home to see what we can grow.
Happy Spring Everyone, and welcome back (or for the first time!) to Forest and Nature School. We had a great week at Bygone Days exploring our property and reaping some of nature’s sweet benefits!
All week long our main focus was Maple Syrup leaving students with first-hand experience and a better understanding of the science behind this Canadian staple, the parts of the process and set-up and some students now even know how to identify Maple Trees that are good for tapping by their leaves (round edges). And while our goal was to explore the Sugar Shack area, emergent interests took us in all sorts of directions!
After initial free-play and our core routines (smudge and check-ins), groups headed out on their adventure to Maple Forest. All sort of routes were taken and sidetracks made and new things discovered. Throughout the week students discovered along the way the hollow sound of pebbles skipping on ice, 4 different sets of tracks within ten steps, fish from the pond, butterfly sanctuaries (milkweed), our nature playground and much more.
And as student-led learning often goes, we also saw:
Sagas unfold as students tried to tackle Fossil Mountain;
Pulley systems set up to bring up rocks;
Hotels open in the big forest trees;
Games of camouflage and “person”hunt;
Whole systems of trade and barter;
Epic Spring snow slides;
The rediscovery of our last remaining snow cave from the Winter Session;
Millions of years old fossils;
And so much more!
To top it all off, groups were treated to a Maple Syrup treat over the fire to end the day and compare the sweetness of the syrup to that of the sap. Some groups had pancakes, some “scramcakes” (scrambled pancakes) and others Maple Toffee on snow.
Next Week:
A reminder that there is NO SCHOOL ON FRIDAY, enjoy the Holiday!
For everyone else, we are diving into outdoor skills. For our full schedule, clickhere.
We welcomed new and old friends back to Forest School this week to kick off our Spring Session. And our Chickadees dove right back in the fun and excitement with awe-inspiring imaginations.
After getting to know each other better and playing some games of “Monster” we headed out on our daily adventure with the crew, walkie-talkies in hand. With no set place to go and a plan to explore, students took the lead. They made their way across our balance beams and through the “Portal of Discovery” before settling at our Lakeside View campsite for some quality time and “mud” cooking. Ever tasted a mud banana cake? Or mud coffee? The creations were endless at the Mud Kitchen (complete with sink and oven!).
Students got really excited to break the thin layer of ice left on the lake (that we ice fished on not too long ago) with rocks and sticks. And while in the area, we just had to visit the “Amusement Park” with slides, tree climbing, bridges, swings and more! At this point and after all the adventure, it was time for a well earned lunch.
After lunch, we were treated to some stories, some unstructured play and building with some of our loose parts. Students got really creative and into what they were making so we decided hunker down and have a bonfire.
Another fun day exploring with the wee ones, and even a visit from Kim and the new really little wee one!
