Indoor Forest School

Well how did that happen? 
I'm not sure I will get used to the naming of the terms 1 - 6 instead of 1 - 3 and measuring in Half Terms, but the time scale is the same, September has gone, October is dying and November looms! Blink and it will be Christmas!

With outdoor learning the passing of time is everything. The season's are rolling on. 

 For a change this week instead of taking indoor learning outside, outdoor learning came inside, and Year 1, who are about to embark on a topic all about Amazing Animals, had an 'indoor Forest School session'. 

 Now to all the Forest School practioners out there this must sound crazy. We are outside in hail and snow and horizontal rain, winds will make life difficult and the cold can turn you blue, but we're outside! Keep moving and wear thr right clothes and all will be fine...
EXCEPT...
in electric storms or high wind.
So in case the weather catches me unaware I have a box of indoor activities I can differentiate quickly if I need to stay in a classroom with the children. Today Year 1 got to explore those activities and talk about Forest School, they will actually start sessions after Christmas, so it's a gentle introduction.


Firstly there's a case of birds. Soft toys which when you squeeze make the actual sound of the bird it is. The children looked through guide books to identify which bird it was.

Then there are the 'bugs'. Giant insect encyclopaedias with one set of assorted plastic minibeasts that the children are in awe of. The photographs inside show amazing close ups of spider's eyes and Grasshopper's legs etc. The other bugs are complete life cycles, of the Bee, the Stag Beetle, the Ant and the Caterpillar. Mixed up on the table they need to use the books about those creatures to work out which eggs and which larva belong to which insect. There are also books with woodland characters and finger puppets and woodland figures for the children to create their own woodland stories



And finally there are leaves. Lots of glorious Autumn leaves! With colour swatches (paint charts) to match those colours, and ID sheets to match the shape, and tree books to investigate further.


 Just for those children who manage to investigate ALL of these aspects of Forest Life, there are also leaf shapes to draw around and cut out, colouring in of Autumn pictures, and if the session is long enough, play dough (always homemade) with different shaped cookie cutters.

 From Nursery to Year 6 the children love all these activities and learn so much through hands on investigation - or learning through play as they call it in EYFS!

 Every creature on this planet learns through practice and reenactment of skills they will need in later life. We call this 'play', but only the human animal feels it is wasted time, yet it teaches EVERYTHING!








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