Forest School Adventures

What a beautiful sunny September it is turning out to be so far! The afternoon sunshine in the canopy of the woodland trees is very relaxing and everything on the poly tunnel is still cosy, warm and growing fast! The children have harvested lots of melons and tomatoes this week and enjoyed planting some new plants for the autumn and winter in the raised beds we cleared. We have definitely had our fair share of rainy forest school days though this term! It’s a good thing we have a shed full of wellington boots and waterproof coats and coveralls to keep us mostly dry on those days. Every child is invited to bring a change of clothing and waterproofs including wellies to change into for Forest School. Our Forest Schools days are Monday and Tuesdays. This week's principle that has been the focus in Forest School is ‘Observe and Interact’. This means that the children take their time to observe, watch, notice and learn as much as they can before acting. This might involve noticing what is already growing somewhere before deciding what to plant in our garden. It might involve watching to see how someone is feeling or behaving before speaking to them. Perhaps using our powers of observation to spot where animals or insects live before deciding to build something. Many of the children have used their powers of observation in the poly tunnel this term. They have noticed the giant gourds growing on the vines, which are ornamental gourds that can grow very large. They have a very thick hard skin that when dried, goes brittle like dry wood. We have three varieties of gourds growing this season, dinosaur gourds, bushel gourds and birdhouse gourds. dinosaur gourds are large, veiny and green and look like dinosaurs or dragons. The bushel gourds are round like balloons and the birdhouse gourds have a small top and a big bottom, and can be hung up to make homes for birds. Gourds need a long warm growing season. When all the vines have died it means the fruit is ready to be picked. One or two have fallen already, It won’t be long now until they can ALL be picked! We look forward to the harvesting!