This week was one of our favourites – fire week! The children are always very excited at the thought of cooking their lunch on the open fire and having yummy hot chocolate to keep us extra toasty. As we had some children who had never worked with us on a fire week before, we all chatted about how we would keep ourselves safe around the fire. We talked about using the correct routes in and out, how a fire is started, managed and extinguished and what safety equipment we use. Our oldest children knew all about safety and were able to support the younger children with this. We all sat down and Tara showed us how to use a flint to light the fire. It was then the children’s turn. Everyone did an amazing job at creating a little spark which could be used to light a fire. We definitely have some future forest school practitioners amongst us!

The children were then provided with a range of toppings for their pizzas. They chose which ones they wanted to place on top and then sprinkled it with cheese. These were then placed on the fire to cook. There was a lot of ‘yummy’ noises as the children enjoyed chomping down on them. Then it was hot chocolate and pudding time. This was extra special as it warmed us up perfectly. After lunch, we cleared away all of our rubbish and washed our dishes. We still had plenty of time so we headed into forest school. The children enjoyed skipping along the lanes, keeping their sharp eyes switched on as we looked out for deer, rabbits and squirrels. We did spot a couple of squirrels but soon it was time to leave. We also visited our river site which looked very bare in the wintery season. The children have decided that in the summer they would like to take their swimming costumes and goggles to forest school so they can go for a plodge!

On our way back to nursery, the children sat on our minibus and discussed their day. Forest school really is a magical experience for us all.