‘Little Gems’(Title inspired by Kim Hudson-Inspiring Outdoors who ran a brilliant workshop with the same title at a previous event)

A collection of ideas and activities shared by Derbyshire County Council’s Derbyshire Forest School Day 2014 participants

Books The Smelly Sprout by Allan Plenderleith

Songs Five little squirrels sitting in a tree (loud and drum on knees)Hey Mr Foxy you can’t catch me (loud and drum on knees)Along came a fox and quiet as can be (whisper this line)Snap! (Leader can make snap action at different points around the circle)How many squirrels are there sitting in a tree (count down on fingers, 4,3,2,1 and then no more squirrels sitting in a tree)

Activities

Eco Printing/Hapa Zome Cotton fabric HammerGreen leaves/flowers/grasses etc

Place leaves/flowers under fabric (or sandwich in between for symmetrical pattern) and hammer the top of the fabric. Green imprints of leaves will print onto the fabric, petals will add colour.

Tips:-Lily Horseman has summarized this activity in a Forest School context on her blog here http://kindlingplayandtraining.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/hapa-zome-beating-up-leaves-with.html

Suggestions:

A great Christmas activity

- Hide lots of sprouts around your Forest School base (skewered on twigs etc.) and ask children to find them by exploring the different woodland layers. If they aren’t found they will happily biodegrade.

- For an extension activity fill containers with the found sprouts. Guess how many etc.

Lanterns

-One attendee had tried this allowing children to bring their own hammers which was very popular-Try making a blackberry dyed chess board, use fern prints to create Christmas cards, wrap a stick in each end (either sew a loop, tape or staple) to create a banner or a flag, make bunting, make chunky card stencils to create printed letters-A light iron will help in retaining the colour (fades quite quickly otherwise but can draw/sew around shapes created)

Natural Dye -Experiment with making and using natural dyes-Tie dye t-shirts to take home or wear at FS

Friendship Bracelets Take 2 pieces of wool, 2 people twist these together then pinch the middle and allow the wool to twist around itself.

- Length of the wool is key to making a final piece that can be tied together to make a bracelet

- Can hang wool in the trees to be found as Dragons breath, snot, blue covered wool has been left by the rain fairy etc.

Squirrels Party -Cut the bottoms off large fizzy drinks bottles-Hole punch and add a string handle-Marvin/PVA leaves or tissue decoration-Add electric nightlights and hang in the trees

Brightens up a dark, dank winter FS session!

Animal Masks Choose different animals to link in with the environment or current topics. Split groups into hiders and seekers.

Sticks for Kindling Challenge group/individuals to make Waffle Twig Towers Could adapt this to suit but might suggest twigs are no thicker than thumb and length is roughly distance between elbow and fingertip. Is stick likely to pass the snap test? Who can build the tallest tower, is it a race, can be used to start fire or dried for next session.

Leaf Boats

Party Hats Laminate (although don’t need to do this if dry) strips of card and add a strip of double sided tape. Connect 2 together to create a snug fitting crown/hat. Add woodland treasure to the strip for party hats.

Magic Carpets To go to the fairy kingdom create a magic carpet from natural materials. All repeat Fairy Kingdom x 4, clapAll now flying, wave goodbyeHeave entrance open etc.

A ‘Fairy jar’ is planted high in a tree. It glows what could it be? (Fishing lights) Fairies, a witch? How could we get them out? Spells, wands etc.

Mole Hills Turned into castles and forts, tactile for sifting, adding conkers and twigs to decorate, a group made a dragon from an area full of mole hills.

Mud Monsters Make the mud the correct consistency, make the face on a tree, decorate with leaves etc.

Class yr5/6 create Mud Monsters independently for a story. Great results from a group who were not only very productive working on this in the classroom but were also writing stories at home.

Mud Cakes Use wooden discs (cookies) to make mud cakes on. Gruffallo Party

Puppets 1) Using wooden cookies, drill through these and connect to make puppets. Create a woodland stage.2) Marionette Peacock/Emu – This can make use of wood left over from making mallets. Parts are fiddly.Discs/cookies for 2 feetThicker log for body String to connectV-shaped twig for head including beak shapeFern/twigs/leaves to be attached for the tailCross of twigs and string to connect (Does anyone have a picture of one of these to be included here!?)

Woodland Bloom After an introduction to the structure of a flower use a stick as the stalk and tie leaves, blooms etc. on. Result is a posy to take home.

