Photos from Wednesday

The kids practice making human pyramids.

The pyramids become more ambitious.

Construction on the found-object mobile begins.

The caterpillars prove to be even more captivating than last time.

Progress continues on the mobile.

The mobile project approaches completion.

The kids get things rolling.

What started as limbo turns into high jumping.

Joan's niece joins us.

The kids request some more acro-yoga.

Some of us check out some cool bugs.

The kids find a frisbee and demonstrate their surprisingly superb skill.

A Day at Cliveden

Somehow, Forest School felt particularly magical this week. The day was cool yet sunny and our site was Cliveden, the place where it all began. This was our 5^th or 6^th session at Cliveden making it a site full of memories but still filled with promise for new experiences and discoveries. As soon as we walked out of school, students pointed out moments from our past adventures...”here is the hill where we rolled”...”do you remember the crow in the chruch parking lot? Do you think it was really dying?...”oh look – this the tree where we played in the pile of leaves...now the ground is covered with flower blossoms”.

Once our Cliveden homebase was set, small groups of students scattered to explore favorite locations - “Fairy Village”, Middle Tree”, The City”, and “Groundhog Haven”. The importance of familiar space is evident, allowing the students to explore and play with independence and confidence. One group came back shouting with excitement after actually seeing the groundhog that until now, was just part of our imagined stories. Another group took a walk to the apple tree, discovering the first evidence of next fall's apples. Right before our eyes we could see how the pollinated blossoms were swelling into tiny fruit.

 Even though games and activities repeat through out the weeks, Dorian, Jason and Joan are always looking for ways to expand the learning. On this trip, a renewed interest in bows and arrows allowed us to explore what makes the perfect bow stick and continue learning how to tie knots. Some students used sticks and twine in a more abstract way, building a mobile, a perch for a bird and a bracelet decorated with small white flowers. We exercised our bodies through games of tag, gymnastics in the grass and learning how to build human pyramids. We returned to school tired yet refreshed...it was a magical day.  

A groundhog makes an appearance upon our arrival.

Some of us sneak up to the groundhog.

We find a big caterpillar on a branch.

Some of the kids practice forward rolls, cartwheels, and head stands.

The bows return.

A few kids give the saw a try.

We check out a pod from a Kentucky coffeetree and notice the inside smells like cookies.

The kids set a new record?

We investigate some anthills.

Another caterpillar attracts attention.

Some of us braid with flowers and twine.

We find some apple blossoms with future apples inside.

Someone finds an itty-bitty feather.

"It's like I was born in the woods." - Zion

Over the course of this school year, we have hiked along many trails in the Wissahickon valley, exploring a stretch of woods along the creek that is three miles long and counting. All this hiking is on top of our many outings to other wooded parks in the area including the newest addition to our list, Carpenter Woods. It has been exciting to watch the children increase their familiarity with all of this wooded territory.

As it just so happens, it is possible to travel between these two places (the Wissahickon and Carpenter Woods) without ever leaving the woods. On our most recent forest school excursion we did exactly that, connecting two locations that had previously existed as entirely separate places in the minds of the children. As we walked between the two, we noticed the subtle incremental changes in the landscape and wildlife but also the common thread of species that both areas share, such as the tent caterpillars which are beginning to hunker down for their transformation into moths.

The vast majority of our trek was along marked trails, but for the first time at forest school, we also introduced the notion of deviating from the beaten path for a small but significant portion of our journey. As we followed a little tributary brook upstream, the children resolutely took on the challenge of navigating much more difficult terrain, crossing over downed trees and using their hands to move bushes and vines aside in search of a passable route for themselves. Several of us remarked at how much it felt like we were bushwhacking our way through a jungle.

When we finally reached the tunnel that connected us to the known world of Carpenter Woods, several of the children remarked about how proud they felt to have made it through such a thick and challenging landscape by their own power. It was in this moment that Zion exclaimed, "I'm so good at being in the woods, it's like I was born in the woods."

The kids check out a spider egg sac.

As the kids move some rocks they find a salamander.

Dorian leads a brief discussion on "landmarks" and their significance to hikers.

The group examines some horse manure and thinks about its relation to what horses eat.

The kids check out some worm castings at the base of a tree.

The wet soil along the path makes for good mud creations.

The kids take turns giving piggyback rides.

Some of us examine a slug on a blade of grass.

A log that landed just off the ground begs to be walked across.

One of the kids spots a spider hanging in midair.

We check out what it looks like on the under side of some flaky bark.

We hike past a beautiful old moss-covered stone bridge hidden away among the foliage.

Some of us hop from rock to rock as we make our way upstream.

Some hydrangeas grow along part of the brook.

We reach the familiar and much-adored tunnel from the other side.

We arrive at our familiar base camp site in Carpenter Woods.

We put up the hammock and settle in for lunch.

Dorian takes a closer look at the now-familiar tent caterpillars.