The children in key stage one have shared some fabulous Forest school activities with us that have been completed at home. Kian and Autumn shared their completed spotter sheets and many children have told me about the different birds who visited their gardens over the weekend.

Ellie in Y2 drew a map of her journey which was inspired by a map she saw by Grayson Perry at the British Museum!

Ellie also extended her learning by making a bug using some of the catkins, moss and twigs that she collected on her walks, how fantastic! We love your creativity Ellie!

Here are some of the interesting items I found on my wonderful winter hunt. Look at that unusual fungus I spotted growing on a tree next to the Meanwood Beck. I googled it and it seems to be the species of fungus called Tremella Foliacea. Common names for it include Jelly leaf, Leafy brain and Brown witch’s butter! It’s apparently thought to be edible, but I don’t think it looks very appetising!

We really enjoy seeing what fun outdoor learning you have got up to at home! Please send your pictures and videos for us to share at forestschool@allertonceprimary.com

We are forecast snow and freezing temperatures again this week. Could you add some ice art to your wintery garden or balcony?

The instructions suggest putting it into the freezer, but I wonder whether we could experiment by putting it outside overnight? The weekend might be a good time for this we are due to experience overnight temperatures well below freezing.

How could you personalise your ice art? How about adding some fresh herbs or wild berries for the bids to eat once it has started to melt? You could experiment with different sized and shaped containers. Which works best and why? What other pretty winter objects could you add?
Please send pictures of your creations to: forestschool@allertonceprimary.com

How many of you took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch over the weekend? Please share your observations with us!

Last week my Forest school groups enjoyed learning about different birds and identifying them by their appearance and bird calls. Whilst sitting out in the school quiet garden, we closed our eyes and could hear up to six different birdsongs and calls at once in the afternoon. We noticed lots of larger birds such as magpies, crows, woodpigeons and common gulls out on our school field.

Now that we know a little more about our feathered friends, why not invite more birds into your garden by hanging out food for them. Here is an example of a bird feeder you can create at home:

Please send your pictures and comments for us to share at: forestschool@allertonceprimary.com

This week’s whole school challenge is to go out on a winter hunt in your local area. How many of the items on the sheet can you find? How adventurous can you be at extending your learning?
Have a go at these challenges from your phase Forest School leader:

Miss Brahman’s challenge for Nursery and Reception: As you walk around doing your winter hunt, can you use your senses to talk about what you see, smell, hear and feel. Can you tell me what your favourite winter discovery is and why?

Mrs Colea’s challenge for KS1: Could you draw a map of your walk and plot the location your discoveries? Maybe write or make a video of you telling a short story about your journey or the animals who live in the area.

Miss Slater’s challenge for KS2: How creatively can you share your findings? Pic collage, poem, story, vlog or something else?

The printable resource and lots of other lovely outdoor leaning activities can be found here:

http://www.treetoolsforschools.org.uk/activities/pdfs/pdf_winter_spotter_sheet.pdf

Please send your creations, photos or videos to the Forest school teachers for us to share on the blog at forestschool@allertonceprimary.com.

In December the children used sticks to create Christmas decorations. This task required great concentration and resilience, as tying the sticks together was very tricky! I observed some excellent team work during this activity.

In our final week before the holidays the children completed a ‘Follow the Star’ activity which was inspired by the story of Baby Jesus.

The children worked as a group to search for stars hung around the school grounds. Each star had an activity to complete before they could move onto the next one.

The children took turns to read the instructions, which included a combination of movement, mathematics and team building activities. The children loved this session!

During the colder months we take lots of movement breaks to warm up our bodies outdoors. Our favourite games are ‘What Time is it Mr Wolf?’ and ‘Pip, Squeek, Wilfred’.

We also sing lots of songs using the percussion instruments to create sounds of the winter weather such as rain, wind and thunder.

As the season became more wintery the children started to notice some beautiful early evening sunsets. We used chalk to create our own sunset pictures with charcoal silhouette trees. The children focused on the bare branches of the trees in school to guide their drawings.

During the Autumn term the new KS1 Forest School groups enjoyed exploring the school woodland environment. They used their senses to notice the signs of Autumn. They particularly enjoyed creating ‘leaf showers’ and singing along to Autumn songs with percussion instruments.

Once many of the leaves had fallen, we collected them up and used them to create animal pictures. We used our book story book ‘Leaf Man’ as inspiration.

The children also worked in pairs to complete scavenger hunts focussing on textures. Our favourite team games included The Echo Game and Simon Says.