This week we welcomed a new group to forest school. The cold, wintry weather could not dampen our spirits as we headed down the lane to forest school. As we went we talked about the things we may see. The children were adamant they would spot squirrels, foxes and deer but to our surprise the first animal we encountered was a horse. A very large, friendly horse. We stroked the horses nose and he really liked it. He also liked the children's bobble hats a lot too!

We followed the path further down and into our site. We were amazed to spot a squirrel run across the path and up into a tree. Now that the leaves have fallen from the trees we can see a lot more of the animals who live in the forest. As we continued our walk, Freddie and Dylan thought they could see eyes watching us from the bushes. We wondered what it may have been. Could it have been a bear or a tiger? We came to a small bridge with a river and followed it downstream in search of more wildlife. We stopped several times to listen to the sounds of the forest. We could hear the grasses brushing together and the branches rubbing on one another. We heard lots of birds and spotted a few robins and sparrows. Once on our forest school main site we listened again. The noises were different this time, the forest had become more dense and the sounds had changed. We decided to make our camp and have lunch. We chatted about where we would like to explore and the huge hill was first on several children's lists however this would have to be our first stop next week as the day was almost over. We walked back to our minibus. We had enjoyed our walk into forest school so much that we were now very tired. A little nap on the way back was just what some of the children needed. We look forward to climbing the huge hill next time!