Snowy Days

Dear Snow,

Thank you for coming to visit us at Forest School. With your arrival there are some exciting changes to Bygone Days! The tent is a new addition and a warm, fun place to enjoy our snacks and lunch, read stories and listen to the soft pitter patter of you falling on the roof.
The Chickadeees were so excited about the tent this morning, but were quickly drawn outside by the anticipation of all the activities you provide for us! We pulled each other on the sleds and even went tobogganing! You also provide a refreshing treat (we will have to wait a bit to see if November snow tastes better than December snow!)…don’t worry though we made sure to only taste the fresh fallen snow!
We have noticed that you are cold, fluffy and sometimes slippery, weigh down the tree branches, and create a hush across the land. Although it takes us longer to trek, we went on an adventure to Ducky’s campsite where we played and worked together to build snow forts. It would be ideal if you stuck around so we can add to our forts next week.
We are so thrilled that you have arrived Snow, and we look forward to more fun with you!
From Monday’s Chickadees, Emily and Krista

Snow Snow, stay and play!

Hi Friends,

Mother Nature sure did hand us a bag full of every type of weather this week, and we still loved every minute of it! Each day at Forest School always looks a little different and discoveries are always unfolding, but some things were consistent throughout our week – like how the snow makes sounds seem more dense, less birds and noise, our well known hikes have become more challenging and there is much more to discover and create in the snow.

Some of the highlights this week that we cannot forget are:

  • New Creations at Lakeside
  • Quicksand and Waterfalls
  • Legends and Plant Identification
  • Snowstorms
  • Discovering Duckies Camp site
  • Eagle eye on Fossil Mountain
  • Fire Building and Flint and Steel
  • Prospectors Tent
  • Dangerous Baby Squirrels
  • Raccoon Touch
  • New records with Fossil Mountain Sledding
  • Fan favourite Fox and Bunny game
  • Fort building with snow

We look forward to another great week ahead of us!

The FNS Crew

Winter Wrap-up

Hey Folks!

We had a great wrap-up to our Winter session this week, with pretty much blue bird skies all week long! As we explored and played, we reminisced about the past couple months and shared our favourite memories – turns out we did quite a bit over the winter session!  Here are some highlights from our week:

We celebrated Mardi Gras this week on Tuesday with some pancakes over the fire, complete with Maple Syrup made on-site from last year (and are eagerly anticipating working the sugar shack when we return!).

A huge pile of snow also became the backdrop of a newly invented game – Arctic Fox.  Think “camouflage” and “red light/green light” with a massive, sneaky twist.

We also put up our trail cam this week in hopes of capturing some of the wildlife we are always tracking along our adventures.  Stay tuned for pictures of that!

The trading blanket was a huge success and we are looking forward to doing it again at the end of the Spring Semester.  What’s a trading blanket?  Read more here.

We made wonderful and unbelievable stories with our new set of story rocks!

Our Chickadees also got an answer in the mailbox from the fairies, along with a potion to help them see all the magic in the Forest – and it worked!

Along with fires (some started with magnifying glasses!), play, exploration, tracking and lots of birds coming out, we had a fun week and great send off for our Winter Warriors.  Enjoy the March  Break and see you soon!

Cheers,

Kim and Matt

 

Winter Wander-land

Hey Everyone,

It’s a been awhile since we’ve been able to blog – the life of having an almost-one-year-old, and Kim returning back to teach at FNS – but we thought we’d get ya caught up on some of the exciting things we’ve been up to over the past few weeks.  When the snow days finally let up (wacky weather this year!), we were able to go on a quite a few adventures!

Cross Country Skiing

Our older groups headed to Scenic Caves again this year for a day full of skiing and exploration.  After a brief lesson – mainly how to get back up and slow down – we were off to the trails.  Students challenged themselves and made it all the way to the lookout, while navigating big hills and sometimes high winds!  We visited the bridge on one of the days, and it felt like we were almost blown off it was so windy!

Ice Fishing

Our ice is almost a foot thick at the moment, which not only gives us a quick shortcut to Maple Forest, but also allows us to test our fishing skills!  We found the hot spots this year, with multiple groups bringing in big numbers.  Our new Winter Record was broken twice this year – first at 6 fish, then smashed by a whopping 22 (or the same hungry fish? Who knows!).

