Wellbeing Wednesday – Forest School

This morning the younger group enjoyed using loose parts whilst sheltering from the rain in the poly tunnel. To begin with, we created faces which reflected our feelings and mood over the half-term holiday. We all had to guess what kind of holiday each of us had experienced, either a happy, okay or sad holiday, then we explained why we felt like we did and the events that caused our feelings. The second activity was to use loose parts to make an animal and again we had to guess what animal had been made. This really helped our understanding that loose parts can be anything we want them to be – one minute a teasel head was an ear on a person’s head and the next it was a hedgehog or a lion’s razor-sharp teeth! Finally, children were tasked to create a collage of images based on things they did in their half-term break which made them feel happy on an A3 piece of paper using only loose parts. We had some wonderful creations from rollercoasters to football goals and from ninja warrior to Minecraft characters on an iPad. The older pupils discussed eco-systems and the importance of every living thing – including the minute and microscopic and the role they play in nature. After this, they used a variety of materials such as pebbles, soil and living moss to create their own terrariums and eco system to bring nature indoors. Children had to think carefully about the different layers and the depth of each layer as well as how to create a mini water cycle inside their glass jar. They were all super proud of their creations and were excited to take them home to keep.

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