Author: jennyf74

All excited for some lovely play in the snow and providing different elements for everyone to explore … however the session had to be cancelled.  With temperatures forecast of -4 with added windchill bringing the temperature to -12 I felt it would have been irresponsible to run the session.

I do not enjoy cancelling sessions but safety is my responsibility and I also have to take into account any road conditions and whether they are suitable for travel.

Hoping for slightly milder weather next week so we can have some fun … though this time I expect it will be a little damp underfoot … 🍃🌿🍃

For our Home Ed group today I had thought of a few ‘force’ possibilities.  When we first met up to talk about a Hone Ed group it was discussed that there would be some adult led ideas running alongside the Forest School ethos of bein child led.

Once we were all together we walked through the site establishing our boundaries and exploring.  A quick game of hide of seek before we had a tug of war game.  Letting go was hard but you could see the force in action … children against adults – it was a little competitive and good fun.

Next I put out some sticks and we did some jumping to see where we landed … crouching down, running up or twisting in the air.

For motion we put up some hammocks and a rope swing.  In the resources we had Newton scales, buckets and spades  and everyone enjoyed seeing a fire at the end of the session and trying out some pan bread.

As the weather was pretty chilly I had thought that we would have to finish early … we actually over ran, everyone did brilliantly in the cold and I made sure I had plenty of blankets, spare gloves, hot water bottles and hot chocolate. 🍃🌿🍃

Our first session back after a little break … can’t deny that I wasn’t a little nervous.  New faces and children so always a bit exciting!

We all gathered up for a boundary walk, with some making some cookies whilst we all came together and then off on an explore.  We walked all through the site climbing over and ducking under the branches and establishing the big as a NO GO.   Amazing to think that when I first started running the sessions I would never have dreamed of showing the big.

We came back and had a game of hide and seek before showing our resources pile and seeing what everyone wanted to do.  Hammocks and rope swings were put up, buckets and spades and some sand for tracking.

No signs of Spring today as we came together for a fire, popcorn and hot chocolate.  We had time for our reflection before we left and made some dinosaur and animal plans for the next session before heading back home to warm up.  🍃🌿🍃

 

Thanks to a mighty team today we cleared ALL of this, started creating a den area and made another entrance into the site!   Fantastic work!

Dates for the next Volunteer Sessions have been posted, please contact me if you require any further information.

 

NEW block of 6 weeks starts back up again Thursday 22nd February – 29th March 9.45-11.45am.

STORYTELLING session Saturday 10th March 12.30-2.30pm.

HOME ED sessions Mondays 26th February & 19th March 10-1pm.

Booking is essential, please message me with any queries.

Thank you.

Volunteers needed to create a positive space for everyone to enjoy.

We need your help to build and maintain the site: litter picking, clearing open spaces, planting etc.

Tools and training provided.

Volunteer Dates:

10th February, 14th April & 9th June – 12.30-2.30pm.

Please message me with any queries.

Thank you.

A lovely morning exploring the site and having fun!  There was den building, playing in muddy puddles, making boats, bird feeders and swinging about in hammocks and slack lines.  Followed up with fire and popcorn … we forgot to save any for the birds!

 

Taking a break from the normal weekday sessions to focus on some site maintenance and funding, however Saturday 13th January 2018 there will be a Session 10am-12pm.   Looking forward to some site work and fun making dens and/ or a bird hide.  Making some food for our feathery friends and looking round the site for some natural bug hotel spots.

Finishing off the year with a Solstice Session.  A chance to do some den building, tool work, tree climbing and planting.  Also a chance for us to write our Christmas wishes and let go of our 2017 worries so that we can move into 2018 feeling a little lighter.  A lovely session finishing up with hot dogs or mushroom and halloumi in a bun.

A perfect end to 2017.