Now that was a really busy afternoon. From fire lighting, bread making, tugs of war and games of bats and moths to muddy kitchen and leaf identification, we barely had time to blink!
First up, we learnt about how bats use sonar to hunt their prey. Our ‘bats’ had to keep their eyes closed and listen carefully for the ‘moth’ who had a shaker. Everytime the moth moved, it had to shake the shaker. The bat listened carefully and try and catch them whilst still having their eyes shut. It was great fun and really tuned us into our hearing sense. Then some quick leaf identifications.
It was the children’s turn to set up the fire circle; sticks were collected, water fetched, steels retrieved, fire proof gloves put out ready and the first aid kit was in its position. It was amazing how quickly the fire was lit – even after one session of using steels, everyone’s skills were incredible. It was wonderful to see some children ask to challenge themselves and light the cotton wool in the scallop shells rather than the shovel; this requires lots of accuracy and precision.
We had a couple of chefs who took on the challenge of following the recipe to make camp fire bread dough. They independently followed the recipe; even the flat battery of the scales did not phase them.
Meanwhile, we had a team of whittlers creating cooking sticks ready for cooking the bread dough.
And of course, there were other child led activities happening at the same time; rope throwing, muddy kitchen and even a tug of war. We now have a tug of war expert who showed an interest in playing this. So much so, he went and researched the rules and then explained to others how to play the game using brilliant communication skills.
Then it was cooking time. The fire just about helds its heat long enough for all of us to sample at least some of the bread. Apparently, the warm bread was very nice!
Some more bread making was requested next week as not everyone had the chance to cook their own dough. Another wonderful week Forest Schoolers. Well done.