Outdoor Chronicles 12th March 2021

Beach School:

The children were in great spirits as they walked down to the beach. ‘Let’s play with TT’ they exclaimed. Of course, their first task was to find TT. Oh no, she was there covered in rope and plastic. It can be dangerous at sea so Leonora and the children discussed the importance of removing rubbish from the beach. We bought along some litter pickers too, just in case because as eco-warriors, the beach team knew how to keep the beach tidy. The tide was out and there was a lot more beach to explore. The children wanted to let TT have another swim and found a small stream of water. When they put TT in, they explored the surface because unlike the rest of the beach, there was sand appearing. With some wooden spoons, they splished and splashed and played with the sand, all the while watching that TT was safe. After her swim, she needed a shower. Some of the children had climbed onto a wall higher than the beach the rest of us were on. They took off their shoes and kicked the small stones, showering them over TT. We experimented catching the small stones in our hands too and even in our wellies! Some of the team collected shells and treasures for our beach museum back at nursery while others enjoyed stories about pirates. It was a magical beach session.

In the workshop, the children have developed so much independence with the tools. They can select the tools they need and use them independently. When it comes to using the saw, the children are now able to work in pairs to assist their friends, using the safe sawing tactic ‘to me, to you’, which they find very funny. The children used their sawed cork cuttings as loose parts to make their own TT (turtle) and they added hooks so that they could hang the tools up when not in use. Well done!

Forest School:

As we all walked to Forest School we noticed a Robin singing in the trees and it got us thinking about the birds and how they nest high up in the tree tops. The children talked about nests and stopped to look up above in the trees. We did indeed spot a huge nest at the top of the tree.
Leonora and the children looked around using their periphery vision, like an owl. They looked up, down and to the sides and tried to see as far as they could without moving their heads or bodies.
In the mood for a song, they all sang like owls especially flapping their wings and flying around.
The children knew that the rain was coming, so insisted on putting up a ‘tent’. They all checked the area for the best spot and as a team, everybody helped to set up a mini shelter.
There was a new game introduced which the children loved – ‘123 Where are you?’ It’s like Hide & Seek but it relies on listening skills. What a fun filled session it was!

Kitchen Garden

This week at the Kitchen Garden, we were VERY busy! We sewed lots of onion garlic and garlic bulbs, aubergines, peas and tomato seeds. The children really got to grips with the reason for our polytunnel and learning all about how the vegetables will grow. We have also been on some wonderful, relaxed nature walks and spotted some new flowers growing for spring time. The children saw some yellow flowers on our walk and when we got back to the cosy cabin we looked it up and found out that they were daffodils! The children also discovered some insects whilst exploring – notably a lovely caterpillar, which the children proceeded to build a home for. We discussed what the caterpillar might like to eat, where it lives and what it will turn into. Finally, once the children had sewed some peas in their growing patch, they suggested we make a sign – which we did (great idea). The sign reads ‘Please don’t stand here, peas growing.’ Straight to the point!