Children's Forest School Blogs

Here are some links to children's blogs about Forest School.

Click on photo to see Amna's Blog

Click on photo to see Niamh's Blog

Click on photo to see Molly's Blog

ICT MEETS FOREST SCHOOL

This year in Forest School I have found two pieces of equipment essential. The first is a waterproof camera. I have been using a Canon PowerShot D10. Simple to use, robust enough for the children to carry round the site and take pictures. The options with modes are great too with a video record function for added flexibility. Its tough waterproof case has meant I haven’t had to worry about all the rain either.

The second has been the iPad. I must admit I was really worried about using this outdoors but finding the Griffin Survivor Military Duty Case with Stand took away any worries. It has survived all the rain and the odd bump or too as well, great protection. The only drawbacks have been the flap over the camera which means the edge of a finger gets into the picture and back in the classroom while the charger will fit in the display cable won’t which means taking the case off  every time you want to connect to a projector.

This does not get in the way of the benefits as children have been able to record their learning, make movies and even Tweet as we are just in range of our wireless network.

Forest School Photo Art

   Click on this picture to view all work in the gallery.

To follow up the Environmental Art Day; Year 6 have been exploring abstract art as part of their Forest School lessons to support the Cornerstones Gallery project.

We talked about the way they could begin to look for shapes and form in natural objects and zoom in to select a small area of texture. We also began to consider colour as a way to convey the feeling of warmth or coolness in photos.

We are lucky enough to have an iPod per child for this session. Most children were already familiar with the camera function so we also introduced them to Snapseed, a free photo editing app, to allow them to experiment with editing their photo.

During the session most children asked questions to develop their skills but what was especially pleasing were the children who went and looked at things in different ways for themselves.

One found some reflections in bowls of water which had been left out to freeze by another class, others began to look up into the trees for the shapes in the interwoven branches.

During this time the weather was usually overcast, dull with a little snow on the ground but some children still found colour, or an odd patch of blue sky when it appeared and even a frozen footprint!

Catching up at Lakey Lane

Link to Lakey Lane Forest School Page

 

Ariel view of site

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit the Forest School at Lakey Lane and meet up with collegues in the consortium who also trained at the same time as myself.

It's always useful to see what is happening elsewhere and share ideas which can then give you an opportunity to reflect on your own practice.

Lakey Lane delivers Forest School to two year groups one from the infant phase and one from the junior phase. They have two qualified teachers and run a programme in cycles of six weeks to give every child an opportunity to attend lessons.

The site looks fantastic and has recently benefitted from the addition of a wood shed to help with storage.

A photo record had been kept which shows many of the exciting experiences the children had been getting up to.

All the schools in the consortium have taken a slightly different approach to delivering Forest School and as we continue to share our experiences I'll try to write more here.

Mini Shelter Building at Lakey Lane

Fire circle

The Snow

It's really exciting when it snows, especially when you're young. Last year we had hardly any to speak of and by the time we got outdoors in the morning it had all gone.


The first day with snow - not much really!

Usually snow means sit in your classroom it's wet play and just look at the outdoors but with Forest School it means 'fantatastic' we get to go out in it.

Almost a snowman

Here at Lyndon Green the children go out on a bi weekly cycle for their lessons and sadly the weather doesn't understand Equal Opportunities, so not lasting the full two weeks some missed out.

The snow gave the children a chance to see the outdoors in another way, there was a feeling that it would be cold but the outdoor thermometers told us that it was not as cold as some of the frosty mornings we had had in the sunshine, the snow just made it feel colder.

And then it really snowed

Planned activities were put to one side and the children explored how the snow could be used to create characters. It was very powdery and difficult to get it to stick together for most of the time and it was not until some of the moisture from the ground was absorbed that we could start to roll giant snowballs or make huge snowmen.

Snow Hedgehogs

Here are some of the things we did make and what fun we had.

 

Environmental Art

Land Art in  the middle of winter! Well Year 6 have started their new Cornerstones topic on Gallery.

As part of the engage week they had arranged for a day to immerse the children in a whole range of art activities and of course Forest School could offer Environmental Art. Also taking part in the day was Spencer Jenkins http://www.spencerjenkins.co.uk/ Teachers and TA's provided the other activities.

We explored the work of Richard Schilling and how he used natural materials in the landscape also interesting is the way he records the decay of his artwork.

This inspired the children to collect and find as much as they could to create their own pieces of work.

Thanks to http://fagleyforestschool.blogspot.co.uk/2012_05_01_archive.html I'd picked up the idea of using material and leaves to create a picture on material by bashing the colour out of them, we also found that on one side the leaf completly embeded itsefl into the material.

This proved a popular option on a very cold day with few materials available to collect and the results of the sessions can be seen in the book below.

Winter Comes

It has been a strange term in Forest School this year and the result must be down to the weather we have had. Last year there was an abundance of fruit on the site, beech nuts, cherries, acorns and so on. The children had great fun making fairy plates with all that they found. But this year nothing!
By contrast the dry winter last year has given way to a very wet period and managing movement around the site has been important to preserve the grassed areas and prevent it becoming a mud bath.

However, at least this year Winter has made an appearance and finding out from the children why they think it is cold has been most interesting, from 'it's because of Father Christmas or Jack Frost' to the child who thanked the Head Teacher for the decorating the perimeter fence for Christmas (frozen cobwebs). It has provided a wonderful time to explore what things look like in the cold and why it happens.

The children have also had the opportunity to be creative using the frosty nights to come up with their own creations.

Below is just a glimpse into Winter at Lyndon Green. All we need now is the snow!!