What an amazing day to welcome new and familiar faces back to Forest School, and our Chickadees didn’t waste anytime getting back into the swing of things. We had a busy morning filled with games, running, building, obstacle courses, a very talented band, and our returning students even helped with our morning fire!
Jumping into our core routines (opening circle, sit spots), our Chickadees were constantly practicing their Deer ears (excelling listening), Owl eyes (excellent vision) and Fox feet (being super sneaky). These skills were used while we found an abundance of small creatures only found by those who believe in the magic of the woods! Some of the smaller friends we found were Caterpillars, Spiders, Worms, Fire Ants, A Preying-mantis and Grass Hoppers (great job to all of those who caught one, and showing us that their pee stains your hands – But with a little hand sanitizer, cleaned right up!).
While bugs were the highlight of our day, mother nature provided moments for us to relax and learn about her other offerings, such as Plantain, Goldenrod and Walnut Seeds. Coming close to the end of our day we ended with an amazing and very skillful game of soccer.
We had a day full of laughing, adventure, exploring and first times, and we couldn’t have asked for a better group of chickadees to share our day with!
Thanks for stopping by,
Emily and Krista and the FNS Team.
Check out some pictures below to see how our day went!
We rang in the last week of summer with some very hot, then cool, then crazy windy and rainy weather!
This week at Forest School we saw many adventures unfold and really dove into the joy of following emergent interests. Full on “stores” opened up in the forest (see in depth details below); fires were sparked with only a magnifying glass, cedar and the sun; going canoeing and receiving mail from the Fairies; shelters were hastily constructed with impending grey clouds looming; visits to fossil mountain and long hikes; and so much more.
This week we also introduced two more of our core routines: Sit Spot and Journaling.
For those of us new to Sit Spots, here’s a quick overview. Our students’ sit spots are chosen by them and become a natural space that we visit all the time. They get to know this spot as they would a best friend – noticing any and all changes throughout the year. It’s a place to sit still, alone and quietly where we develop the quiet mind and a deeper connection with nature (and arguably one of our most important routines).
Journaling acts as a way for us to keep records of our adventures. It helps train our minds to pay attention to the details and we try and keep a journal regularly. In the past we’ve given students journals, but we chose to make our own this year and made some pretty awesome ones this week! We’re hoping this gives children a little more ownership over their note taking, mapping, drawings, stories, poetry and everything that will fill those pages with. In essence, journaling helps support many of our core routines (Expanding our Senses, Sit Spot, Questioning and Tracking, Mapping, and Story of the Day).
One last story for this week.
A magical moment unfolded with our Tuesday Snowy Owl group at an area known as the Fort. As you know play is a huge aspect of our programming (check out this blog Play-based Education: The joy of shared Adventure for more details on play), and on this day unfolded a great example of “Socio-dramatic Play”. This type of play sees children acting out and recreating situations they have seen. It’s the chance to jump into the role of real (or potentially real) experiences.
It started with this: one child picked up some leaves to “buy” a shell from another. Before we knew it, “property” was being purchased, precious things were being mined and sold, a police force was created (along with a jail) and the little society was born. Children even had wooden “debit cards” and we literally had a thousand yellow leaves floating around – enough that we needed a vault and an armored vehicle to move “money”. The swings and slide were being rented, trees were bought and sold, and in all the chaos it all just seemed to make so much sense. And that’s the beauty in it.
(Sidebar to unpack later: it’s interesting to see the views of children owning, purchasing and profiting from nature… and thus makes us wonder how they see the world and our role? Maybe it’s nothing, maybe it’s more – but could be a powerful reflection of society from their view.)
From our educators point of view on play, it was inspiring to see the complex levels of the society unfold. And because we love co-conspiring in play with the students, our educator held the role of banker (and then became the chief of hiring security and police, and payday – like we said it was pretty complex.) It’s remarkable when given time and space what can develop as each child brought in their own opinions, ideas and roles – and all ideas were welcome by everyone.
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).
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.
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.
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!
Hey Folks! What a creative week of reclaiming and recycling wood with beautiful sunshine for the duration! Our objective this week was to work on projects – which encompasses a whole lot as you’ll see below. It’s our hope that our students become competent and comfortable using drills, saws, hammers and various other tools! Let’s break it down by day.
