Free Spirit Forest and Nature School

Nurturing Connection with Self, Others and Nature

Turtles, Chickens and Giant Slingshots

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Hey Everyone,

We welcomed the warm weather and (mostly) sunshine with open arms this week at FNS! The birds were quite active, insects were out and about, turtles and frogs were sunning, flowers and grasses were growing – Spring is here. Check out the recap below.

Tuesday

After some of our core routines, we dove into our full values contract. If you are unfamiliar with this, essentially we brainstorm of ideas to what it takes to create a safe, happy and welcoming atmosphere for all, write them all down on leaves and pin them to our FS tree. Everyone signs the roots (and taking ownership over it) and these become our norms and guidelines that we were refer when needed.

We then headed out for our camp out lunch to Mysterious Forest to try and unravel some of the mysteries. Children sought to understand the “Mystery” of Mysterious Forest and discovered all sorts of clues to what it could be. And so what is the Mystery? Well, the jury is still out on that. But slowly the puzzle pieces are coming together.

Throughout the day, we took time to develop our quiet minds by being intentional on taking time to listen. A great book we read is The Other Way to Listen by Byrd Baylor which set the tone for some quiet connection time in the Forest. We also spent some time channeling our inner animals (aka Animal Forms) in various games like camouflage and person-hunt.

Oh and we found a great big painted turtle just meandering it’s way across the path!

Wednesday

Wednesday was a student-planned day and after months, perhaps years, of asking we finally decided as teachers that Nerf Mania could happen. (For more information on the “behind the scenes” of this decision, we’ve written a a blog in our Campfire Notes – check it out here.)

After creating comprehensive guidelines, our day started off with a triathlon where students raced around the pond, answered an FNS trivia question and then fired at their homemade target to see how many points they could achieve. From here we moved into target practice by setting up “antique tin cans” (toilet paper rolls) on a fence and trying to knock them over. It’s surprising how accurate they can be.

We had snack and moved into learning about hunting. We talked about skills as a hunter (silence, camouflage, patience, etc) and sustainable practices. The students then became hunters with the goal of shooting the deer before the deer noticed them. They set up their perfect space, and waited. And waited. And waited. Until the deer (teachers) started grazing and moved close enough to be hit! Later on, we finished our day with Capture the Flag with a twist using Nerf.

And did we mention Baby Chicks? 16 to be exact. With all the Nerf excitement, we as teachers were pleasantly surprised when students opted to spend most of their days playing with the chicks (to be clear: Nerf and Baby Chicks were two very separate activities). They gave them names, built huge elaborate homes, and even some amusement parks. We as teachers also learned an important lesson – it’s hard to debrief when everyone in the circle is holding a squawking little chick!

Thursday

Our day started off with the usual routines, but when we headed to our check-in and sit spots we noticed something. There were so many birds! And one thing led to another and before we knew it, we were following some turkey vultures to see what they had found. This led us North to an off-the-map area and we found it! Massive vultures over the remains of Green-Winged Teal (we later identified) which gave us a first-hand look at the food chain. After finding some other interesting things, we all agreed that we need to explore this area in more depth.

After snack we jumped into a new team-building game we like to call Islands. The premise is all students have some sort of ability taken away, and all know a few bits of the puzzle. They rocked this game and came up with some really creative answers. Ask your child about it.

Before lunch, we got out some tools and constructed a giant slingshot with some of our students. After lunch, we just had to try it out and headed out to explore around the lake. With the sun so hot, we inevitably stumbled across a TINY painted turtle. Check out the pictures below!

Friday

Another beautiful day, and we took full advantage. After spending some time in our sit spots and trying our the giant slingshot, it was the Friday groups turn to try out the Island teambuilding game (see Thursday). And they rocked it! It also led to a really powerful debrief for this group about teamwork, cooperation and communication.

After lunch, we slowly headed West with our Willow Crowns, checking for our amphibian and reptile friends along the way (and climbing a mountain). Eventually we made it out to Maple Forest to check out the new trail systems that have been created. This gave us a good chance to reflect on balancing human impacts (including our own) in natural areas. The new trails are beautiful!

Upon arriving to Grape Valley, our campsite, we spent some time getting to know one another better. We broke off into pairs and “interviewed” each other, then reported back to the group to introduce our partners. And before we knew it, it was time to head back.

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A Turtle Named Sandi

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Hey Folks!

We had such a wonderful, warm and sunny day with our Chickadees! Our day began with jumping into the roles of mice while trying to avoid the predator (eagle) that set the stage for our adventure later on. After our core routines, we checked the mailbox and sure enough we had received a letter from the Wild Things in reply to ours last week. They were so happy that we reached out and had hung our artwork on the wall, thus inspiring us to search them out again.

We made our way to what’s known as the “Original Campsite” to see if we could spot them in the “Off-the-map” zone north of us. Along the way, we channeled our inner Wild Thing and took the path we thought they would travel – we crossed the giant puddle in a tube ferry, crawled under the fence, climbed the slide, walked the beams, trampled the dirt mounds and swung on the rope swings. All the way searching for clues – finding fur, tracks, and even a giant Wild Thing toothpick. We were helped out as well by our Fairy friends who whispered us secrets and also by a friendly painted turtle who pointed us in the right direction. And when we finally got there, we were able to see them snoozing in the hot sun WAY across the field.

After we had our lunch, we built a bunch of structures from our loose part – including scarecrows and whole towns – made a mud cake to celebrate the Earth’s Birthday (Earth day!), read some stories, caught and identified some bugs and let our imaginations be free.

See you next week! A big thanks to Sandi for filling in for the last 6 weeks! We are sad to see you go, but will remember you every time we see Sandi the turtle – and know you will visit soon.

Cheers,

Matt and Sandi

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Spring on Vacation… and bird languages!

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Hey Folks,

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.

Cheers,

The Forest School Team

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Where the Wild things are… and Robins in the classroom.

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Hey Folks!

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!

Have a great week!

Matt and Aislinn

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Wands and Spoons, Paddles and Hedgehogs

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Hey Folks!

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!

Have a great weekend!

Matt and Natasha

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Raccoon Crossings, River Beds and 5km hikes!

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Hey Folks,

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.

Thursday
Destination: Nottawasaga Lookout, Singhampton(ish)

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.

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Baby Whales and Bear Hunts

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Hey Folks,

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!!

Have a great week!

Matt and Sandi

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Catching Wind, Carving Spoons and Creating Shelter

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Hey Folks!

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!

Cheers,

The Forest School Team

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Lean-tos, Fires and Grapevine Swings

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Hey Folks,

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!

Have a Happy Easter!

The Forest School Crew

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More mud, Maps and Bunny Seeds!

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Hey Everyone!

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.

Have a happy Easter Everybody!

Matt and Sandi

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