Earthed Forest School

What a winter we have had so far, with these clear blue skies!
The children had a go estimating the age of a tawa branch by looking at all the rings then after snack we got into 2 teams and raced against each other up the field to constructing a tripod out of sticks and race back again.
The team captain was in charge of assigning a strategy if wanted.
We had a survival chat and a scenario of being lost in the bush and needing to make a shelter to keep dry bedore the rain started in 40 mins.
We got into 2 different teams.

After finding a suitable spot considering rain, wind, tree roots, direction and the nearby stream the children made 2 very different styles of shelter. Some great team effort and both were proud of their achievement. Aaron got some water and a tarp and they huddled in preparing for the rain.

After lunch there was digging and more shelter building in the bank, leather key ring making and looking for the last flint and steel and knife with a handmade magnet metal detector.

We each had a turn to reflect on todays shelter building, what they would do differently next time. Jack got the nearest estimate of the tawa at 47 and we counted 51-55 rings.

Sit spot and games to end.
Thanks Aaron.

This morning we found a possum in the trap, we dug a hole and said our goodbyes.
A few tawa trees with heart rot were felled last week by arborists, we did a recap on what it was and what causes it. We walked down to check them out, looking for pieces we could use for projects. We have a few in mind.

Upon our return we all took a stick to make a tokotoko. These walking sticks are tradionally carved and ceremonially used as a symbol of authority and status. Often passed down.

We reviewed knife safety as a group. Everyone whittled the bark off before sanding their sticks. Some choose to decorate them with paint pens, ribbons and feathers.

After lunch, many continued with their sticks. Some of the boys decided to dig a shelter into the bank with a chimmney, great collaboration and turn taking with the spades.

Games and sit spot to end.

Such a cracker of a day, the children were so excited to find ice formed on top of the water troughs. Such a treasured childhood memory of mine.
There were arborists onsite today felling some tawa with heart-rot. We checked out the progress from the top of our hill.
It was a great opportunity to share some history of this beautiful native tree and why and how heart-rot appears. We have one visible near the toilet and went over to inspect. This may need to be felled also. We all estimated the age of it. Tawas can have a life span of 200-300 years.
We talked about the delicious fruit it bears and how the kereru are now the only source of seed dispersal.

After we headed into the bush to do a blindfolded rope course..This has always been a popular activity, this time it was more challenging.
A few rounds then a visit to the stream for an explore, island and bridge making.

Jack got the fire going for tawa tea after lunch, the bark makes it a beautiful golden orange. Its very wholesome and can support sore tummys and colds.
Further observation of the arborists and practice of fire lighting skills this afternoon.

Lovely start with sunshine and bright skies for us today. We caught up with some news from the holidays and got to know our new friends.

With the countless Tawianese cherry trees in flower at the moment, I took the opportunity to share with the children why this is a pest plant thats seriously out of control.
It was introduced in the 1960s as an ordimental tree. They produce massive amounts of seeds spread by birds and the short lived blossoms are like a sugar spike, not a natural food source, which encourages birds to lay eggs before spring.
Its a vigorous grower that can tolerate shade and pushes through the canopy not giving our native seedlings a chance.
We took a walk around to ID some young seedlings to pull out and found 4.
Please do encourage the children to pull these out at home. There will be a picture I will comment on to support ID.

We got into 2 groups for making fire and chopping vegetables for soup, thank you everyone for contributing. Thanks Sean for the bread, polished off in 2 minutes!
We cut some supplejack and sourced some sticks to make hanging baskets but only a few were keen.
After lunch many practiced their fire lighting skills, made bows and arrows and shared a cup of rimu tea.
After jobs we did a sit spot and games to end.

For our last day of term there was a treasure hunt. The children had 10 clues to find with bearnings and positioning language, one leading onto the other, ending in a combination of the 9 to read the final clue to find the loot. (Stashed in the inside fire.)
We recapped how to take a bearing with the compass and Identitfied a few native tree leaves that may be included in the hidden clues.

We discovered we had a possum in the trap and everyone was keen to do a bit of dissection.
We took it down to the stream where the eel lives and put some possum in to lure it out. No luck, we haven't seen it for a while, so we took a walk to the waterfall for some exploring to give it some time.
We talked the stream back collecting some rubbish on the way. Back to the eel's spot, still no luck.
After lunch, there was juicing (thanks Kelly Dawson ) the oranges were polished off in no time.
The children finished nailing the planks on the table and sawed off the ends.

We gathered and shared what activities we most enjoyed about the term, most being fungi hunting and the blindfolded rope course.

End of term jobs comes with cleaning out the gutter, all the boys got up and did a great job removing dead leaves. Then a competition was on to jump off the roof. Its about 2 meters high. I talked through the risks, many were still keen.
Risk taking at forest school as so many benefits. Children learn to assess situations themselves and understand body limits. Overcoming fear gives a huge boost of confidence and empowerment.

We did meet a tree in pairs. One closes eyes while the partner leads them to a tree and aims to disorientate them on the path. When back to the starting point they guess which tree they touched.

Happy holidays all.

Its definitely starting to feel like winter. We reviewed the knots we learned last week and had another practice of the timber hitch and tension knot. Everyone had a go with an adjustable knot in preparation for putting up a tarp. We did a demo then got into 2 teams. The children needed to find an ideal spot and put up their tarps in preparation for the rain and get a fire spot organized next to it.

