Hey Folks!
We’ve been busy enjoying the warmer temperatures and exciting changes that Spring brings! Here’s a few of the highlights over the past weeks.
Carving
Tool-use is a big part of FNS, and with the warmer temps, we are seeing an increased interested in creating wood projects. We love the creativity and the projects we see developing around the campfire during down time. With only a couple months until our Spring Trading Blanket (see here for more info), students are getting busy preparing!
When our Wednesday students approached us about creating a LARP (Live Action Role Play) we wanted to be supportive and follow their passions – but admittedly we had to look it all up first! A quick google search later on and we were totally on board with them. Over the course of a couple weeks, students developed characters, a whole fantasy world, shelters and stores and mapped the entire area of Mysterious Forest (which became “Indigoweeodd”, a last remaining settlement in a post-apocalyptic world). They developed complex social orders, a monetary system known as wood chips and a whackload of rules and guidelines around play, battle, trading and magic. And while I can’t do it justice in a blog, it was an epic day of uncovering treasure, friendship (and treason!) and solving the clues. And to our pleasant surprise, it ended in a peace treaty signed by all! No doubt if your child was part of this, you’ve heard the stories and know by their excitement just how awesome this day was and why it will go down in Forest School History for us.
BirdinG
Some of our students are taking advantage of the return of the birds and really getting to understand and know them. They are successfully identifying most common species,as well as other not as common ones. As we tap into the bird language, we are learning a lot about what is going on all around all day and gaining a deeper connection with the land.
Geocacheing
Easter hunt… FNS style. We learned how to use a GPS to uncover a treat (Marshmallows) to cook over the fire!
Sowing Seeds
We are getting our gardens ready, making planters and planting seeds!
Wild Edibles
Perhaps one of our favourite times of year is when we start seeing old friends popping up. Our leek colonies are out in full force as we focused this week on sustainable harvesting. Trout lilies make a delicious treat along our hikes and we’ve even sampled some wild carrots (Queen Anne’s Lace)! It’s a tasty time of year.
We’ve seen a significant jump in the amount of reptile and amphibian friends over the past little while. So much so that we rarely venture without a net in hand. As the student are getting up close and personal with these folks, they are making respectful and lasting connections with them and uncovering first hand new ideas – including that turtles aren’t as slow and they are made out to be!
April Showers
We’ve had a lot of rain this past while are a so thankful for it! We try and shift perspectives of rainy days and “bad days” at FNS in a effort to minimize the idea that happiness, exploration and fun are contingent on the sun. Some of our favourite days so far have left us soaked! The plants and animals are loving the water and it gives us new, more adventurous routes along our hikes. Levels are up all over the place, with the river higher than we’ve ever seen and some sit spots being totally washed out. We love that with repetitive exposure to the same spots, students get the chance to observe and notice these changes on a weekly basis.
Music
Most groups have gravitated toward really musical days! We’ve got our established weekly songs, and are writing many more together with the classes. Students are even writing and playing their very own using a ukulele!
And there is so much more that I just can’t sum up here! Have a great weekend.
Matt, Kim and Krista
