Christmas Feast

Last session of the term so it was cookout time.  While Helen made the fire up the rest of us went through the safety points of using a fixed bladed knife before using them to strip bark for our cooking.  It was interesting to observe the different styles of removing bark; from a child who took his time peeling the bark off inch-by-inch and ending up with a neat bare-ended stick to others who ended up removing more than half of the bark.  Once we had prepare the sticks we added Christmas bread dough around the top of the sticks and the group sat down around the fire and began to cook the bread.  This is always a time of ‘is it done yet’ with the answer of it’s cooked when it sounds hollow when you tap it.  While the group cooked their bread, I prepared special Christmas Hot chocolate with whipped cream and mini marshmallows, which went down very well with the group.  With the kettle out from under the tripod we hung a pot with popping corn on to cook. 

With our Christmas Feast finished the group sat back on the logs and checked their blood bubbles and then donned leather gloves as I went around handing out sparklers.  With everyone ready I went around and lit the sparkles with the fast fading light this looked great and the kids really enjoyed it but of course they never last long enough. 

With the session at an end the group trooped off carrying their lit jam jar lanterns they made a couple of weeks ago looking very festive.    

Who needs rules?

An interesting thing has happened at Forest School last week, one of the older boys decided that we needed to start putting our FS values into practice.  Well this week another boy took on the mantle of telling the rest of the group to ‘shut up and listen’ when I was talking.  It’s interesting to see how having some rules to work by is so important to some of the group and how they then want the rest of the group to conform.  Previously they would have also been making lots of noise and not listening as well.

While I got the fire going and a small group of boys put hot chocolate powder into cups, the rest of the group went off working on their dens.  With the new materials we got last week there is a new vigour in den building and there appears no end to this activity being the favourite at FS. 

After we had finished and had packed the snack things away a few of the children started to make wood cookie Christmas decorations.  They got to use a new tool called a palm drill, which is basically a wooden handle with a drill bit stuck into it, and most gave it a good go at drilling a hole.  Of course they also had to cut the wood with a bow saw using a sawhorse.  The children who have been to FS at the Courts over the last term are getting quite good with the saw and their confidence when using it has really grown.

We are lumberjacks and we’re all right!

We started the session with moving some big logs from the front of the school around to the willow den on the edge of the forest school area.  We first made a line from tallest to smallest to form teams for carrying. In groups we manhandled the logs into place.  It was interesting watching the lack of teamwork at the start but as they realised they need to work together else they would drop the logs they started to work together.  They really enjoyed moving the wood so much we ended up with more wood than we needed.  This excess of wood was used by one of the boys to edge a new pathway and he was still at it when is mother came for him and he could hardly see because it was get quite dark. 

The group then divided up, some staying in the willow den prepping the cups for the hot chocolate while the rest went den making.  The big find of the session was a circle of ice of the top of a bucket, which the group enjoyed looking through.  It was a real touch of winter and with a bit of planning we could have a go at making ice lanterns in future sessions.

With the hot chocolate made we lit the lanterns that we paint last week and all grabbed a log to sit on in the willow den.  With cups back in the orange box we started work on the God’s eyes.  There was a lack of listening which led to some not knowing what to do.  One of the values the group came up with last week was listening so they at least recognise that this can be a problem.  In the end we did manage to get started and hopefully we will get them finished next week.    

Cancel or hide in the school hall?

With gust of wind of up to 54 miles an hour forecast we took shelter in the school hall for safety this week.  We started by coming up with some Forest School values for which points will be awarded by the group.  The person with the most points would get a reward at the end of term.  The group came up with some good suggestions such as respect for each other and the environment, supporting each other, and trying and not giving up.  It is great to see how the group have taken on the Olympic values they learned back in the summer.

To get everyone working together we did some cooperative juggling, we started with one ball.  You play by standing in a circle and the first person shouts out the name of someone opposite them and then throws the ball.  The ball then zigzags across the circle until it comes back to the first person to throw it.  Once we had worked out the pattern we introduced more and more balls until there were balls flying in all directions across the circle.

With some energy burnt off we got down to making some jam jar lanterns to light up the den when we do get back outside.  First thing we had to do was put a handle onto the jar, using wire we twisted it around the neck of the jar and then we took a loop over the top and attached it on the opposite side.  Using glass felt tips we drew designs on our jars, there were some diverse scenes marked out from Christmas and Hanukkah, abstract to monster eyes.  The designs were filled in with glass paint and then set to dry but before we left them we put night lights in the lanterns and turned out the light so we could see how they are going to work in the den.

