“You smell like campfire” is something we often hear after a day at FNS. And more often than not, it seems to be said in longing, nostalgic way. Usually it’s followed by “I love that smell” and when we are really lucky, complete strangers will dive into fond memories of childhood or a specific moment – maybe a camping trip in Algonquin, a moonlit Yukon night, or some other magical place in time.
(Take a minute to think back to a particularly important campfire you once had… what are your feelings associated with this?)
Of course, we love the smell of campfire, too – it’s part of the job description. We have many fond memories over the past 4 years (already!) at FNS, and really want to take a minute to unpack just how important fires are to our program. They are so much more than just a way to keep warm (though that’s important, too!) or a hard skill to be taught.
Our students learn quickly how to build fires. They use magnesium and steel, which can be tricky but when they are successful, a spark ignites (womp, womp) in them… their confidence grows and they feel empowered. It creates real responsibility as they become keepers of the fire.
Further, fire is about coming together. It’s where we start and debrief our days, get creative and appreciate our friends. It’s where teamwork shines, through making the fire itself, playing games, and cooking meals. It’s how our community gets stronger, as we tell stories, sing songs, reflect and take breaks to just be together. It’s a safe space to talk about what’s on our minds. It’s also part of our human evolutionary history, what we call recapitulative play.
Every campfire we have is important. Just as the smokes lingers with us long after the fire has been extinguished, so too does the campfire and all of its significance leave imprints on us.
Aside from our core routines, our days varied a lot this week (as they typically do) so check out the highlights below!
Tuesday
On Tuesday we embraced a beautiful day and celebrated a special birthday. After our morning circle, check-ins and sit spots, we were off for a lunch out to the wonderful Mysterious Forest. We learned a new game about fur trading that let our students jump into the roles of Europeans and Indigenous Peoples around the time of contact. We did this to build off prior knowledge and while the game was incredibly fun, the more important part was the thoughtful and inspiring debrief with our students. (Behind the scenes this is part of our Core Teaching – Heritage Species: Wisdom of the Ancestors). And of course we had some time for climbing trees, and reading and making up poetry as well.
Wednesday
We started our Halloween with pumpkin carving and cooking the seeds over a fire… they turned out a little burnt, but tasty considering we had no oil! After our core routines and an impromptu Halloween Costume fashion show, we headed out on a wander. At a place called “Mushy Beach” (aptly named as we pulled sinking people out) we invented a new game: Crow’s Nest. It was all about sneaking, moving quietly and “channeling our inner weasel”, as a student put it. (Behind the the scenes, this targets our indicator of awareness of Quieting the Mind, and core routines related to Animal Form, Questioning and Tracking, and even Sit Spot.)
Later in the afternoon, we returned to the ruins of our dam from a month ago. This time it was reinforced with a spillway (pipe) to let out any overflow. It was awesome to watch ideas come to life and young minds work together to create something epic. And we got a first hand look at erosion and alluvial fans from the debris of the “river”. We also had some students make some cool clay creations.
Thursday
From tea on the fire (and a new tripod cooker built), to human knots, to snakes on the trail and our new fur trading game (see Tuesday for explanation) – the Thursday group was super busy!
One fun and creative moment that unfolded that we want to share with you occurred with our newly updated Mud Kitchen. It started in the morning with a couple students creating “recipes” for nature soups, drinks and salads and writing them down in their journals. Fast forward to Free Play in the afternoon and suddenly the whiteboard is out with “Nature Cafe” written across it. Before long, there are more cooks, servers and patrons of the restaurant and inevitably a currency system. And eventually pretty much the entire group is involved. It was magical! (Behind the scenes: this is a great example of symbolic and socio-dramatic play!)
Further, and what really made us as educators so proud, was that the “ingredients” for the recipes were specific plants that we have learned to identify over the last few years. And each recipe was pretty complex, requiring at least 8 different plants!
Friday
We started with tea over the fire again (catnip and cedar) and got ready for a wet and cool day! If the weather was an issue, the kids didn’t let on as they embraced the day. We headed out on an adventure that led us to Mysterious Forest. We played a huge game of Sardines where one person hides and the others hide alongside that person when they find them. Playing in such a big space that is so well treed gives us the sense of being lost or at least being away from others and alone. (Behind the scenes: this one of our pillars of risky play)
We made our way back, pretty wet and ready for a warm-up and lunch. After lunch we read a Nootka legend from the Pacific Northwest called Octopus and Raven. The students then created or interpreted their own legends in dramatic form. They were inspiring tales! (Behind the scenes: Storytelling is one of our fundamental Core Routines)
If you’ve read all this (thanks!), you can see we had a pretty fun week. Every group we have is so different and we are so thankful to have the space and freedom to follow the interests of our kids – it really makes for unique days. A big thanks to our student’s parents and guardians for knowing the value in this!
