1st-7th Nov
We had a lovely relaxing but productive half term and I really enjoyed being able to spend some quality time with my son. We made a mud kitchen together and took it to our Forest School grounds. My son loves making and creating as much as I do so he was really pleased to help me with this project. Our first session after half term went well and the children were very excited by the mud kitchen. This week because we have just had Halloween the children wanted to make magic wands, so we had a go at some basic whittling using potato peelers. I was so impressed with how they responded to the tool talks, and they sat and really concentrated as they made them. It was a lovely, focused activity that they all wanted to be involved in. After making the wands they played some wonderful imaginary games pretending to be magicians, fairies, and wizards. They all have bonded so well together, and it feels like a community is being created. Behaviour 1 essay magic wands.
I have also continued working on my behaviour essay and I am finding it really interesting, but it is getting increasingly difficult to find time to work on it and I am having to plough through at the weekend, and I am very thankful for my understanding family who have allowed me to work.
8th-14th Nov
This week I have continued work on my behaviour essay and we had a super Forest School session on Monday we made spiders from conkers, and we used a hand drill to make holes and added pipe cleaners for legs. The children also made spider webs and enjoyed playing in the leaves and making forts and a base. The mud kitchen has really captured one member of the group and it is so lovely watching them play and interact with each other. We also made a spell for Forest School and the children came up with so many wonderful things. They are really loving the sessions and I can really see them developing socially and are more Intune with the environment.
15th-21st Nov
The essay is nearly done and this week we are thinking about hibernation. We have added a Hedgehog house to the grounds, and it looks like we might have a resident which is so exciting. I am going to order a night camera to see if we can capture some of the wildlife around at night. The nights are really drawing in and it has a very positive affect upon the group they seem calmer and love playing in the dark, they all have headtorches now and it will be fun to play more games in the dark. I did get some glow on the dark rope, and we followed the rope through the ground s on a night adventure. We made hedgehogs this week from wood and created spikes by hammering in nails. They were again careful and listened to the tool talk and worked with great concentration. Really impressed with them all.
22nd-28th Nov
The essay is done and now I have begun to think about the second behaviour essay I need to write. This week the children have asked to find out more about nocturnal animals they would also like a treasure hunt so I am combining the two and will have nocturnal animals hidden around the grounds and they will follow clues. We are also going to have some fun with shadow puppets and will play with lights and shapes we can make with shadows.
