Forest School

After putting our wellington boots and outdoor clothes on (which we are getting very good at now) we remind ourselves of the rules of Forest School, there are only three simple rules and the children can remember them easily now -

1. No going past the purple ribbon (boundary marker)
2. No putting our fingers in our mouths
3. No picking leaves off trees

Once we have run through these we set off singing our song along the way 

 "We're off to Forest School to play our games, oh we're off to Forest School to play our games, oh we're off to Forest School to play safely as we should, oh we're off to Forest School to play our games."

We walk to Forest School crossing the car park carefully followed by a gently run across the field.  After stopping to count the children and adults (to make sure we don't lose anyone!) it is time to explore.

The children help set the boundaries ensuring all their favourite spots are included within the area, including the log steps, crocodile log and the mountain. The children set off exploring - climbing, jumping and hiding.

We had some visitors at Forest School today, Miss Smit, Mrs Normington and Ken came to see what we were doing and the children happily showed them around and introduced them to the magical Beastie that lives the other side of the fence (they should feel honoured!)

The children were very active using the whole forest space with lots of climbing and jumping.  All of this exercise made them hungry and they happily enjoyed a biscuit and some hot chocolate to warm them up.  We listened to different sounds and the children could hear the wind, a very noisy bird and cars.  The bird sparked a conversation about Spring and birds' nests.

After snack we had a game of '123 where are you?' which is a simple version of hide and seek, the children have loved playing this game since the first week we came to Forest School so it is a favourite and regular request.  They enjoyed climbing on the crocodile and mountain until it was time to return to Hurst Lodge for lunch.

The children had all exercised enough today so we strolled back across the grass singing our song;
"We've been to Forest School to play our games, oh we've been to Forest School to play our games, oh we've been to Forest School and played safely as we should, oh we've been to Forest School to play our games."

Once inside we took our outside clothes off and talked about the session, the children said they enjoyed 'the 123 game', 'snack time', 'listening to the birdies sing' and 'climbing on the crocodile.' It was a wonderful session and everyone came back safe, happy and very tired.

See more at http://www.hurstlodge.co.uk/