After we had finished our hot chocolate I demonstrated the Mexican craft of ojo de dios or God’s eye.  You take two sticks and tie a clove hitch to one and then making a cross you then wrap the string around each point of the cross working out from the middle.  We are going to make some of these to decorate the den in preparation for the upcoming winter festivals.

 

A little bit of talent, a lot of hard work and a sack full of positive attitude

To get everyone working in the same space and doing a similar task today the challenge was set to make a clay monster on the wall.  There was even a prize to encourage those creative juices, for the best monster voted for by the group.  Most got stuck in straight away, one or two were worried about getting dirty playing with the clay but with a little time started smearing clay on the wall too.  Once everyone had finished and cups of hot chocolate had been drained each person told the group about their monster and what it could do.  We did not always show good listening skills and as a group this is something we do need to work on, as quite often we have to sit in the log circle waiting for everyone to simmer down before we can start the first activity.  We talked about respect and how we should act if someone else is talking and we will be working on this in the next couple of weeks.

One of the boys monsters fell off of the wall and he was all for packing it in as he felt he did not stand a chance of winning anyway.  He was encouraged to have another go and to give him time to finish we agreed that we would come to him last.  It turn out that he won with the most votes for his monster and he later showed amazing sportsmanship by sharing is prize with two older boys who got rather upset at not winning.

It has been interesting to observe how the different members deal with competition from the boys who were in tears because they did not win to the boy who doesn’t like competitions because he never wins because he thinks he’s rubbish at everything.  I think we need to work on this and find away to get the group thinking positively about competition that winning is nice but not everything and that taking part can be fun and that it is important to have a positive attitude and aim for a personal best.  So much from one small Milky Way bar to work on. 

Smores and Monsters

We are back after the half term break, as always its always a surprise to see who is going to turn up to the first session!  We planned on 12 and ended up with 13 children so off we go on another adventure.  Den building is still the big draw so sticks and logs are being moved around as different sub groups start building new homes for this term.  One of the girls decided it was time to get house proud and so made a broom.  She started by collecting some twigs and then found a stick for a handle we then looked at how she could tie it all together.  The whole of the group went of to collect wood for a camp fire and came back with an array of sticks for the fire and to go into the store.  While we waited for the kettle to boil, we made toasting forks for cooking marshmallows on.  With toasted marshmallows squished between two chocolate biscuits and a cup of hot chocolate the group were quiet for two minutes.  With the cups folded away the group got on with playing, a group boys have invented a monster called the Grinch.  This includes a group of bushes that have become the Grinches lair and the boys go around tracking the monster developing the game as they go.  Next week we are going to bring the Grinch to life by making faces from clay.

Not yet Drumming

With the front now added to the winter shelter and the flap door, we are safe from the rain unless you are me and you have to sit under the chimney!  With the rain coming down we crowded under cover to carry on working on our drums.  We are learning to sew and this is throwing up lots of problems which the group are learning to solve.  One of the problems is threading the needle this is good for developing those fine motor skills and then learning that pulling too hard on the needle means you need to rethread it as you leave the cotton behind.

With the rain stopping we hung the drums in the roof of the shelter and we went out to play in the FS area.  Dens have been the big thing this term with a group of the children adding more and more to their den.  This week they added a wooden floor using some pieces of plank left over from the Campfire event held at the school a couple of weeks ago.  Another group were working on their fallen wood den; this group then divided and the break away group went on to build yet another den.  By the end of the session we had three dens all completely different.  It is good to see the problem solving that goes on during these building projects, it’s not just about how the den is put together but also social problem solving as the group learns to communicate their ideas.  Along with the den building a couple of the children started to build a sculpture using sticks and string aiming to get it as high as they could.

We finished the session with hot dogs followed by hot chocolate around the fire we discussed next term and we are going to start off with a bonfire with marshmallows and as it is going to be just after Bonfire night we may even have some sparklers.  

It rain we stayed dry

This morning the rain came in and stayed all day lucky the shelter is just about finished and I added two extra panels to the back but there is talk of needing a door.  How do you fit a door to a triangle opening? - answers on a postcard please! 

