UKS2 – Knots and Hammocks – Forest School

We had to make some changes to the planned lesson today with torrential heavy downpours, hail storms and gusts of up to 50mph but the children have done wonderfully well considering! We began by learning our third knot of the year – the sliding knot! This one is perfect for quickly adjusting ropes to either tighten or slacken them as required. These knots are used for attaching hammocks to trees which is our ultimate aim this half-term. Following a quick demonstration, we practiced making sliding knots on sticks and table legs before creating mini hammocks using the tables for stick characters we created. There were some rules for the hammock challenge including it had to be attached using 4 sliding knots, it had to be level and take the weight of the stick characters – all important features for when we upscale this session next time! There was some amazing teamwork, problem solving and communication skills in the groups which allowed them to pitch a hammock correctly whilst there were some very creative stick characters – including Superhero Gerald, Miss Fashion and Taylor Swift even made an appearance! Well done UKS2. 

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