We are CAVING next week for our Painted Turtles, Snowy Owls and Blue Herons! Please dress to get wet and muddy.
Just a quick post this week but wanted to share some of the highlights from our adventures.
The majority of our older groups this week spent a significant time in Maple Forest, even having a few “lunch outs” on our drier days. In Maple Forest, we have a special spot we call “Grape Valley”. This has become a hub for our imaginative play, construction and exploration. Students built shelters, swung on vines, created complex “Hotel Management” systems using some of the shelters and sticks as currency, built fires, whittled wood and much more. We also made Bannock over the fire and learned about it’s history and cultural importance. There are so many wonderful stories that unfold when the students are given the time, space and maybe some prompting ideas to run with.
We developed a new game as a school this week that we like to call “Scout” or the “No name name game”. It’s a mix between capture the flag and camouflaging, and with the groups’ feedback we think we have come up with a great version. Ask your kids about it and they’ll probably have a lot of tactics and stories to share. As for us, there is always a method to our madness and this is so much more than a game. In this game, we jump into many of our core routines throughout – Animal Forms, Sit Spot, Expanding our Senses and Quieting the mind. And it’s fun – the joys of play-based learning.
Our younger folks had a fun time exploring this week and learning about new wild plants, playing in the sand and building epic structures, painting flags, creating obstacle courses with our loose parts and much more!
A big thanks to our Wednesday Group who were eager to help set up our Winter Prospector Tent!
Our older groups this week geared up for their first field trip of the year – a paddle down the Beaver River. Collectively, the groups paddled anywhere from the Epping put in to the Slabtown Dam. The Fall colours were stunning and seemed to intensify as the week went on. All groups learned basic canoe skills, with our older students having the chance to learn to stern – and they nailed it!
Along the way, we took breaks for moments of silence in hopes of developing the Quiet Mind (one of our indicators of awareness) in our children. Of course we learned quickly that there is a lot of noise in silence. We were rewarded with the soft ripples of the current, wind blowing in the leaves, birds chirping, bugs singing and so much more. We were even visited by a Great Blue Heron, who seemed to travel with us every day – our guardian on the water.
Of course the highlight for many were the salmon running up river. If you have the chance, take your kids and go see them jump at the Slabtown Dam – it’s incredible right now.
Our Chickadee programs spent their days exploring Bygone days. Monday’s group dove into mapping as they created new homes and mapped bridges in hopes the Trolls will move in. Friday’s group was out paddling, building dams and got a sweet intro to fire making!
THanksgiving
It’s the perfect time of year to reflect on Thanksgiving as one of our core routines. At FNS we practice an attitude of gratitude and start everyday with what we are thankful for and we’ve found most students are eager to do so. It’s amazing what the kids come up with and share!
Throughout the day, we also find opportunities to give nods of thanks as we go about exploring. Each day ends with our airing of appreciations where students can thank one another, nature or anything else in our closing circle. It’s all about finding in ourselves a grateful heart.
And with that we’d like to extend a HUGE thanks to Jim, our Beaver River expert and friend for coming along with us this week to help out! And of course all the folks at Free Spirit in Heathcote for the help over the week.
We got up to a lot of different adventures this week, check out the recap below.
Tuesday
As we explored our senses by taking away sight in a few games throughout the day, we gained a better understanding of how animals survive in the wild. We also sang our hearts out on Tuesday and even wrote our very own song – which rippled its way through the whole week. Some students put on their builder caps, too, and made a giant xylophone to hang from a tree!
When the rain cleared up, it was time for fun by the pond. And, as we were especially sneaky and quiet, we were able to temporarily catch and observe turtles, frogs and thousands of tadpoles. We even caught a snake in the Northern (“Unknown”) Zone!
Wednesday
We took some time in the morning to jump into the role of being a chicken (and a frantic one at that!) This, ironically, set us up for a quiet reflection: students got their journals, observed some real birds and got really creative with what they thought the birds’ conversations would be. This took the form of comic strips, full on scripts, birds with names and much more.
After snack, off to sit spots where we used over 250ft of donated burlap to beef up our shelters (a big thanks to our friends who donated it!). Our next task was to lend the folks at Bygone Day’s a hand by recovering their submerged boat in the pond. Students eagerly volunteered and we were eventually able to flip it – only to uncover that dozens of Rock Bass were hiding underneath and now trapped in the boat! Everyone got a chance to catch them.