So we all squeezed into the shelter and started adding the skins to our drums that we started last week.  Unfortunately the cord we were using is too thick to pull through the skins.  The drum skins were decorated and next week we will sow them to the frames with thinner cord.   One of the boy experimented with tying the skin to the frame but found it kept slipping off.

In the middle of the shelter we have a small fire surround so that we can boil a storm kettle which takes no time at all.  While I prepared the kettle the group sat around and told stories some silly, some funny, some scary and some very short.  We were even treated to some singing of sea shanties from some of the children from Beech along with a little bit of Queen ‘We will rock you’.

With cups cleared away we started our next musical instrument, part drum part shaker.  The body of the shaker is made from an old hot chocolate tub with a picture drawn on sailcloth on the inside.  The children then went off to find things to fill their shakers with.  To hold the contents inside we added a skin of rip stop nylon held in place with elastic bands.  With a found stick to drum it with, we sounded very musical.  

Tell us a story

This morning the rain came in and stayed all day, luckily the shelter is just about finished and I added two extra panels to the back but there is talk of needing a door.  How do you fit a door to a triangular opening? - Answers on a postcard please! 

So we all squeezed into the shelter and started adding the skins to our drums that we started last week.  Unfortunately the cord we were using is too thick to pull through the skins.  The drum skins were decorated and next week we will sow them to the frames with thinner cord.   One of the boy experimented with tying the skin to the frame but found it kept slipping off.

In the middle of the shelter we have a small fire surround so that we can boil a storm kettle, which takes no time at all.  While I prepared the kettle the group sat around and told stories some silly, some funny, some scary and some very short.  We were even treated to some singing of sea shanties from some of the children from Beech along with a little bit of Queen ‘We will rock you’.

With cups cleared away we started our next musical instrument, part drum part shaker.  The body of the shaker is made from an old hot chocolate tub with a picture drawn on sailcloth on the inside.  The children then went off to find things to fill their shakers with.  To hold the contents inside we added a skin of rip stop nylon held in place with elastic bands.  With a found stick to drum it with, we sounded very musical

A warning from the Gods it’s time to get the den weather tight

Well we just missed the rain mainly due to some slow getting ready to go out today.  Once out we had two big bags of wood collected for a campfire event on Saturday to put away in the wood store (hoping there will be wood left over for us).  The group start off working individually but as they got into the task they started to develop ways of working together by passing the wood along a line from bag to store.  Helen managed to get some dry wood from the store before the new damp stuff went in so there was a fire and hot chocolate later in the session.

We continued on the wet weather den adding sides and log seat and an area where we can boil the storm kettle.  It is beginning to look quite snug we do need to add a few more pieces of tarp to make it really watertight.  The group are thinking of ways to decorate the inside so this will probably become a wet session project.

We have two play dens on the go at the moment one being built by manly year twos and is free standing made from fallen branches.  The other is being built by manly year threes in the group and is in the hedge.  It is really quite interesting to see how the two dens differ, the hedge den has a swept floor and furniture and has a real narrative about it and the game is about how they use the den.  The free standing den is all about the construction and how it fits together and the play seems to be in the building.

Along with the den building some of the children are making drums loosely based on Sami shallow drums.  Instead of birch wood steamed and bent into a circle the children harvested willow and wove it into rings.  Next week the will stretch fabric over the rings and sew it into place and then decorate them.  We may turn our hands to making some shakers too.  

Winter coming

We had a den making session today as we go into the winter having somewhere to shelter if it rains is quite important.  So as well as making a couple of play dens, we made a new shelter.  To make it we put up an ‘A’ frame which we then square lashed a pole to and then to a tree over which we slung a tarp.  The tarp was pegged down with hi viz rope over the weeks we will add sides some log seats and a small fire pit so we can boil the storm kettle.

Our new toy this week was a flask, we can use when we can’t have a fire.  Anyone who has been to a meeting recently will have seen the style of flask with the pump action top to get the hot water out.  As always we had help with putting the hot chocolate powder in cups and then the children wanted to put the water on the powder.  So placing the cup on the log table next to the flask the children pressed the top and it may be a sign of the times but most of the children pressed the button expecting the water to flow not realising they had to put some work in by pumping the button.

After hot chocolate was drained and biscuits had been munched we played thicket which as always goes down really well so everyone was nicely hyped up in time to go home.    

