Location, Location, Location

While our ultimate goal is student exploration and discovery, careful planning by the adults makes a difference in the possible depth of those child centered experiences. As parents, you make sure your child gets a good night's sleep and comes dressed in appropriate layers...as teachers we make sure to pack supplies conducive for that day's weather and location. A lot of thought goes into making those decisions. Dorian, Jason, and I reflect on recent Forest School observations, thinking about the students both individually and as a group. We think about questions they asked, discoveries they made and frustrations they experienced. We use this information to build and enhance our next experience. Recently, I have been thinking  a lot about the importance of location. I love the days where we make a camp...designated with boundaries from which the students can roam freely. I enjoy scouting new areas for the perfect site... a place that will both reinforce past experiences and introduce new possibilities. Our Carpenter Wood camp was one of those sites. 

From the broadest viewpoint, Carpenter Woods provides a location close to school, has a shallow creek for creek walking and water play, has multiple trails for hiking and as a bird sanctuary, is filled with a wide range of bird species for us to discover. From a more detailed perspective, our specific camp was chosen by the bank of the creek. Our camp was  between a wooden bridge (imagination play...think Billy Goats' Gruff) and a log that had fallen across the creek but was only 2 feet off the ground (balance, safe risk taking, and supporting your friends). Other considerations were a mud bank ready for digging and a lean-to built out of sticks by some previous group. Here's how our day played out:

Izzy enjoyed discovering the mud wall. We brought some of the "clay" back to school and are going to try firing it in the kiln. 

I handed Gil and Izzy a new Forest School item..."what is it?", they questioned. "Open it and find out", I replied. "A hammock!", they discovered. 

James and Zion spent time mastering the fallen log bridge. 

Dorian and I went on a hike with Dontrelle, Eric, Aliyah, and Nyasiah. We discovered a Garter snake (above) and a Downy Woodpecker (below)

Gil spent some time cleaning out his boots...somehow, Sylvie just lost hers. 

James, Nyasiah, Izzy and I took a long creek walk.
"The creek is your map...it will tell you where to go...I felt like an explorer, learning new things." - James

An Unexpected Journey

Our most recent forest school adventure was planned to be a somewhat typical day at Cliveden. However, when we arrived at the gate we discovered that the grounds were temporarily unavailable for the morning. What is a group of would-be forest dwellers, explorers, and picnickers to do under such unexpected circumstances? The children immediately set to work trying to figure out a way around this problem, and soon we were discussing whether anyone knew of a suitable alternative location nearby. Together we remembered a park that we had walked past a couple of times in the fall on our way elsewhere, and we were soon headed out for our new destination on what was shaping up to be quite a lovely sunny March morning.

On the way, a rush of water suddenly appeared across the street from us moving down the side of the road with great speed toward a storm drain. The children's curiosity was piqued, and we opted to take a detour to check out what was going on. We crossed the street, leaping across the growing stream to explore it safely from the sidewalk. Soon the children were sticking their hands in the clear water to feel its coolness and placing grass and leaves in the flow to gauge its speed. Some of the kids wondered where it might be coming from, and so some of us set off up the street to find out. Just around the corner, a man standing next to an open fire hydrant was more than happy to explain about the test he was conducting of the city's drainage system in that area. He let them watch as the hydrant was closed again, and the flow retreated.

With the water behind us, we soon arrived at the park with its towering trees and spacious terrain and, of course, an irresistible set of swings and play structures. As adults we questioned for a bit whether the location was "foresty" enough, but the children had no such reservations. In addition to the swings and slides, the kids chose to climb trees, explore a massive "badger" den at the base of a tree, watch some robins, search for natural treasures such as an entirely intact bird wing, observe and manipulate interesting reflections of sunlight, and generally enjoy several hours outdoors. We had a lovely picnic on a shady hillside, and during our closing circle, the kids expressed that exploring this new location had been a fantastic idea and that a return trip might be in order.

A Rainy Day at Cliveden - February 24, 2016

Better late than never to add these beautiful pictures of your children enjoying a good time in the rain. I spent way too much time fretting about how things would go on our first truly rainy day in Forest school. As always I was pleasantly surprised. The kids were well dressed and were enchanted by the transformation of a familiar place. Water from the sky has a way of doing that! There were plenty of cold puddles to splash in, rain drops to feel and observe and tiny rivers to dam. We didn't spend the entire day outside but pretty much all of it; the kids let us know when they were done being wet. We went back to school changed into some dry clothes, and Jane's group came down to share their gingerbread stories with us. A cozy ending to a wet and magical day.

Gil dancing with an umbrella

Eric could not resist the puddles!

Aliyah and Nyasiah explore a puddle and a river

Dams and rivers.

Pine tree bubbles

Bumpy tree transformed into a beautiful wet skin.

pine needles draped in rain drops

spring is on the way!

Rain drop tasting

Sylvie checks out a puddle

A Day of Hiking

A month after our snowy hike in the Wissahickon, we returned to the same trail for a more extensive exploration. With more time on our hands and slightly warmer temperatures, the kids thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to revisit their previous discoveries and seek out new ones as well. Highlights for the children included hill climbing, rock climbing, wall climbing, sliding down things, splashing in puddles, examining natural versus non-natural features, picnicking in the sun, and playing some tag-like games.

Dorian goes over ground rules at the trailhead.

The hill climbing begins.

What's that in your hands?

The kids stop to admire the puddles.

The rock climbing begins.

The kids generally try to stay on top of things.

Some of us examine a newly fallen tree.