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 .
No comments:
Post a Comment