Welcome back Helen

It was welcome back to Helen who is helping out again so she was straight back into the hot seat setting up the fire for hot chocolate. This term we are moving the tree house to a different tree and building a shelter just in case the winter is as wet as the summer was. With our building plans set it was time to revise our knots as there is going to be a lot of rope and string to get tangled in. We started with our stopper knots and figure of eight which held no problems for anyone. We then moved on to the clove hitch which is the basis for square lashing and raft lashing so one we need to master. It was positive to see that most did not give up and some would not stop until they could do it again and again.

Before snack time we divided into three groups and each group chose an area in the FS to build an island. After the hot chocolate had been supped the groups returned to their areas to which I had added piles of sands too and they started modelling their islands. Each group came up with different ideas and started telling stories about what was happening on their island there was a monster island, a pirate island and a tropical island. With the addition of lumps of clay the islands had characters modelled to live on the island and piece of cloth became flags and tents. I think the islands will be returned to over the term and it was really nice in the way the children wanted to show off their islands to their parents at the end of the session which makes me think that we will always do pick up from the FS area in future so that parents can see what their children have been up to.

We are back

After a summer of sport it was time for the Forest Games.  With a few new faces we started the session with refreshing the FS rules and playing the name animal and action game just to make sure everyone knew everyone else’s names.

We divided into two teams and started with an obstacle race under willow hoops, balancing along logs, hopping over willow hurdles, make our way along the slack line and before a run back to tag the next person it was a swing over a giant chasm (will two sticks marking an imaginary chasm).  We then moved onto a relay race with no baton drops with a course around trees through arches and through long grass.  From the track we moved on to stick bowls a jack (two sticks crossed and lashed together) was thrown onto the pitch and then everyone threw a stick (marked either with blue or yellow tape) and the team that got the closest won.  We finished the games with javelin made from two hazel poles, we had different levels of success at throwing these. 

After a cool drink and a biscuit everyone got a medal that they decorated and then it was over to free play.  Next  week it is tree house repairs and sparks

Stair rods

Our last session of the school year and it was not just wet, it was torrential but not cold so we just ignored it and got on with what we were doing.  We got the secateurs out and cut back willow whips to thatch the tree house with.  Unfortunately it was too wet to take pictures of the hard work that the children were putting into finishing their construction project. As always members of the Forest School dipped in and out of the activities with the war of the Gummy bears and cola bottle continuing, and the discovery of some forest friends I had carved at the school fete in the sand pit started other games.

For the first time we got the knives out and the children prepared a stick to toast marshmallows on.  The blades are about 9cm long and very sharp so safe practice is important so working in small groups we took ourselves off to a quiet place the site and talked about how to use the knives.  We start by getting into a safe position, which is kneeling on the ground with one knee up to give support to the hand holding the piece of work and the other planted on the ground.  By being in this position we have three anchor points two feet and a knee so we have less chance of losing our balance than if we were standing or kneeling on both knees.  We remember the position by the hand that holds the knife is the busy hand and so the knee on the same side is the lazy knee and is on the ground.  Once down on the ground we check our blood bubble, which is done with the knife still in the sheath, the people make an arc around themselves to check that they can’t injure anyone else with the knife before starting work.  Once ready with the stick tucked under the armpit of the hand holding the stick and holding well away from were the cutting was going to be done it was time to remove the sheath.  We always work away from the body concentrating on what we are doing at all times.  It is amazing how knife work bring the children to a almost Zen like state even if they were running around five minutes beforehand and then they calm down and start thinking everything through.

Because of the weather we could not cook our hot dogs and the hot chocolate would have been over flowing with rainwater before we had finished making it but we did get a fire going and we did toast marshmallows standing in the rain.  Maybe one of our projects next term will be building a shelter we can cook in and with a smaller group we will be doing a lot more tool work. 

Orange hand gang

We started with making a banner to put up in the Forest School site ready for the school fete on Saturday.  Most of us got busy with the clay, making hand prints on the cloth and our clothes and then the charcoal came out.  We are going to ask people to draw their own special tree on the banner on Saturday and the group today started adding some of their favourite things about FS to the banner.

We had a quite relaxed session with a very complicated game with teams called gummy bears and cola bottles going on which Kate and I did not really understand but it was great play.  The group worked well together coming up with different scenarios and including everyone who wanted to play.