Animal Tracking and Bird Languages

Winter is the ideal time for tracking critters big and small.  We’ve learned a whole lot about the subnivean and how little creatures keep warm and active during the long cold days and nights.  We’ve followed coyote tracks, only to realize it was a pack in single file that suddenly split in three directions.  We’ve uncovered story after story of creatures playing in the forest.  We got up close and personal (respectfully) with the remnants of a deer, and successfully identified a dead eastern screech owl.  We learned all about peculiar habits of creatures in the Winter… and best of all, we’ve got a trail cam going up to see if we catch a glimpse of all the wonderful action going on! It will be especially neat to see these stories unfold and really gain an understanding of who we’re sharing the land with!

tinkering/BUILDING

Snow offers the wonderful opportunity to create and we’ve seen it all this winter.  We’ve had quinzees come and go with this changing weather; huge walls and epic forts; GT only parking areas; and so much more.  We’ve also had so many projects on the go – baskets, butter knives, spears, bowls, sling-shots and more.  A lot of this is in anticipation of the trading blanket next (where we trade created items with one another – more info here).

Fire Building

Our students are capable fire builders and can all certainly light a match and sustain a fire.   From our youngest to oldest, most have been able to start one using magnesium and steel as well! Recently we took it a step further: classic Flint and Steel.  Students made sparks with steel wrap around knuckles or chisels and flint.  They caught these sparks on charred cloth and created fire in “nests” by slowly (and patiently) working at it.  It was amazing to watch – and so far we’ve three successful students with one accomplishing it in under 4 mins!

Music

It’s always been a part of our program, but this Winter we took the steps to make it an active role.  We’ve got guitars, ukuleles and more music making devices around and have seen some awesome bands form over time.  From making up our songs, to borrowing those of others as part of routines, it’s become an integral part of what we do – but more in this in a future blog, likely titled “Chicka-DJ” as our kids came up with.

And then there is so much more – the everyday fun, learning, and exploration that is Forest School.  Winter is one of our favourite seasons! Thanks for joining along in our wonderful Winter fun and reading our blog too!

Cheers,

The FNS Crew

Every track tells a story

Hey Folks,

We had a fun week at FNS with a lot of exploring (as usual!) and discovering many things along the way.  We focused on using our “owl eyes” and and other senses to uncover some of the secrets of the forest.  Along the way we found mysterious holes with empty snail shells all around it, dozens of nuts in a hole in a maple tree, a bunch of tunnels revealed under the snow, an unknown hornet nest – with a hornet still inside and, of course, tracks galore!

Every track tells a story is our motto and it was so much fun coming with likely (and unlikely!) stories for all these signs.  Imaginations went wild, which leads to connection, which leads to research, which leads to even more connection.   Behind the scenes: As you know, rarely do we tell our students the “answers” (a hard thing to do from a teacher’s perspective…) in an effort to build true, memorable connections with nature.   We feel that the connection can be inhibited with a simple and quick answer. Instead, we like to spark and feed their curiosity and support them in the investigative work!

And thus, this is why we now know that bald-faced hornets build beautiful nests in trees; or that shrews like to stockpile snails for the winter; or that there is an undiscovered walnut tree somewhere in the vicinity – you get the picture.

One big part of our week for the older groups was when one of our class dogs uncovered a deer leg.  We got up close and personal with it (totally optional) and pieced together the story with the our groups – coyotes.  It gave us a somewhat rare opportunity to examine its cloven hoof and fur up close, and have a better understanding of the tracks we see and connection with fur we see stuck to trees.  And while death can be hard subject, it led to meaningful and reflective conversation with our students.

Thanks for reading some of our highlights from this week.

Cheers,

FNS Crew

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Insects and Ice Augers (aka a crazy weather week!)

Hey Folks!

Winter is here and we are so excited.  A big welcome to our new students!

We saw a mix of weather which led to loads of different activities and explorations.  Some groups nestled closer to the tent on especially windy and cold days, while others were able to hike out a bit farther and uncover all the changes in our Forests over the past few weeks.  We hiked, played, scrambled, slid, jumped and sauntered our way along.  Some of the highlights include finding bugs out in January, tracking animals, carving, learning about ice, boat races, stories, fires, giant curling, sliding down Fossil Mountain and building forts.