After, we looked at all the elements we need in order to have a successful fire. Preparation is key.
Both teams were able to work together, collect their own wood and kindling to get their fires going.
Everyone ate lunch by their fires then Ella made some damper and it was toasted on sticks or in the wire toastie maker. There were games, digging and working on projects. The children kept their fires going all afternoon.

We finished with sharing our learning from the day. Great team effort.

It rained just about all day, excellent conditions for a bit of a challenge.
We all had a practice of the clove hitch and learned how to do a square lashing in preparation for tying a centre pole for a shelter.
We talked about the different elements we need to consider when building a shelter such as wind direction, water flow, epiphytes, falling branches etc. The children got into two teams and with a scenario, had one hour to build a natural shelter and attempt to get a fire going with fat wood.
The children had little to no help for this task, it was interesting to see how they could work together as a team.
As it continued to rain it was getting tricky to get the fire going, wet, we all headed inside to light the wood burner and have lunch.

After, the boys juiced Ochies oranges (thanks Kelly Dawson ) and made chocolate damper. These were cooked on the hot plate. We cleaned up and gathered to eat our treats under the tarp before going back to the shelters and sharing what they liked, what worked, what didn't and how they could do it differently next time. Such great learning, working as a team can be tricky with lots of different ideas!

Being so close to winter solstice, we talked about winter and what that means for us with the need to slow down and rest our bodies. I read a lovely poem about the shortest day to end.

Today was all about fungi, natures recyclers. It was so wonderful hearing the childrens knowledge!
We shared lots around the role of fungi and the relationship between them and trees. We explored some food that fungi helps make such as cheese, marmite, yeast and kombucha.
We learned the largest living organism is a honey fungus covering well over 2000 acres and there are 10,000 known types of fungi.
We talked about the 3 main groups of fungi being symbiotic, saprobic and parasitic along with the roles they play.

Everyone took an estimate of how many different varieties we may be able to find today. We started off with some numbers under 10, but as we began those numbers were changed and because we found so many they were allowed to change there estimate for a 3rd time, the highest being 25.
We also took some statics on the appearance of fungi and made it into a bar graph upon our return.

As we went into the bush it was exciting to hear all the finds, everyone keenly observed their surroundings. The find of the day had to be the earth tongue. Thrilled, ive not found one before.
We collected a bit of wood ear and once we returned got the fire going so we could fry it up.

I took a tally totalling 37 varieties which included 2 more on the walk back.

More work on the bowling runs in the afternoon, they keep getting better and better. Whittling and project making.

The rain didn't dampen our spirits as we headed over to site this morning. As the popular forest school saying goes, there is no such thing as bad weather only unsuitable clothing.
The rain offers so many opportunities and the children embrace being in it. This deeply fosters resilience.
As we approached the top we were greeted with big fungal clusters. Such a joy to see the excitement!
We lit the wood stove inside to dry off.

During circle time everyone shared what they loved about winter. I shared about the season as we approach the winter solstice this month, how we feel that and how we need the rhythms of the seasons in our life. What would it be like to miss winter? How does that effect our system?

The children made candle holders from wood rounds, air dried clay, sticks, stones, beads, shells and other goodies to enjoy over the darker evenings. The children captured a wonderful liking for this activity.

We made some banana bread for Ella and Reubens birthday and sang happy birthday.

We headed out for an explore in the clouds, finding more fungi, checking the traps and the transplanted trees. So touching to see these being cared for.

Most of the children spent the afternoon so engaged in digging and crafting new bowling runs, there was the twister of doom, extreme, and the x, x,x.
Such great learning through play, team work, sharing of ideas and mathematical thinking around calculations of the path of the ball with the slope, bumps and curves.
Through trial and error they adjusted the tracks as they went along and it was such a big achievement when the ball made it all the way!

Enjoy the candle light.

A fresh crispy morning, we are all feeling winter is just around the corner.. Just a small group today, we reviewed our soil types from last week and noticed the layers of silt that had settled more clearly in the jar with soil and water.

We had a talk about permaculture ethics, earth care, people care and fair share and how permaculture design is a wonderful design model that can be applied to any form of space.

Today the children became landowners with some extra cash to spend. They had to consider many different aspects with owning this new bit of land.
What the land needs, wind, sun, water and how it flows, soil, slopes, direction, wildlife and whats already on the land. Access and being off grid.
They also needed to think about their current skill set, what they knew and what they needed from other people to help them.

We took a walk around to feel into the different areas and what may go well there. Lots of ideas around having animals, zip lines, slides to the water, secret gardens, fruit trees and space for ball games.
We checked on our trees that were transplanted last week. All doing well.
When we got back everyone had a go doing a bubble map or concept design. I showed them one I had done from home. Some decided to draw there own spaces at home.

After we had a look at the new possum trap on loan from the enviro hub. Decided on a tree and got it sorted. This inspired the children to make their own traps in the digging area by the bunker. Most were holes with sticks at the bottom and some peanut butter for bait. The use of silver ferns are to attract, lure in small animals due to the white glow at night.

After lunch the traps were finished and we put a small rope ladder on the lower tree net, found some fungi, sawed some wood for the new work bench and played games.

We did a recap of the morning and hopefully some of that will come home to you.