Dipping in and out of the game, the children played on the rope ladder, built a den and of course played in the sand pit.  I worked on tree house with different individuals coming and having a go at sawing with the bow saw or tying pieces of wood to the frame and by the end of the session we had finished the floor and built a safety rail around the outside.  All it needs is a ladder and a roof, which we should of done by next week.

As part of the School fete we will be making wood cookie nametags so encouraging everyone to have a go with the bow saw and being creative in their decorating.

Next week is our last before the summer holidays so its cook out time.

Swearing and Sweating!

To start with, the ‘swearing’ is actually ‘swelling’ of one of our Year One Forest Schoolers who had a nasty reaction to something in the tall grass and after ten minutes of sneezing and eyes running he looked like he had done a round in the ring with someone much bigger than him.  He was rushed up to the school to wash his face and the Head took him home where he told his Mum that he had come home because he had started swearing (swelling) at Forest School.

After this excitement we got back to being too hot in the sun, so we all headed under the tarp shelter in the cool.  We started work on the floor of the tree house with the group taking it in turns to cut lengths of wood to go across the frame and then raft lashing them into place.  We are about halfway across now and next week we will put the rest of the floor down and start putting safety rails around.

We will be organising an appeal for the poor children of Holt who feel deprived because they don’t have a beach to hand!  It would appear that a group at Forest School only want to play in the sand pit and only coaxing them out with hot chocolate works.

We had our first game of thicket hide and seek this term this week and how much better is it now plants are growing up.  One girl managed to get within a couple of feet of the square by crawling through the long grass but the last man standing managed to run from one side of the site to the other within the 10 second moving time to hide in the willow den.

Next week more work on the tree house and a giant poster ready for the school fete.

Bribery and Corruption at Forest School

A welcome back to Helen who came back for a session today and a big thank you to her for going and buying new waterproof trousers which kept the rain away for the session.

Today we got straight down to knot work with most being able to remember how to tie a clove hitch.  We moved on to square lashing with good effort in some quarters but not so good trying in others.  Everyone went off to find two sticks to tie together while I got the fire going.  Then, under the shelter we started practicing the lashing.  Soon the kettle was boiled and we stopped for hot chocolate and biscuits.  In the fire bag were also some fun size bags of sweets, so once the cups were packed away the bribery began.  For everyone who undid their square lashing and retied it there would be a bag of sweets - to say efforts were doubled would be an understatement.  Interestingly the resulting wooden crosses became props in later games played by a group of the children.

With the square lashing mastered we took it to the tree house so we could put in the supporting beams for the floor.  We are using a tree as our anchoring support for the tree house and then two tripods which we attach two beams from the tree to and then a beam across the two tripods.  The beams are held in place using the square lashing so giving us a sound base for the floor.

We divided off into different groups to play tag and play in the sand and I showed one of the new boys how to use the bow saw so he could cut one of the beams for the floor.

Next week we will start cutting wood for the floor and will be returning to knots, as the floor will need to be fixed down.  Luckily the knot we will be using is a raft lashing which is a variation of the square lashing.  We will also be playing our first game of thicket this term and of course will be back at the FS beach (sand pit). 

Unemployed Forest School Leader!

Over half term I put in a sand/ mud pit in the FS site and whittled some digging sticks.  During circle time we unveiled the new digging pit after which the adults did a lot of observation (standing around) of play and feeling somewhat left out.  It was great to see children of mixed age groups playing and working together building a landscape for their story to unfold in.  At one time there was a group of eight working out the story that was developing in their new world. Characters were invented as well as appearing from TV, film and even books, and the group was made up of boys all telling a story and mark making. 

The FS site is growing up and grass that was once a mown playing field is now a jungle just right to play hide and seek and chase through.  It is interesting to see how the children become more and more protective of the site.  I over heard one boy telling off another for running through the hedge as it might damage the plants with the reply of ‘oh yeah’.

After snack time we started work on the tree house we started by reminding the old hands and taught the new hands the clove hitch, an important knot when starting and finishing lashings.  Once everyone had had a go at the clove hitch I demonstrated how to tie a tipi lashing which we are using for two of the supports for the tree house.  Prior to starting the tipi lashing the wood was cut to length by a couple of volunteers using the bow saw and the sawhorse.  Next week we will look at square lashing the support beams in readiness to raft lash the floor on at a later date. 

Listen aim FIRE!

