A new group of forest schoolers enjoyed stepping out into the woodland today. The weather was a little warmer, the sun was a little brighter and the birds enjoyed singing to us as we entered our site. We stood and listened to the beautiful bird song before preparing our camp for the day. As we set up, we heard a strange sound. Sara thought it was the sound of a deer who was stuck. Another child thought the deer may need rescued. We immediately planned a rescue mission to help the deer. We left all of our kit at our camp and headed towards the swamp on the far side of our site. The previous group of children had constructed a bridge across the swamp but it was quite a muddy day so we added more branches to it in order to cross.
The children worked in pairs and groups to transport some of the larger branches to add to the bridge. Once our bridge was secure, it was time to cross and find the deer who was stuck!
As we crossed, we listened again for the sound of the deer so we could work out which direction we should head in. We were unable to hear anything so we decided to use our 1,2,3, Where are you? game to see if the deer could hear us. One child said he could hear the deer so we headed off again towards the larger part of the swamp. We came to a small waterfall which we needed to cross. We supported one another to cross, carefully remembering how to move across water and down hills. Knee bending is the way!
As we walked along, we began to look for clues as to the deers whereabouts. We spotted something on the ground, a pile of deer poo! We must be on the right track. We continued up the hill where Zack found some reindeer food. If the deer were anywhere, they must be nearby!
After lunch, the children decided they would like to explore their site. Some children wanted to climb trees whilst others wanted to explore the pond. Some children found an amazing tree which provided some low overhanging branches to turn into a house. We began by clearing it out and then using the fallen branches to create a roof. We are really looking forward to continuing our roof building and tree climbing next week.