Baddies and Superhero’s Create characters in the mud during free time or from sticks. Inspired by books such as ‘The Hobbit’ can hide treasure, make masks etc. to expand this.

Spider Web A good warm up activity useful for gauging the mood, who is likely to be silly, shy etc. Children stand in a circle and the spider weaves the web, around and across the circle. Who can cross the web etc.?

Weaving Using roll up garden trellis as frame go on a woodland walk to collect weaving materials to weave in.

Spider Dig a big circle and pile debris in the middle. Move large pieces of wood as a group to make a spider.

Medallions If group enjoy making medallions they could make one each session to display as a journey or an Elder bead each session.

Superheroes/Lucy Ladybird Lucy Ladybird lives in the magic tree. Goo on the gate corn flour and dye) led to the magic tree. Something’s happened to Lucy Ladybird. Superheroes to find ladybird and rescue her.

Frames Use crossed sticks (Mexican or Gods Eye information on internet) or shield design (for a sports or fantasy aspect). Use square lashing to create a stick frame, items can be added by tying them on or laying the frame on the ground.

Habitats Use found materials to make animal habitats. What makes a home a habitat? Hedgehog, bird, spider.

Paper Book http://rubberstamping.about.com/od/Paper_Folding/ss/How-To-Make-A-Mini-Book.htmThis can be used for many purposes. Including adding double sided sticky tape and adding woodland treasure or capturing views from the woods perhaps by looking N,E,S,W, up, down (see 7 directions prayer below)

7 Directions Prayer http://thejewelledsky.com/articles/mayan-prayer/

Map and record sensory information

Charcoal Making - There are a number of different methods of making drawing charcoal on a small scale usually placing sticks in a tin or wrapping in foil. The trick is to carbonise them without them burning. A google search will give you some ideas. You could also use the charred and cooled left overs from previous fires to draw with.

Lots of activity ideas published by Forest School Scotlandhttp://www.foresteducation.org/images/uploads/forest_school_scotland_8.pdf

And there are also some fantastic boards on Pinterest

Site Ideas- For areas with few mature trees shelter building posts can be used

(http://fagleyforestschool.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/reef-knots-and-rope-bridges.html?m=1) - Signs, On a wooden slab place drawing pins to mark out letters, blow torch over to burn wood, when cool remove

pins and cover with PVA/varnish

Team Games- Tarps on the floor are alien slime. The group must find a way to get across without touching it.- Tree Matching- Take a rope and lay it around a stump or tree making 2 separate lengths, in 2 groups hold the rope (don’t let go)

make a knot.- Human Knot http://www.wikihow.com/Play-the-Human-Knot-Game

Theme Ideas Giant Theme

Use the theme of giants to frame a programme. Hunt for signs of their presence. If they are foes (rather than friendly) the group may need to make swords, pyro graph names on swords, at the end of the programme ‘knight’ each member of the group with their sword which they then keep.

Stick Man Create a ‘Missing’ poster featuring real stick men/women (about 3) that you have hidden around the woods (make them quite difficult to find). Chocolate coins are offered as a reward, how will these be split? Link the stick people in to current events and planned activities over the course of the programme, for example a group are currently creating a stickman football pitch for the world cup!

Reflection and Review ActivitiesSong to sing as parents are arriving to collect children, everyone can join in

What did you do in the woods today, woods today?Helen taught us a song today, a song today, hey!

Can slap hands on knees as singing (keep warm!) and can go round whole group prompting where necessary. A great way of recalling and sharing all of the activities that have taken place during a session.

For foundation stage, during first session hang pictures of stick characters in trees, children to find these and as a group make up a story. Review the story together.

As more items are introduced to sessions, hang pictures of tools/fires/other stories in trees. Use these to prompt discussion at the beginning of sessions and review at the end to talk about new skills and information learned. Could progress to children making and hanging their own pictures for others to find and all to discuss.

Capture ‘wow’ moments of the day and display them at the entrance to woodland or collection point.

Can be difficult to play verbal games around the fire with special needs groups. Have a box with a mirror in, pass around the circle, can you find a smile etc. (an autistic child who customarily talks in third person, looked in box with mirror and exclaimed it’s me! Literally ‘reflective’ practice!)

Forest School Practitioner Recommendations Clothing - ‘Dickies’ trousers with knee pads (now offer a women’s fit)