After the hot weather we have been having I thought it was time we got a little bit wet.  To start the session off today we played a game I got from a book called ‘I love my World’ by Chris Holland the game is called ‘The Sneaking Circle’.  You start off with a circle and in the middle is a person wearing a blindfold and armed with a water pistol and a ring of sleigh bells at their feet.  The children in the circle take it in turn to sneak toward the bells trying to not be heard by the guard.  If heard then they get squirted and return to the circle empty handed.  If you manage to get back to your place in the circle with the bells you then change places with the guard.  This is great to encourage communication without talking within the group, teamwork and thinking about how you walk. As the game goes on then it can become more rowdy so it is a good idea to have a rule where anyone rushing in and grabbing the bells is disqualified and has to return to the circle empty handed.

While sneaky circle was being played I was getting the cooking on the go, last week we had taken orders for pizza wraps and hot dogs and so we had a big cooking fire blazing away.  As always, there was help with the measuring out of the hot chocolate.  Whilst the feasting was being dealt with I started putting up the rope swing and slack line in a couple of trees just outside the newly planted wood.

After the cups were in the orange box the children split off to play, some on the aerial play equipment some in the den and others just hiding in the long grass watching the world go by.  Even a football was kicked about for a time, as always time was up all too soon.  We returned to the fire circle to discuss what we were going to get up to next term and it looks like a low to the ground tree house and making a cricket bat.  So I will be spending half term looking for a froe for splitting wood for the group to learn how to use.  We may even use it for splitting logs for our fires.    

Too Hot for Action!

The teachers were using the school hall so we met to get changed in the outdoor classroom which was really nice and we think we will meet there in future when the weather is kind.  It was great to see that some of the children had come with sun screen and were happy sharing it around with their friends.  Once everyone was ready we moved to the FS area it was clear from the start that it was just too hot to be really engaged.  The two older boys went off to finish their last A frame ladder and the rest of the group reluctantly went off in search of wood for the fire they were going to make.  Once we had sorted the wood into match size, pencil size and thumb thick and the length of a forearm it was time to have a go with the fire steel.  We moved into the fire pit area and broke out the cotton wool pads everyone opened them out to make fluffy duck bills then we passed the fire steel around so everyone could have a go at lighting their cotton wool.  Once the cotton wool was all burnt up we laid the fire and lit it to boil the kettle on. 

As always an activity is not compulsory at FS so while fire making and ladder building was going on other members of the group were playing in the den and other were being creative drawing with charcoal and making daisy chains.

The previous day while leading FS at the Courts we played the tracking game were you have two teams and one lays a trail using markers and the other time after counting goes to seek them.  Our heat drained group today just could not find the energy and in the end a small group went off to play and seem to enjoy themselves.  Two boys were still playing while having their hot chocolate one laying a trail and the other counting between sips, so it may come out another day.

The Last A frame was finished and the three were lent up against each other formed a three side climbing frame.  The next challenge for next term is a play platform (a low to the ground tree house).  The boys have done really well using tools such as a bow saw and a fix bladed knife reading instructions and learning new knots and lashings.

Next week cook out pizza and hot dogs and not forgetting the hot chocolate!

Planning what planning

 Each week I put a plan together for the session and within ten minutes its been thrown out the window as the session becomes child led.  I usually take the FS truck down to the FS site before the session but today the sports field was being used so I took the truck around the back of the hall where we meet and parked it next to the door we come out of.  As we left for the site a couple of volunteers pushed and pulled the truck and seemed to enjoy it so guess what next week I will be parking the truck outside the hall again so a new FS activity is created.  Today we divided again into two groups as the elder boys finished their first A frame ladder and got the second one cut up ready for tying together next week.  It was tested up against a tree and once we have three we will see if we can climb over the top as they become free standing.

The younger group continued with building their den with sub groups preparing the cups for hot chocolate, making buttercup chains and tree hangings.  One of the members of the younger group had isolated himself from the group and was playing with a stick away from the rest of group.  I went to ask him about the game he was playing and to make sure he was okay after he explained his game I asked him if he would like to share it with the rest of the group and so ‘Wacker Stick’ was born.  The aim of the game is to stick a long stick in the ground then standing behind a line about 2m away you throw a stick at the Wacker Stick the winner is the one who gets their stick the closest to the Wacker Stick and you get bonus points for knocking it over.

