Welcome back to the Forest School Blog …
Last week at Oxford Road the preschoolers enjoyed having a campfire. I am very pleased to see the preschoolers remembering their fire safety and being able to recall the elements needed to start a fire. They have also improved on their ability to manoeuvre into the respect position safely and wait patiently for their turn to toast their marshmallows. It was beautiful to witness some of the preschoolers engaging in role play. They were pretending to be members of staff at the nursery and carrying out duties like admin, talking to the children, cooking in the mud kitchen and even showing each other how to behave around the campfire. The toddlers also had a great time and engaged in a range of different activities including digging wood chips, transporting materials, balancing and climbing and catching “raindrops” (water poured from a watering can over the roof of their playhouse) in their hands and on their tongues. Bringing gloves, hats and scarves makes a world of a difference for the children and has meant that they are enjoying playing outdoors for longer.
At Norfolk Road this week the children had the opportunity to collect ice that had frozen over in different places in the forest school area. They marvelled at the clear glass-like appearance and enjoyed running their hands across the surface. They also got very excited smashing the ice underfoot with their welly boots. The children engaged in an array of other activities such as digging with trowels, swinging on the hammock, climbing trees, looking for insects and spring flowers and much much more.
At Harborne Road we had an indoor session this week due to the stormy weather. The toddlers had the opportunity to do sensory painting. I asked the toddlers to recall what elements and natural features are outside and what colours they are, after which they selected the corresponding colours and did mark making. We sang lots of songs relating to animals and insects we can find outdoors, read a story book and played a card matching game where they had to match insects. The preschoolers have been learning about healthy eating and recently planted strawberry tubers in Forest School, so during their indoor session we cut up pictures of fruit and vegetables and they had to stick them on an illustration of a garden bed with the corresponding labels. Some of the preschoolers also took it in turns to take a look inside a watermelon, scoop the contents and describe the smell, feel and taste. They enjoyed squeezing the pulp and discussing other fruits with high water content.
Another gentle reminder … The weather has been significantly cold and temperatures are dropping very low, it is imperative that all children have waterproofs, coats, gloves and hats, especially on Forest School days to ensure that they are safe and can enjoy their sessions outdoors.
Oxford Road: role play, making dishes in the mud kitchen, digging, transporting materials, climbing, balancing, making sounds and communicating through tubes, catching water droplets and campfire.
Norfolk Road: digging with trowels, smashing ice, looking for insects and spring flowers, swinging on the hammock and tree climbing.
Harborne Road: watermelon sensory exploration, painting and mark making, storytime, singing, matching card game, learning about fruits and vegetables.