Wednesday
Our Wednesday group dove into building immediately in the morning. They gravitated towards the materials and ideas started flowing – so much so that we needed a resupply of pallets mid-day. The possibilities were endless, and by noon we had a table built for us to each lunch on. Check the pics below as they do a much better job than I can explaining it, but some of the other projects included:
a “Donut Canon” storefront created for sit spots
a gravity powered tap and sink
a stage (and a show at the end of the day)
beautifully painted tiles on a pallet and storage container for sit spots
a raft (version 2.0)
homemade jewellery
a “cross-pult” – a hybrid combination of a catapult and crossbow
a crossbow and more!
Thursday
Our Thursday group arrived with a huge level of enthusiasm, ready to get building. After some play and a hike to check-out some creations of other groups, we divided up our resources and got to work. Check out the process and final products in our pics below, and here are some highlights:
a performance stage
2 boats and paddles, that were later raced in the giant puddle
a swinging chair made of one pallet
a hockey target
a mini horseshoe set
ladders for our tree fort and much more!
Friday
Our Friday group last week chose to start building a tree fort which inspired many of the creations earlier this week.. The area known as “The Fort” seems to be living up to it’s name and our students marveled at how much effort the other groups had added to their initial creation – swings, climbing pieces, stages, shelters and more.
Students worked hard together to come up with more creations and even added others’ creations making a huge (and amazing!) store that sold all things sumac, in “Sumac Cove”. We love all the collaboration at Forest School (even across days) and here are some more creations that were made (again check the pics for more details!):
a pallet car (with two seats) parked in a sit spot garage
a balance beam
a nature record play combine with store
a roof for shelter
A key component of FNS is seeing kids as competent learners and letting the learning unfold. As an educator, we are there to support this learning and co-conspire along the way.
The Big Takeaway? It’s amazing to see what children can come up with when they are given the space, tools and resources needed to open up their imaginations. A lot of creativity and collaboration unfolded. Students took a lot of pride in their work (and rightfully so!)
Next Week:
It’s hard to believe but it’s our last week of the Winter Session! Next week we celebrate all we’ve done and welcome the Spring.
This week at Forest School was special in that our classes had planned in advance their “perfect” Forest School Day and we set out to achieve these goals. Thus we had some very different looking days this week, and here’s a quick recap.
Wednesday
Our overarching theme of the day was camping out and so after some impromptu rafting on the huge puddles and a game of ga-ga ball, students strapped on their backpacks with lunches and we hiked out to the elusive mysterious forest to begin development. We built a fire place, learned how to saw wood safely and purified water. We teamed up and made natural and tarp shelters, boutiques, meditation rooms and even traps with pulley systems – the students were only limited by their imaginations. In the end, a whole little community developed in our once little-known forest.
Other than our infrastructure development, students got lost in a world of play – cops and robbers with a twist (doughnut launchers!) and creating natural treasures such as ballerinas made of pine needles and leaves. We also were introduced to a new game called Fox and Mouse, a soon-to-be classic (think capture the flag meets freeze tag).
Time slipped by and before we knew it, it was time to have a marshmallow and hike out!
Thursday
Thursday was all about Fire! We learned about the basic needs of a fire: heat, oxygen, and fuel and effective ways to create them. A big thanks to our student teachers who led this lesson!
Next we were off to “Lakeside View” where, after a quick lesson in material gathering and fire nest-making, students were tasked with the mission of creating a fire without using a match. After much preparation and anticipation (and a lot of learning from our mistakes and successes) everyone was able to light a fire using only flint (magnesium) and steel! And everyone earned their Fire Keeper Beads.
In the afternoon, we launched a rocket and headed out to sit spots for some upgrades and more fire building. Out next goal is to make a fire with a bow-drill!
Friday
Friday was a day of construction where we headed out early in the rain to “Lakeside View” and “The Fortress” to get creative in and around our sit spots. Students used reclaimed wood to make additions to the their sit spots after having a lesson on sawing techniques, hammering and drilling. We even built a tree bridge as the beginning of a bigger tree house project we hope to add to in the future,
and by adding climbing holds, we’ve realized it’s the beginning of the ultimate outdoor playground!
After lunch and some fun and games, we opted to return to our sit spots for some more upgrades and imaginative play as the sun came out. A day well spent!
Thanks to all the students for their wonderful ideas which made this week a very special one!
