Hello everyone, my name is Caroline, and I have been leading Forest School sessions at Stanhope Barrington C of E Primary School.
I hope you are keeping well, and finding things to keep you entertained in this strange time of ‘lock down’.
With the weather being so beautiful, and as I have a great love for the outdoors and all things ‘Forest School’ related, we’ve spent a lot of time outside as a family. As a mum to three energetic children, I am often on the look outlook for creative outdoor things to do with them. Here’s some of the things we have done recently that you might like to try at home too:
Make a mini kite:
1: Make a diamond shape from newspaper/tissue paper/plastic bag.
2: Sellotape/glue a cross shaped frame made from lightweight sticks (willow works well) to the diamond cut out.
3: Attach some string to the centre of the cross (to hold onto whilst flying it)
4: Add a tail to the bottom point of the kite, using ribbon or more newspaper. This helps the kite to balance in the wind and stops it from going round and round.
Now go outside and enjoy flying your kite. We found ourselves bursting into song, Mary Popping style: “Let’s go fly and kite…”
EXTRA: Make a bigger kite! Experiment with different lengths of tail / how is it best to attach the string / make the diamond shape out of different materials. Which flys best?
Balance stones:
Collect some stones on your daily walk and see how high a tower you can make.
How many stones can you build with before it topples over?
Have a competition with others in your home.
Make a den:
Using sticks, chairs, cardboard boxes, old sheets/blankets, string, rope etc. Try and be creative.
When I was a kid I loved to make dens (in fact I still do) and to imagine that I was living on a deserted island. Perhaps you could create a story, whilst sitting in your den, about where you imagine your den to be and the adventures you get up to. I always wanted to be part of the adventures in ‘Swallows and Amazons’.
RSBP Challenge:
In the forest school sessions at school we had been completing the RSPB challenges. This can also be done at home by signing up to the Family Wild Challenge.
It is a free resource and there are plenty of activities that you can get involved with which will help you connect with nature; bug house building, bird box making, bug hunting, bird cake recipe etc. Take a look and work towards your RSPB Wild Challenge Bronze award.
I hope you have as much fun doing these activities, as we have.
Take care,
Caroline
