FOREST SCHOOL TODAY 1.10.2026
YEAR 1 & 2
After our welcome routines and a tapping shower (to support regulation) Emma explained that it was National Poetry Day today. Carrie read the children a fun poem about a squirrel. After this, we played Moving Rope Tag which the children thoroughly enjoyed. This game promotes the development of spatial awareness and agility. Back at the log circle, the children listened to Emma tell a story called ‘Rabunzel’. This story is a playful twist on the traditional tale of Rapunzel. It’s about a little rabbit with very, very long ears who discovers that the feature that makes her different can also be her greatest strength. The story encourages children to celebrate what makes them unique and see challenges as opportunities to discover what they are capable of.
In the story, the rabbit has to outwit a fox and other predators so some of the choices today were focussed on traps and other contraptions linked to the story. There was a cardboard box trap tied to a long rope which gave children a simple introduction to the idea of pulleys. During the session some children had the idea of trying to adapt it to “make people fly” by adding a handle bar. It was great to observe the inventiveness of this group and they came up with ideas to bring this invention to life. We also set up a large catapult which the children were able to launch our Forest Friends and pine cones from. Other children had fun making leaf rockets out of leaves, straws and cardboard. They had to solve problems along the way in order to make them work properly. Emma observed that children were being kind and helping each other with this. One child decided to change the design by adding two leaves and making it into a butterfly that flew off the straw. More inventiveness at play! Children in both year groups helped Carrie cut some very long branches that had come down in the storms over the summer. They used the bow saw together and now we have extra den building logs which are a more manageable size to work with. Last week some children showed an interest in rubbing sticks together to ‘make a fire’ so Emma brought a bow drill in to show them. (A bow drill is a primitive tool that uses friction to create heat by spinning a stick against a piece of wood.) The children were fascinated by it. Emma modelled how to use it and explained the different types of wood that are needed for it. Then some children had a turn at using it with Emma and they were very impressed that they managed to create some smoke! At the Closing Circle, children reflected on a moment they felt they had belonged during the session today. Then Emma taught them the second verse to ‘One by One the Leaves Are Falling’ and we were able to sing it in a round.
YEAR 5
To start, we had a chat about National Poetry Day which was today. The theme this year was wonder. Emma told the children about the wonder she experienced when she arrived this morning and saw the beautiful autumn sunlight hitting the log circle. Next, we introduced another team problem-solving challenge. This involved the class being in two teams and trying to launch a tennis ball off a tarpaulin. It required effective communication and working together to move the tarp in a specific way. Afterwards, we spent time discussing teamwork skills that we will continue to work on developing. After this, we continued with the poetry theme and Emma read some kenning poems with nature themes and the children guessed what they were about. Year 5 had learnt about kennings last week with Miss Simon so they had a good knowledge of them. Emma invited the children to create their own one based on something to do with Forest School and children had the choice to do this on their own or in pairs. The children really enjoyed writing them and read them out to the class for us all to guess their ‘What Am I’. It was evident that everyone had put a lot of effort and creativity into creating them. For the rest of the session, some children continued with their felting bowl projects. Pencils and paper were available for anyone who wanted to continue writing nature poetry. Some children chose to whittle with Carrie and she was pleased that they had remembered how to use the sheath knives from last year. Today Carrie taught them how to do a push cut and the children were very happy with the design they made on their sticks. Other children have asked to have more whittling practice so we will continue with this next week. Some children had fun experimenting with the box trap that we had created for Year 1 and 2 and a group of children continued developing their debris den together. During the Closing Circle, children reflected on a gratitude or wonder from today’s session.
RECEPTION
After our welcome routines, the children took part in a team challenge and nature hunt. Emma showed the class two large pieces of paper with the outline of a human body on each. The children decided that one was a girl and one was a boy. Children named them ‘Poppy’ and ‘Peter’. Then the children worked together in two groups to decorate the humans with different natural materials. Again, the objective for this was for the children to become more familiar with sourcing natural items for creative purposes. The children considered what they could use for the features of the face and other body parts. One child used some sticks and a feather to create a ukulele for Peter!After this, Emma read a story book called ‘Room For Us All’ by Lu Fraser. It is about a squirrel called Pamela being left out by a group of squirrels who keep making up different rules to exclude her and meeting a group of friends who accept her for who she is. The children shared their ideas about the different feelings Pamela experienced during the story and one child recognised that the group had been tricking Pamela. We discussed ideas for how we can make others feel welcome at Forest School in our different spaces. For the rest of the session, a lot of children chose to work with Emma. They used clay and sticks to make their own stick people creations. Emma observed that they took care with manipulating the clay and pinching it to make the features. They used herbs and leaves to decorate their creations. Emma modelled how they could use them as puppets and talk to each other. A few children started up little conversations between their characters which was a good opportunity for some speech and language practice and imaginative play. Other children enjoyed bark rubbing with crayons in the woods and some mud kitchen play. We had a large catapult today and the children had fun exploring it and firing some of the Forest Friends into the air. Carrie observed that some of the children have grown braver and more confident on the slackline.
To finish, the children took part in a sound and action regulation game.
Best wishes,
Carrie and Emma