After hot chocolate we had our first game of thicket this term with a lot more leaf on bushes and trees there are many more places to hide.  The game ended with the last person being about a metre from the square and having to surrender otherwise we would still be there! The hiding place was behind the Forest School truck underneath a tarp.

The great thing about Forest School is the freedom children have to explore and invent.  On the way back to the school hall one of the boys asked if he could roll down the bank its not a long or steep grassy bank with no obstructions so I said yes go for it and in the end there was about six of them rolling down the bank having a great time.    

Climbing up

We have a mixed age group and sometimes the older ones want to do something different to the younger ones.  So the two eldest boys this week set to work on making an A frame ladder from scratch with Kate, while I helped the younger members of the FS to build a freestanding den.

The A frame ladder is made up of two long poles which are square lashed together and then you ladder lash the runs starting at the top and working down.  The clever thing about this type of lashing is that as you stand on the rungs you make the lashing tighter and so the ladder becomes more secure.  The boys measured all the wood and then cut it using two sawhorses and a Laplander saw before starting to tie it together.

The younger members of the group helped to light the two storm kettles and set up the cups for the hot chocolate once they had finished working on the den.  The moving and construction of the den had shown some good teamwork as materials were moved from the old den site and put to use on the new den.  As well as the construction of the den we had mark making, with charcoal from an old fire, the invention of a game that involved string and a tree and finally the putting up of a rope ladder.  The rope ladder was made using hazel runs with holes drilled into them and figure of eight knots to hold them in place.  There was some good effort at climbing the ladder not the easiest thing to do.

Next week we will continue with ladders and swings for the first half of the session and finish with our first game of thicket this term.

A cheery Welcome

After another day of rain it just stopped in time for forest school but with a very soggy site wellies and waterproofs were the order of the day.  Last week we cut some wood cookies and I took them home to drill holes in so that they could be threaded onto string this week.  The question was what to do with the cookies once they and been threaded onto string? The answer was the entrance arch which has been looking a little unhappy after being bashed about by winter winds since the autumn when it was put up.  The group used their wood cookies and found objects such as pinecones, leaves, blossom and clay that they found around the field to decorate the arch.  They were getting quite creative with how they were using the materials and it will be interesting to see what survives the weather and what does not.  As most of the group were enjoying this activity we let them carry on longer than planned so a rushed drink and biscuit (although it’s back to hot chocolate next week as we tried a cold drink today and the fire was missed!) followed by building a rope swing.

We are aiming to build a rope ladder so today we built a one rung, rope ladder or a swing.  We looped a rope over a branch and then made a seat from a log, which we tied to the rope with clove hitches.  As always it is interesting to see how the group use the stuff they make.  Instead of sitting on the log they all stood on the log. 

All through the session we had asked that the big puddles be avoided so that no one got wet and then cold so with five minutes to go it was everyone in pool!  With the rule of not splashing or kicking the water everyone still enjoyed getting utterly filthy.

It will be interesting to see if work carries on, on our new cheery welcoming archway and finally we will be building a rope ladder and hot chocolate will be back on the menu along with a chocolate covered biscuit (Kate’s request no more plain Hobnobs!).

Better prepared than not.

We welcomed back one member to FS this week who came to the first term but then went missing and also had two new members joining us so circle time was full of rules and name learning.  There was a new rule for everyone this week, which is to get everyone paying attention during circle time; anyone can start making three circles with their hands and then finishing by clapping them together as people notice they join in too.  The idea is to give everyone time to refocus before the clap so we are all listening again to whoever is talking.

After last weeks soaking we got the shelter up in the corner of the FS site as soon as we had finished circle time.  We have moved location of the shelter so we don’t end up in a hollow, paddling about again but this did mean dismantling a den.  The parts of the den went to join the big den so it now is massive.  It turned out to be a lovely sunny afternoon with no sign of the forecast heavy showers, which was great.  Due to the forecast I brought the storm kettles out and we had hot chocolate with birthday cake thanks to one of the lads from Sycamore who even though he could not stay this afternoon because he had a suit fitting he dropped the cakes off so will have to wait until next week for to hear us sing happy birthday to him.

We don’t do a lot of tool work because of ratios but one tool we do use are saws and today was a chance to get them out.  Last week we decided to have a go at making wood cookie badges.  To start this off we put up the sawhorses and went over how to use the bow saws safely.  Everyone took it in turns to cut a wood cookie while the rest of their group helped hold the wood in the sawhorse for them.

