On Wednesday 10th May 2017, the children in both Reception and Transition enjoyed a fantastic day of outdoor activities with the Forest School activity leader, Helen.
The children in Transition thoroughly enjoyed searching for dragon toys in the Nursery garden, and created homes for them using a range of natural materials. They then had the opportunity to explore the ‘mudpie kitchen’ and make ‘dragon food’. Many made ‘soup’ or ‘dragon pasta’!
The children in Reception went on a ‘minibeast hunt’ and learned how to identify and categorise minibeasts using various equipment, describing their similarities and differences. The children learned how to take care of the creatures they found, and how to handle them. They then had the opportunity to create their own minibeast using clay and natural materials.
The children impressed us by using lots of interesting language to describe their ideas and findings and the activities on offer provided many cross-curricular opportunities for learning. For example, counting dragons, measuring our dragon homes, estimating how many sticks we might need to build a dragon home and using our imagination and new vocabulary in the ‘mud pie’ kitchen. We even discussed the purpose of camouflage, and mixed mud and water to paint our dragon houses. Helen was very impressed with the children’s prior knowledge of the natural world.
Each session concluded with ‘reflection time’, enabling the children to share their learning with others while enjoying a drink and a biscuit in the sunshine.
Many thanks to the staff at ‘The World Outside’ for such an inspiring day!
Reporter: Miss Stanton
