Today marks Beltane.  Beltane takes place on the 1st May every year as it is half way between spring equinox and summer solstice.  The word comes from  the Old Irish meaning ‘bright fire’ and the day is often known as May Day.   Beltane marks the transition between spring into summer and celebrates the light half of the year.  We heard a folktale about Beltane from the lowlands of Scotland.  Everyone listened really well and could explain that love conquered over the evil magic of the Queen of the Faeries.

The one of the Forest Schoolers lead us in a game of wink murder.  They carefully communicated the rules and clearly helped us understand the game.  We had to listen carefully to the instructions so we understood the rules – there were some new rules that the adults didn’t even know!  We were then taught how to hold and use a hammer correctly so we could do some hapa zome printing safely.  Quite literally meaning ‘leaf dye’, hapa-zome is the Japanese technique of smashing flowers and leaves into fabric.  It is great fun but takes focus and resilience.

Walking on a strap line is risky business, but once everyone knew how they could do this safely by supporting  one another, there was lots of fun that was had.

Last week, the children asked to make something with the wild garlic, or ransome as it is also known.  We tried a recipe to make ransoms pate which included sunflower seeds, olive oil, salt, lemon and ransome.  We try this on some oat cakes.  Everyone tried it and the verdict was mostly positive.  It had a very nutty taste and was not too garlicy.

We then went onto our free choice with activities including the muddy kitchen, hammocks, pond dipping (we think we caught a water scorpion!), wool craft, making ‘soap on a rope’ and some hide and seek in the woods.

Another great afternoon – see you all next week.