Our focus this week in one way or another with most groups, became tool-use.  At FSFNS, students are provided the opportunity to engage with various tools throughout the day in an effort to master these skills.  After a comprehensive lesson where students feel confident managing tools safely, they are allowed to use some tools independently.  This week we had students carving and whittling, sawing wood for the fire and handling ice equipment (ice picks, ropes, augers).

With Winter here and  our big pond frozen, it was time to learn all about ice safety.  We went over safety expectations, learned about ice thickness, and what to do in an emergency.  We drilled holes, measured the ice and eventually started work on our ice rink.  And we are now also ready for ice fishing!

Enjoy the weekend!

The FNS team

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Let It Snow

Hey Folks!

Ready for our song of the week?…

Oh the weather outside is delightful (not frightful) and the campfire is so delightful (too)… and since we’re an emergent, student-led program with no set place to go… let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.  (Did you sing it?!)

Snow!!! We love snow at Forest School and what a wonderful way to kick of the soon-to-be Winter Season… and we took full advantage of it all week long.   Snow is a natural Loose Part (and one of the best!) and it wasn’t long before students were hard at work building and creating.  Over the course of the week we had berms, ramps and jumps created with the help of straw bales in an ever-changing course for toboggans; entire snow families were made, including the tallest in FSFNS history; a quinzee village sprung up and even an igloo!

With the fresh snow over the course of multiple days, we also focused on our core routine of tracking and questioning this week.  We found so many cool tracks in snow – deer mice, foxes, dogs (especially Aden, Arys and Nuka), coyote, cat and rabbits.  Every track told us a story as imaginations came alive and the animals were brought to life.  We even caught a shrew when it’s subnivean tunnel was accidentally collapsed.  Oh, and we tracked people, too, in epic games of “Track and Seek”.

Throw in some good old fashion sledding, winter games of camouflage, extreme sardines and crows nest (behind the scenes: we use these activities to activate our quiet mind, and jump into animal forms), hot fires in the tent and campfires outside, hiking, sliding down fossil mountain and so, so, so much more… and we’re in a  true Winter Wonderland.

Side note: We worked on our float this week for the Santa Clause Parade – come see it today in Collingwood at 5 pm!

Have a great weekend!

The FNS Team

 

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

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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Catching Wind, Carving Spoons and Creating Shelter

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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Skating, Maple Tree Tapping and so much more!

We had another wonderful week at Forest School and quite the range in activities too!

Great Snowy Owl demonstration!

On Wednesday, students worked hard to clear off the ice rink and we enjoyed skating away the morning! We even had a lesson from a Snowy Owl, including some basic skating drills and tips on a variety of ways to stop. It was an awesome start to our day and had smiles all around!  The afternoon had us in our sit spots and by Lakeside Campsite for the majority of the time. Students enjoyed working together to create and build new structures (including bridges, coat racks, ninja stands and more). It’s amazing to see what unfolds when we just make time to play and explore! It was neat to see the little communities become established and imaginations take over.

Just getting some quality time in with nature!

Though the blue bird week wreaked havoc on the rink, the warm temperatures made for a sweet treat from Mother Nature… that’s right the maple trees are FLOWING! On Thursday we spent some quality morning time learning about how to tap maples (and drilling!) and of course enjoyed  some of the immediate perks that comes with helping out around the sugar shack.  Students loved the opportunity to taste some sap coming directly from the trees! What a cool and tasty experience!   By Friday, the temps had dropped and the sap was frozen, but nevertheless we had a tasty, icy treat!

We also spent Thursday and Friday playing mini sticks on the rink, enjoying our sits spots, building snow castles and snowmen, and playing some of our favourite group games (camouflage, ga-ga ball and fox vs rabbit!).

We built in sometime this week to brainstorm some really great options for our Student-Led day next week and are eager to see how it unfolds! Students worked well together, collaborating and idea-sharing to make some big and exciting plans.

Kim sends a big heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone for the love and support as she goes on maternity leave next week. She promises to visit when the little one arrives, especially if it’s as sunny as it was this week! And with that exciting announcement, we welcome our new teachers Krista, Aislinn, and Natasha! To learn more about them, check out their bios!

Thanks for checking in!
The Forest School Team

 

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