#forestschooluk

[hackneyoutdoors]

One of my son’s favourite parts of #forestschool are the team games! Here he is showing the poses for Goblins, Wizards & Fairies - a more (random) but team -led take on Paper, Scissors, Stone. ⠀ ⠀ How to: Get a group of 10-12 or so kids, and separate into two teams of 5-6. Drop a tarpaulin between them like a curtain so they can’t see the other, and then ask them decide whether their team will pose as Goblins, Fairies or Wizards. Once they’ve struck a team pose- drop the tarp and reveal the poses / which team wins! You see (obviously) Goblins beat Wizards as they climb up their beards, Wizards beat Fairies as they zap them with their wands, and Fairies beat Goblins as they go up their noses. And repeat!⠀ ⠀ More: Okay... so the nature message is .. limited here shall we say but it’s awesome for ice breaking in a group, getting kids to work together to decide which pose they’ll take as a team to ‘beat’ the other team, and dealing with winning/losing/ emotional control. It’s also just great to get kids to play organised games - it feels brilliantly positively old school. ⠀ ⠀ I had to play this with the boy all the way home from the park the other day as he loves it so much - we were getting some pre-tty odd looks from passers by! I also got trounced! ⠀ ⠀ #forestschoolideas #forestschool #forestschooluk #outdoorlearning #teambuilding #scouting #games #keystage1 #getoutdoors #hackneyoutdoors #familyactivities #wizards #fairies #goblins https://www.instagram.com/p/CQvV_L2Hhd3/?utm_medium=tumblr

[hackneyoutdoors]

My son reckons I’m hoggin’ the blog so here he is demonstrating HIS new firelighting skills (as passed on by me!). He LOVED this! #firelighting #forestschoolideas #forestschool #forestschooluk #outdoorlearning #flintandsteel #camping #scouting #resilience #firestarter #keystage1 #outdooreducation #science #stem https://www.instagram.com/p/COzhZ9QnJFE/?igshid=1fjimo6izsg5k

[hackneyoutdoors]

I absolutely love the ‘natural’ woodland play area at Hainault Forest Country Park. It’s a series of climbing ropes hung from Hornbeam trees that encourage kids (and adults) to scramble around testing their strength and balance. Of course we always all have a go when we visit!⠀ ⠀ It’s been making me think about the Forest School principle of encouraging suitably risky play. If play comes without risk for some kids it loses it edge and ceases to become interesting; so no wonder some kids give up on the outdoors if we watch over them every moment, and don’t let them test their limits climbing a tree or balancing on a log.⠀ ⠀ It’s tough sometimes - as a mum of an only I have tended to ‘hover’ - but if the floor is soft; if the trees & branches are stable; if the kids know how to safely climb or scramble (like climbing, move one hand or foot at a time!), I’ve done enough to help him balance fear with exhilaration. He might fall and and get a scrape or bruise but the learning about what worked and what didn’t - and getting it right next time - is great for his growth mindset and resilience. ⠀ ⠀ #riskyplay #naturalplay #growthmindset #resilience #forestschooluk #outdoorlearning #outdooreducation #getoutdoors #wellness #switchoff #hackneyoutdoors #hainaultforestcountrypark #deepplay #roughandtumble #climbing (at Hainault Forest Country Park) https://www.instagram.com/p/COICHJUHod1/?igshid=yabdyzi1gqi1

[hackneyoutdoors]

Journey stick time! So we walked the northern Parkland Walk on Saturday last, from Muswell Hill up to Alexandra Park, and decided to make a family journey stick to help us remember our walk. I love making journey sticks. They are a great way to encourage you and/ or others to notice your environment when out walking (& not just check your emails) - and when completed, are a lovely memory prompt for your walk and all its little details. ⠀ ⠀ How to: Plan your walk, and at its start, find a decent sized stick. Take your secateurs in case you need to trim it. Then - walk, notice, and scavenge anything you find interesting, tying it to your stick with jute twine or rubber bands. My son found most of what we discovered and placed on our stick during our Parkland Walk trip - he was super proud also to be given two stickers by the Friends of Alexandra Park so they were added on. We also found some interesting shrubs in Ally Pally Park which he wanted to include such as the Viburnum & the "Tasselly Thing" (a Coast Silk Tassel?) as well as more obvious Winter holly & berries and ivy. Then, bring your stick home & display it somewhere for as long as you like. This one is now in our front yard looking suitably Pagan. ⠀ ⠀ More: Next time we go out I am going to encourage my son to do his own stick rather than a shared one. When we do it together I notice tend to want to edit it to my own style and he’s getting to an age where, if he wants to tie a clump of found dog hair to it (yes we found some!) he should just do it - if it’s not dangerous to him or others, why not, and at the moment every walk we do does involve him patting about 5 million dogs! It’s super important to let them lead with their own ideas as in the end, it has more meaning & memory value. Secondly I have also learnt, I am NEVER touching Viburnum again! I had an allergic reaction to it, later on, lots of sneezing! A reminder to take care about what you add to your stick especially if you get hayfever or similar. ⠀ ⠀ #friluftsliv #journeystick #forestschoolideas #forestschooluk #outdoorlearning #outdooractivities #outdooradventures #walking #hiking #alexandrapalace #parklandwalk #hackneyoutdoors #rewilding https://www.instagram.com/p/CIiG5RCBAQl/?igshid=n6veiaf0i9hm