At the same time an epic trench was being dug and a full on workforce was organized. Every person had their job -my personal favourite being Prime Minister (Me!). The socio-dramatic play became so immersive, that there was even a group meeting at lunch to discuss plans and details.
With the excitement around being in the Lakeside Area, we just had to return after eating. We laid out different options for students to follow their interests, with many choosing to continue work on the trench. Some grabbed their nets though and caught (and successfully identified) damselfly and dragonfly nymphs, while others harvested some Garlic Mustard and made a delicious pesto!
Thursday
Our students were really excited to spend time in their sit spots Thursday morning and spend time interacting with all sorts of critters. We were easily (and happily!) distracted by all the bird action – orioles, swallows, red-wing black birds, grackles and much more. We were captivated by the sounds and songs (and fights!) of these birds, Students were equally interested in the aquatic critters. In total, we discovered five baby painted turtles, found out what damselfly nymphs looked liked and of course caught some frogs. And this all before snack.
We decided to have a lunch out in Grape Valley where we played and hiked our day away. We checked in on the toad eggs we discovered last week – and now there are thousands of tadpoles! We brought a few back to the class to watch them grow (and a few lucky parents now have some of their very own!).
Friday
Our focus Friday was learning about plants and what’s good to eat – and what to avoid! We headed out to the far West of property to forage and collect what we could. We hiked around both Maple Forest and Mysterious Forest (and played some games in between) and found lots of leeks, garlic mustard, dandelions, wild carrots (Queen Anne’s lace) and trout lilies. We also successfully identified and imprinted in our minds our nemesis poison ivy (eek!) as well as stinging nettle (although also edible!).
After our huge success, including identifying huge patches of Canadian ginger, we headed back. And all the hard work paid off as we celebrated with a feast at “The Fort” fire pit. Students volunteered to chop, grind and gather the veggies as we collectively created a delicious stir-fry over the (flint and steel lit!) fire. Some students also made a tasty pesto from the Garlic Mustard – check out a recipe on our Facebook Page!
And now a shameless pitch:
Want to know more about the plants your kids are learning about so they (and you!) can safely eat at home? We have Only 4 spaces remaining for our Wild Edible Workshop on June 2nd from 1-4pm with local Naturalist Brian McLelland-Tuck. For more info visit here.
What a hot and beautiful day we had! After our opening circle, we dove into (or rather quietly sat into) a sensory awareness activity that got us using all our senses. After some games and further core routines, we headed out for a lunch out a Grape Valley.
Students spent the day searching for critters in the water, building fairy communities, adding to their shelters and getting stuck in the mud! We headed out to be the first FNS group to explore the new trails in Maple Forest and found a lot of exciting things along the way. Edible trout lillies were everywhere and we took (sustainable) advantage as these delicious treats don’t last long! We meandered our way through the Forest, uncovering places we had never seen before. And before we knew it, it was time to head back. But one more treat on the way – a patch of Garlic Mustard! This is one tasty invasive!
Wednesday
Wednesday’s group was visited by a beautiful male Indigo Bunting during our opening circle. We took the time to just observe and see what he was doing, making note of appearance to identify later. After a sensory awareness activity, we were ready for the day!
After snack, the students took a lead role in our Tick Awareness by creating a student-led natural spray to help deter ticks from coming after us. And while we’ve never had a tick on our students at Forest School, we want to keep in that way and knowledge is power. After covering ourselves in it, we headed out to Grape Valley in Maple Forest for lunch.
While there, imaginations came alive, structures were built and the hunt for new creatures was on. We found some strange looking aquatic bugs we later identified as caddisfly larvae and big beetle known as a Meleo. We hiked all the new trails that have been developed which has opened up some awesome new areas to explore and then something really cool happened – the students self-organized to clean up garbage along it and ended up filling a whole bag. What group of environmental superheroes!
Throw in some delicious wild edibles – trout lily, leeks and garlic mustard – and a huge nesting site of bank swallows on Fossil Mountain, and we’ll call it a successful exploration!
Thursday
Thursday brought forth all sorts of emergent interests in our students. We started the day with some teambuilding by conquering the “chocolate river” by using “marshmallows” to cross it (ask your kids!). After our opening circle we spent some time on sensory awareness with our journals in a quiet place. This led us into our check-in and before we knew it, snack had arrived. After snack, we had a quick lesson on tick prevention and awareness before jumping into the role of Geese and learning firsthand some of the perils they face on their long journeys – not everyone survived! Some of our students were focused on birds throughout the whole day and we were able to identify new ones and wonder what they were up to. We even followed some circling vultures to see if we could find their target.