We had some good self-directed play and some not so good self-directed play today.  The good play involved a found plastic bowl and the collection of a salad (not eaten of course) made up of different herbs and weeds fund in the FS as with all good ideas after a while a number of the children were collecting different things in bowls.  The not so good play involved jumping on each other, which breaks one of the FS charter rules of no physical contact with each other, a rule written by the children.

We finished the day by collecting more material for the den from around the playing field.  I have brought the wood cookies home to drill holes in and next week the children will decorate them and we are going to try making a rope ladder as well.

A birthday in the rain

We started a new term hoping for spring like weather and we almost had it, for ten minutes! I’ve run three FS session this week and have been watching the weather forecasts intently and until today I’ve escaped a soaking.  After a slow start and having to convince everyone although the sky was blue it would be a good idea to take a coat out as showers were forecast we made it to the FS site.  Until now the shelter tarp has always lived at the bottom of the big red bag but it seem like today was going to be the day we needed it so armed with rope, tarp, mallets and tent pegs we went of in search of two trees to erect the shelter between.  Once we strung the rope between the trees the children unfolded the tarp and flung it over the rope.  Pulling the four corners tight they banged in tent pegs and tied off the guy ropes.  With the addition of a ground sheet we were ready for what ever the heavens had for us.

Now we have been running FS for a while and we have a core group of children who come I wanted to see what rules they thought we should have at FS.  With a large piece of fabric the kids wrote out their own Forest School Charter using fabric crayons so we will be able to hang it in the FS site.  We have so great new rules now; you must be kind, you’re not allowed to stomp, don’t touch mushrooms, don’t be naughty and have fun to list a few.

At the end of last term as we sat around the fire in tee shirts thinking that summer was here and decided to stop having hot chocolate in favour of squash although with the change in weather I had brought the old faithful with me today.  Instead of building a fire we used a Kelly kettle that works by having a bowl in which the fire is lit, then over it the kettle sits.  The kettle has a double wall so the flames go up the middle and heats a jacket of water around the column.  It can be safely used by the children who feed the fire by placing sticks on the top of the kettle and letting them fall into the fire keeping their hands away from the fire.  A number of the children had a go at this as they helped prepare the hot chocolate.  Just as the kettle boiled the clouds opened so we rushed into the shelter for snack time.  As the rain drummed on the tarp and water started puddling on the outer edges of the ground sheet we sang happy birthday to one of the boys at the top of our voices so we that we could be heard.  He declared this to be the best birthday ever whilst eating his second biscuit (wet days = 2 biscuits (Kate’s rule)).

As the rain eased off some of the group went of to work on dens and others remained to play in the shelter until it was time for home.  Next week wood cookie badge making and in the following weeks climbing frames ready for the assault course at the end of term.

Egg rolling gets everyone in a bit of a spin!

You could tell that it’s the end of term by the hyper group we started with today.  After much excitement from egg rolling in the afternoon it took a little time for everyone to calm down.  We started with the animal name game as we had two visitors, mums of two of the boys had managed to get an afternoon in the sun off and wanted to come and see what FS was all about.  We collected fire wood for the last time for a while today as next term the group have decided to have squash instead of hot chocolate as the weather gets warmer and they were reminded that a sun hat would be a very good idea to keep the rain off.  The three eldest boys build the fire and then lit a corner each with the fire steels, ready to cook pizza wraps for everyone.  The hot chocolate was made extra special with mini marshmallows and the feast was finished with a biscuit.

The children had decided that we were going to play hide and seek and then after the feast, play on the slack line and rope swings.  One of the mums was impressed when two of the boys who had not been caught answered to ‘123 where are you’ straight away.  A lot of what we do at FS is standing back and letting the child get on with it.  A good example came at the end of the session a small group had started working on a circus routine last week on the slack line and today they performed their show using the line in lots of different ways.  This creativity could so easily been crushed by me saying you just balance and walk along the line from one tree to the other but they took it to a completely different level working as a team, with individuals working out what they could do on the line and then getting the whole FS together to watch their impromptu show.

Next term we are going to take the slack line and rope swings farther as we look at building an assault course.  I’m already thinking about making a net to crawl under, rope ladders to climb up and a problem solving bridge exercise in