Ice Post

It seems a long time since we have had a prolonged period of cold weather in Forest School.

You can read about the last time here. 2012 really!

While the snow may have gone there are still plenty of things to do while the cold lasts.

Year 6 have been outside in Forest School making some ice towers.

So why not see what you can do?

Can you make an ice tower?

Can you make an ice decoration? You need a small plastic pot, cold water, string, something bright to put in the water. Leave over night to freeze then hang up in your outdoor space.

Can you skim ice pieces over frozen water?

Can you make ice cups for candles? Secure a weighted container in a larger container full of water. Leave overnight to freeze. Remover the next day to reveal your ice cup. Use as a candle holder to light up a dark evening.

Hope you can have some fun before it gets warm again.

Day 17 & 18 Inspired by Forest School

Yesterday we were back in Forest School and as the topic for the week revolved around the Rainforest we decided to use this for our inspiration.

We all collected together bits and pieces to make an imaginary rainforest creature. There was lots of discussion about what they could do from shape shifting, which eventually became colour changing, to poisonous spider eyes.

Here are each of our creatures.

After this we returned indoors. Some of the children wanted to draw their creatures so we did this and agreed a layout of facts Top Trumps style to write for each creature. Here is our work.

Later in the afternoon we were sharing some poetry from The Poetry Store compiled by Paul Cookson.

We found a poem called Ten One-line Poems about Sport by Ian McMillan. We decided to use this format to create our own version of the poem using our rainforest creatures. Each of us wrote a line for our creature and here is the compiled result.

So on to today and another random act of wildness. It looks like it's going to rain all day so you could look back at the Develop a Wild Memory post which has an ideal activity for a wet day or why not Google some wild facts and discover some secrets about your favourite animal or something that is just really weirdly wild.

Have fun😀🌧🌧

Day 16 Make a Rainforest Creature

Today for your random act of wildness put away all those pencils, paper and glue and get outside to make a rainforest creature. 

This is the schools focus for the week. So why not have a go outside?

Collect together materials from your garden or on a walk and make your own creature. Why not photo it and make a poem or fact file to go with it.your creature could be real or imaginary.

Here are some creatures made earlier in the year in Forest School.

Have fun 😀

Down by the pond: Our little amphibious friend is back cooling down on a warm evening. First time for a week or so. Thankfully the local cats haven't found him yet.

Wild Days

Following on from yesterday another organisation that can get you engaged with the outdoors is
The Wildlife Trusts.

Link to main site here

They also cover the country area by area and our two local trusts are:-

Warwickshire Link                                                              Birmingham Link 

The Trusts have a variety of sites to visit and explore the outdoors, perhaps nearest is Elmdom Manor next to Elmdom Park which has woodland, a meadow, ponds and an old walled garden. 

(please note at time of writing many Trust sites and carparks are not open. Where a site is open they would ask you to only visit if you are able to walk to the site from your home. Please follow government guidance to Stay Safe and Stay at Home.)

Their websites have a wide range of information about habitats and the plants and animals that live on their reserves. So how can you get involved?

Each year they run an initiative 30 Days Wild during June. Forest School is usually involved with this and activities are based around the challenges they have. See pictures below.

Individuals and families can also sign up and keep a diary of their random acts of wildness.

To take part sign up here.

I've usually taken part too and perhaps most successful has been the wildlife pond and trail camera installed in the garden.

The pond was simple just a plastic box sunk into the ground with some soil in the bottom with gravel over the top and some pond weed and a stick so anything that falls in usable to get out. In Forest School we've done a very similar thing with buckets. It's amazing what comes to live there, tiny creatures, hoverfly larvae, newts, frogs and more. The children always love going to see what is in the pond. But if you can't go to this why not try just a jar of water outside. After a few weeks you'll find something living in it.

The trail cam has been amazing. I'm really surprised at what manages to find its way to our garden.

Here are just a few of our highlights.

Hopefully this will inspire you to have some random acts of wildness and don't worry too much about the whole 30 days just have fun😀

Story Totems

Children in our Cognitive Learning Unit have a weekly Forest School lesson and this week they were exploring the story of The Hare and the Tortoise.

Children decided to work in pairs and went searching for a suitable stick to put in the ground using a mallet.

Clay was available to create the characters from the story.

Children collected bits and pieces to enhance their story Totems.

Finally their Totems were completed.

And of course in the damp weather there was always a little bit of time for snail hunting.

Forest School Photography

Using the iPod and Snapseed  app has allowed children in Year 6 to experiment with creating artwork in Forest School as part of their Cornerstones Galleries project. Here is a short video to showcase some of their work.