Another theme throughout the day was plants. We worked to together to get our gardens in place, plant the peas for our living tee-“pea” and students even took the initiative to build their own wild edible garden in their sit spots – complete with some of the plants we foraged: garlic mustard, wild strawberry, wild carrot (Queen Anne’s Lace), leeks and more.
And still we had some students dive into amphibians – frogs and toads to be exact. We found eggs and tadpoles and caught a whole bunch of different critters.
And still some other students were really into to building bug homes and making clay.
It’s awesome when we can all share one space, and follow our passions and interest together and apart!
Friday
We started off the day with a silent lava crossing teambuilding challenge and our students rocked it! After our opening circle and check-ins we spent some time building and playing in our sit spots. As it was a chillier day, some students took on the task of creating a fire with flint and steel and were successful!
Our next adventure began after lunch as we headed west to discover some new trails. Along the way, we caught some frogs and uncovered a mass area of toad eggs (now named Toad Egg Bay). Further along, we spotted a pile of bones that got us wondering what had happened.
As we started along the trails we focused our attention downwards and the many wild edibles that have sprung up. Students tried Garlic Mustard, sampled the ample trout lillies and uncovered big patches of leeks. And though not edible, we found that the trilliums are in bloom (so watched out step!) and even identified some Jack in the Pulpit sprouted up.
FYI: We’ve got an edible plant workshop with Naturalist Brian McLelland-Tuck coming up on Saturday June 2nd with a few spaces remaining. At Forest School, your children will be learning a lot about safe foraging and eating, and this workshop is geared towards parents and educators to help them get involved in this special learning. Email us asap if you’d like to register, we only have a handful of spots remaining ($20/person).
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!
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 celebrated the end of our Winter session this week in many different ways! Most days it was more of a Spring Celebration – until Friday when Winter returned!
Tuesday
Chickadees dove into some imaginative play around the pond upon arrival. Finding huge ice crystals, gnomes homes and good ol’ rock throwing (nothing beats rock throwing!) was the name of the game. Like Charlie and Chocolate Factory, early in the morning one of our students also found the “Golden Ticket” for later in the day.
After some stories, we checked in on (and created new) sit spots by our big lake and took some quiet time time in the woods. Students got creative and made nature plates for the teachers to “eat”, with a balanced meal including potatoes (rocks), spaghetti (birch bark) and cranberries (snail shells)… yum yum!
Alas it was time to cash in the golden ticket. We hiked our way through the woods, past our campsite and along the lake, until we finally reached the “portal of discovery” to arrive at the Amusement Park! Our natural playground that the older students built last week. Our Chickadees swung, climbed, balanced, jumped and slid their way through the afternoon. Another fun day!
Wednesday
After an amazing Music/Dance/Singing full-on jam session around the fire with guitars, ukuleles, maracas and student handmade drums, our Wednesday group opted for big group games to round out our Winter Session. We played some of our classic favourites: Survival and Ultimate Capture the flag. We also set up the slack line to practice our balance and have battle royals, played with walkie talkies and tried out an old boomerang, that didn’t quite boomerang. We were even able to have a legitimate baseball game. These students know how to celebrate!
Thursday
Immediately our students were drawn to the slack line on Thursday. They navigated their way across and worked hard to be the last person standing. After snack we ventured on a camp out to Mysterious Forest. With backpacks in tow, students had the chance to explore this often overlooked area and create their own fun. With a fire roaring, we ate our lunches together and even grilled our sandwiches, pizzas and other delicious snacks. We ended our time out there by playing Fox vs Mice (a mix of freeze tag and capture the flag) which led to some epic action and teamwork. After roasting a marshmallow and debriefing our Winter Session by sharing our favourite memories, it was time to hike back – with a quick break in our sit spots along the way.
Friday
And all of sudden, Winter returned! And in the best way, with lots of snow and relatively warm temperatures. Students started the day off with a massive game of SPUD that took us almost all the way to snack. After snack, we tried a new game for our Friday group – Ultimate Capture the Flag. It’s a game of strategy, invasion, cooperation and teamwork. In the end, the last team standing fought hard but just couldn’t hold off the relentless attack.
After lunch we played on our all-time favourite structure – the tires. We then headed out to Mysterious Forest where some students practiced making fires with Flint and Steel, while others explored this little known area. After a few games of Fox vs Mice, it was time to check in on our sit spots and head home!
Just a reminder that we have no school next week.
Have a great March Break everyone and see you soon!
