This week during our Forest School session I showed the children how to make bracelets using a special method apparently used by the vikings. It takes lots of concentration and good co-ordination. You need to work with a partner. I was really impressed with how the children helped each other and worked together.
We also made God’s Eyes, they originate from Brazil where people believe they will help to protect them.
We normally do Forest School sessions whatever the weather but at -4 degrees celcius it was just too cold today for a normal session.
We went outside to the Forest School area to have a look at the new trees. Whilst we were outside we heard a bird singing. We looked up and saw it in the tree. We watched it for a while so that we could identify when we went back inside. When we checked we found out it was a song thrush. This is really good news as these are declining in England.
We then had a walk around the school grounds to collect fire wood ready for a fire next session. We are lucky to have some silver birch trees around school. Silver birch bark and small branches are really good for camp fires.
We then came inside to warm up and carried on with our Forest School activities.
We used a potato peeler to peel the bark from branches. Mrs Grant explained that it is easier to peel bark if the wood is freshly cut or green. You can check this by scraping your finger nail on the branch to see if it is green underneath.
We then decorated our sticks.
We are hoping for warmer weather next week so that we can go back to normal.
In Nursery and Reception we have found out about Chinese New Year. Reception listened to the story of the animal race. Each year is named after an animal. The order of the years is the same order as the animals finished in the race. This year is the year of the dog. In Reception we used the story to help us learn about ordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, 3rd…)
In Nursery we found out about how Chinese people decorate their homes and write good luck messages for each other. People also give each other money in red envelopes.
We made our own decorations and good luck messages.
Both Nursery and Reception also watched a video of a traditional Chinese Lion and Dragon dance. We all had great fun copying the moves and moving in time to the drums.
Our Forest School session was a bit wet and muddy today, but we still had fun. We played some games under the shelter and then talked about fire safety rules. We weren’t sure whether we would be able to have a fire in the rain but Mrs Grant managed to get one started. Unfortunately it then got too windy to be able to toast marshmallows. Instead we sat around the fire and enjoyed hot chocolate.
At the weekend the willow dome was completed. The children have enjoyed using it at lunchtimes and during Forest School sessions.
In spring we will water the willow and then leaves will grow.
There were some pieces of willow left from the building of the dome. The children have enjoyed bending the willow in to circles and other shapes and then decorating them with wool. Some of these are hanging in the entrance to the dome.