[hackneyoutdoors]

So excited - I just got all the details through of my Forest School Assistant training which is kicking off in Feb at the Stave Hill Ecological Park near Rotherhithe. We’ll be learning how to support children & young people’s learning, resilience & wellness, and revisiting/much improving on the Duke of Edinburgh training I did years ago about making fires, building shelters and so on. I’m really interested in how as an adult I can help young people build a relationship with - & respect of -nature as part of a strategy to better deal with our sometimes stressful ‘always on’ world. But first of all I’ve got to buy some books & do some background reading! Off to Hive Books to order! ⠀ ⠀ #forestschool⠀ #forestschooluk⠀ #forestschoolideas⠀ #outdoorlearning ⠀ #outdooractivites ⠀ #bushcraft ⠀ #bushcraftkids ⠀ #rewilding ⠀ #hackneyoutdoors ⠀ #wellness https://www.instagram.com/p/CIVHUZgD3LM/?igshid=1pxza5r3anizy

[hackneyoutdoors]

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Perhaps not on a rainy day, but another fun late summer to early autumn outdoor activity is crabbing! 🦀 Crabbing is where you use a crab line to catch young crabs from the sea. You can then give them a good look-over, before you pop them back into the water. The fun is all about how many you catch! There are lots of places to go crabbing near to London - we would recommend Mersea Island Jetty however (more on Mersea Island in another post!) though we caught these in Selsey. But as you can (perhaps) hear from this video, crabbing can be quite exciting stuff... How To: Buy a non-plastic crabbing line, perhaps from @georgeswhitstable , and grab some bacon for bait (crabs LOVE bacon). Also, find a quality net (ideally an extendable one) and a light coloured or transparent bucket. Next, find a good crabbing spot at low tide. Rockpools, harbours and so on are good - small crabs hide out in these spots. Pop your bacon and some small stones into the bag at the end of the line, lower the line into the water, and wait. Et voila, you should get a nibble! Use your net to carefully catch the crab and pop it into your bucket. Now catch another! After you have identified and watched them for a while, quickly pop them back in. Watch out for crafty seagulls waiting to eat your freshly released crabs! More: We asked a lot of questions during this activity such as, what sort of crab is it? How many legs has it got/ how do you know its a crab? We had an identification book and an app, so could easily find out the crabs above were common shore crabs or European green crabs. #crabbing #shorecrabs #greencrabs #forestschooluk #seaside #shoreschooluk #crabs #beach #foraging #getoutside #outdoorlearning #natureplay #science #switchon (at Selsey Seafront) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFjfnjKh2WU/?igshid=cwzzaazkvtqx

[hackneyoutdoors]

Today is the autumn equinox! What is an equinox I hear you ask? Good question, as once I started to get interested in understanding the #wheeloftheyear, I needed to look it up! It’s when day and night are of equal length and the sun hovers over the equator. There are two a year - the spring equinox in March, and today’s autumn equinox (in the northern hemisphere). Welcoming the start of autumn is a chance to take a moment to mark the passage of time, notice the changes around us, and reflect and rest as we recover from the exertions of the summer - well, in theory.... unless you have kids.. To celebrate the equinox today I’d recommend reading the poem, ‘Conker’ from the incredible Lost Words book from the @johnmuirtrust #art #forestschooluk #primaryschool #scouting #outdoorlearning #homeschool #familyactivity #childrenplay #forestschoolideas #connectingwithature #hackney #hackneyoutdoors #gowild #mumandson #rewildyourself #poetry #books #lostwords #equinox #autumnequinox #conkers #wheeloftheyear #pagan #mabon #storytelling #reading #literacy #rainyday #autumn https://www.instagram.com/p/CFbvvIfj1-J/?igshid=xwcoot3429zw

[hackneyoutdoors]

We have enjoyed foraging blackberries a couple of times during the late summer in the wonderful Tottenham Marshes. But we have had different reasons for our efforts! My son enjoys making natural ink at home afterwards from his crop. How to: Mash & strain 1/2 cup of blackberries, add half a teaspoon of vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. And your ink is done! To write with the ink, create your own quill. Find a decent sized feather, give it a clean and snip the pointy end at a 45 degree angle (also, a good opp to chat angles!). Dip the quill into the ink and you can help your child practice their writing in a very special way! More: This activity is also a good opportunity to discuss history. I discovered while researching this activity that soldiers in the American civil war used to create their own berry inks to write home as they had no access to manufactured inks. Pretty inventive! #art #literacy #writing #history #forestschooluk #rainyday #quarantine #playideas #kidsoutdoors #foraging #naturalink #connectingwithnature #hackney #hackneyoutdoors #tottenhammarshes #rewildyourself #civilwar #primaryschool #scouting #familyactivities #forestschoolideas #kidsoutdoors #outdoorclassrooms #blackberries🍇 #londonoutdoors #london #maths https://www.instagram.com/p/CFRfO-jgp7-/?igshid=1wmx5fvcyjwzz