Emily's thrid week and the third way to make hot chocolate

Spent the day watching the weather as the MET office were predicting winds of 37 miles an hour.  So at lunch time I was filling the FS flask with hot water as I was expecting that we would be running the session indoors and we aren’t allowed to light fires in the school hall.  As I walked through Holt towards the school the wind died off with each footstep.

We had another new helper this week who is cousin to Chris Holland of “love my world” fame.  It’s great to now have three adults supporting the children when they need it.  So after around of name, animal and action the group went and got some extra chopping blocks from the front of the school.  There was some really nice cooperation amongst the group as they tried to get really big logs back to the FS site. 

Because of the wind the group worked on one of the dens that was not under a big tree, this  led to some of them exploring an old platform which we started last summer built in a small tree.  With a lot of the wood taken out of the tree and ending up in the den on the ground there was still room for a couple to sit up on what was left in the tree.

With some energy burnt off, hot chocolate drunk and biscuit munched we started on our spoons.  Concentration is still a problem for some in the group so it always seems to take along time to get started as I’m not willing to give any of them a knife until the whole group is switched on.  Once they were all ready, they worked hard and there was hardly any chatter.  I had showed the group how to use the chopping block and the crook knife.  It is good to see them using a number of different techniques to carve their spoons.  Sometimes you do need to step in as carvers forget to only cut away from them or don’t appear to be concentrating and the knife is going everywhere.  The interesting thing to observe is when the group starts pointing out to each other where they are going wrong, ‘So and  so, you aren’t sitting forward enough or hold the sheath at the bottom.

A new head on the chopping block

This week we had a new helper start so we played name animal and action so he could get to know some of the names and everyone could remember his.  After this, the group went in search of firewood.

The only snow left seemed to be a giant snowball in the middle of the sports field but we still talked about not touching snow without gloves just like the previous day.  The group was sent off to collect firewood and the giant snowball was too much of a draw for one child who decided to climb it and tandon top of it four feet off the ground.  We had a chat about the fact they were not wearing any gloves nd so should not be touching snow and whether it was safe to climb and stand on a slippery ball which could move?  It was decided that it was risky and should not be attempted again.

While Helen and Charlie had their first go at using the storm kettle, the group played.  Interestingly off the dens built yesterday, only the den of a boy who comes on both days was used.  Those who wanted to play in dens started work on their own dens if they were not playing with the boy who had built yesterday’s den.  A big hit has been a broom we made out of a stick and some twigs as it was used to sweep out one of the dens.

After snack time we went through the safe use of a fix bladed knife and the group was then given sticks to get used to removing wood with a knife.  The younger ones find it more difficult to get the angle of the blade right but this will come with practice.  The group was really well focused so I showed a few of them how they could use a chopping block and a straight arm to whittle their sticks down.  This went well as they could put more weight behind the knife and take off more wood.     

You need to be switched on when using cutting tools!

Most of the snow has now gone and there was a little ‘snice’ as they call wet frozen snow that is almost ice in Sweden , laying in places around the forest school.  We had a quick chat about throwing snow as not everyone had gloves and as we were going to be outside for over an hour and nobody wants cold hands for that long.  One or two of the group were a little distracted when they went off to collect sticks so missed out on the start of den building as they were still of looking for their first sticks when everyone had finished.  We end up with two dens on opposite sides of the forest school.  The two den crews worked really well in their groups helping each other move branches and logs into position.  It is always great to see the imagination that goes into creating these structures, one group put in logs to make seating, while the other group used charred wood that became a pretend fire.

After hot chocolate the group sat down to watch a demonstration on using a crook knife.  We started by making a spoon blank using an axe and mallet to split the wood down to a stop cut.  This gives us a spoon shape.  Unfortunately the group were finding it had to concentrate and so I started to pack up the kit as they did not seem to be in the right frame of mind.  After protests the group settled down to watch how to use the crook knife to form the inside of the bowl of the spoon.  I decided that the group would not use the knives this week because they were not focused and so the group went back to playing.  Three games were being played and two dens being worked on and a new game of jail break in was developing in the living willow den.  We had to wait a little while for everyone to quieten down at the archway.  Hopefully we will start work on our spoon next week.

Snow and Whittling

This week it was welcome to Emily who joins us as a parent helper on Thursday and it should have been a warm welcome to Charles on Friday but the school closed due to snow at lunchtime.  I had been getting quite exited about Forest school in the snow so was a bit disappointed not to have a session so went sledging and I expect all the Forest Schoolers also got outside!

It took along time to get ready and to get outside on Thursday.  Everyone seemed to be on a ‘go slow’.  Once we did get out we played name animal and action to introduce Emily to everyone and so she could start putting names to faces.

At some sessions, if you ask for firewood to be collect there is a half hearted response, today they were really into it and some of the wood was a little bigger that arms and thicker than thumbs but it was great to see them all working together. 

We managed to get the fire going after sometime as some of the wood was a little damp and a little green so with the kettle on the go we started to look a whittling.  Most of the group have used the knives before but today we went from working on the ground in a three-point stance to sitting on the log benches leaning forward on knees supported by elbows.  The group checked their blood bubbles before starting to work on lengths of hazel.  I showed the group a butter knife I had carved to give them something to aim for.  The real exercise was to get them to get used to using the knives and see what they could do with them and work on improving their skills.  It is a shame how quickly some of the group gave up, if they perceive that something is too difficult.  As part of Forest School we uses small achievable tasks to build confidence.  So we had to do a little pepping up of the group to keep them going.  By the time the hot chocolate was ready they all had given it a good go and said that they had enjoyed it.  We will need to start work on our spoons soon so we will be carrying on with the whittling next week, snow permitting.

Axes for the first time

End of our first week back at Forest School with two days and two very different groups.  One of the key parts to Forest School is a high adult to child ratio and yesterday our group was six boys and I today it was ten children and I noticed the difference.  Yesterday we made two mallets today we did not get that far.  Yesterday’s group focused on the task in hand and seemed really to get stuck in.  Today we had lots of mucking about which meant we just ran out of time and I’m sure this is due to the extra numbers.  The good news is Helen is back next week and Emily our new assistant starts on Thursday so it will be interesting to see what will happen.

So this week we looked at a new tool ‘the hand axe’ everyone had a go at chopping a log working in pairs one person holding the axe over the log and the other hitting the axe with a wooden mallet.  The important part of this activity is team work with the axe holder giving the orders so once they are ready they make eye contact and say go to the mallet holder.

The Thursday group then went on to make two mallets by measuring a log and using a bow saw cut a ring, part of the way around the log and then cutting the mallet away from the main log.  They then turned the log on its end they took it in turns to use the axe and mallet to shape the handle.

As always we had hot Chocolate and biscuits this week two of the children did all the work, putting the powder in the cups and pouring the water on using our pump flask.  The important thing is not to over mix as everyone loves the sludge at the bottom of the cup which goes some way to explaining the chocolate moustache.

 Both groups played thicket as it started to get dark we finished sitting on the logs around the fire pit and started to think about the next few weeks and we have decided to have a go at whittling.  The Friday group had the great idea of making spoons and use them to eat soup on their last session this term.  We will see how we go .