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!