F f f f f Forest Dwellers (3)

Don't be fooled by the sunshine.  It was very bright and made the forest pretty but it did little to warm it up.

It was f f f freezing!  Quite literally.

Team work created this fabulous campfire and there were two kettles this week that were kept in the fire for hot drinks and washing water.  The fire and the hot drinks are really a make or break factor for me in the forest.  As long as I can warm by the fire and have a hot drink I am happy.  Obviously I do not run around as much as the kids, they were stripped down to T shirts, while I had gloves, cowl, woolly hat, two pairs of trousers and a funny walk!

This is the 'Tree House' how we left it last week, under the cover is our wood store.

This Sawing 'Horse' was in use almost all day.  The kids love sawing wood for the fire and the wood store.  I had a little go, there was no getting out of it, I was roped in as an assistant!  They have banned me from the ladder, rather flatteringly saying 'you can't come up Miss, you will break the ladder!'  I am not going to argue, I don't want to climb into the tree house anyway!  Once I am up I would have to get back down somehow!

This is one of the two rope swings, they are still popular.  The tape behind is the perimeter boundary line, the kids can go beyond as long as they ask first.  There is a massive area to play in so they are not really interested in going out of bounds.  We all gravitate around the fire mainly.

Lunch was another jolly civilised 'Al Fresco' affair.  We made sandwiches, ham, tuna, cheese, cucumber, lettuce and tomato...sadly the lettuce was frozen solid!  But iced grapes were refreshing.  I managed to stay on my feet this week but last weeks tumble was talked about and laughed about.  This week one of the kids fell twice, we ignored the swear word we heard as we are all only human after all.  They each made a bow and arrow and it was hard to tell who was having the most fun with them the adults or the children.  The bows and arrows were left in the forest for next week and using them is definitely a skill to be practiced.

By the time we left today the 'Tree House' had walls and a roof.  A 'carpet' was experimented with but it disguised the edge of the floor and when one of the boys nearly fell out of the house, they all decided carpet was not such a good idea.  I can not imagine what next week will bring, Wednesdays sure are the highlight of the week.  It is lovely to be out of the classroom and to see the children relaxed and happy, taking responsibility for themselves and others.  I had a chat with one boy today and he told me when he is a man he is going to drive to the forest with his dog and spend the day there, because his dog will love it.  Do you know what - I hope they will both love it!

Forest Dwellers (2)

Today I survived the second of ten 'Forest School' sessions.  It was great fun.  The crackle of a camp fire and the sting of it's smoke in your eyes.  The children lit their fires first time this week.  They must have wanted the Hot Chocolate and cups of tea pretty bad.

'Our' camp is just for us, one day a week for ten weeks.  This week was spent on home improvements.  A rain shelter that got called the 'annex' or the 'extension'.  The children also wanted to build a tree house off the ground.  Today they got the base/floor made and attached to the trees, they also made a ladder to climb up to the house.  The tree house doubles up to keep the wood supply dry underneath.  It is all getting pretty sophisticated.  The kids use saws sensibly and really get empowered with the freedom.  They loved the rope swings again and enjoyed tree climbing.  My photography was hopeless this week I will try much harder next week. They spent a good couple of hours pretending to be Ewoks.  A couple of boys role played magicians around the fire conjuring flames.  One boy tried to get comfortable under the 'table' for a sleep but the others were making 'too much noise'!

We all ate an 'Al Fresco' lunch and then we made toast on the fire, which tastes much better than toaster made toast of course.  I had just finished my second coffee of the day when I took the most spectacular fall.  Somebody put logs all over the floor in the forest!  I trod on one, it rolled and I went flying.  I did not hurt anywhere in particular because it was one of those falls where everywhere hits the floor at once.  Due to the unexpected nature of my tumble, the speed I was travelling and momentum I rolled too.  I came to a stop at the feet of a small, shocked looking boy!  I was really pleased that he didn't laugh but immediately and out of genuine concern asked me if I was ok.  What a gent!  I got up rather quickly and still had my coffee cup in my hand!  My trousers and coat were pretty filthy though!  I am really getting to old for this falling over at speed lark!  I am definitely too old for rope swings!   I think I am also too old for ladders and tree houses.  I am not to old for sneaking up on unsuspecting Ewoks though and scaring the daylights out of them with a loud roar!