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.