Today the children had a wonderful day at forest school. Our day started with the children entering forest school and immediately spotting two beautiful deer. We then started to talk about animal homes and what type of animals live in the woodland. The children had some extraordinary ideas. One child decided they wanted to venture up the big hill but it was rather tricky as the only access was a small stick bridge which had a pond on one side and a swamp on the other. With adult support the children all made it over and we were off. We immediately spotted some deer footprints; we were clearly on the right track. We headed up the hill and discovered some small, round, black balls. They looked like little pebbles but eventually we realised they were actually rabbit poo! We started to look at where the rabbits might live and to our amazement we found lots of little holes in the hillside. We then spotted something else. A huge sand pile at the top of the hill. Tara climbed up (as it was extremely steep) and took some photos for us to look at. What type of animal might live here? We aren’t sure yet but we think it might be a fox or a badger! The ideas continue!
The children wanted to climb the hills even higher but this hill was very steep and would be a challenge. One by one, the children attempted the climb. Once at the top ,the children cheered on their peers, providing huge encouragement to persevere. We have the most amazingly kind friends in preschool.
As we sat for lunch the children noticed a bird circling us above. The bird was huge and very beautiful. We thought it may have been a sparrowhawk as we are aware these birds live in the forest. After lunch we discovered some soil hills dotted around along the ground. One of the children explained, they are mole holes and the moles live inside. We counted them 1,2,3…..18, 19 and then we lost track, there were so many! We decided to head down to the pond where we could see some movement. Maybe it was a shark or a crocodile someone suggested. We thought about the types of animals which might live in the pond and overall, we decided the pond must be full of frogs! It is almost springtime, so you never know. Then we had a rather special moment, our little friend Stevie the robin paid us a visit. Stevie often comes to visit us at forest school, on the allotment and in the nursery garden (even if he does look slightly different each time!). The children were thrilled to see their little friend and quietly whispered “Hello Stevie” so they didn’t frighten him away. Sadly, our day had come to an end but what a busy one it had been and full of adventures and wonder.