May half term went by as quick as a flash - it was filled with so much fun (and rain)! The children enjoyed a visit to Forest School, Goxhill Meadows and Maker Space.
Forest School
Forest school gives the children time to be free and learn through play. It is always important to start our sessions at Forest School with a circle around the fire, getting to know each other and discussing our hopes for the day. The children took part in a range of child led activities, including making bows and arrows, campfire doughnuts, creating mud stew, Nordic braiding and shelter building. Forest School allows children to challenge themselves in a way that they feel comfortable, one young person was particularly nervous to use the balancing equipment in the forest. After some encouragement from her peers, the young person walked on the tight rope and spoke positively to herself, repeating ‘Once I have done this the first time, it is going to be fine!’ A great achievement!
Some of the children helped Cindy, the Forest School leader, make campfire doughnuts for the rest of the group. They took the other children’s doughnut orders and carefully prepared the mixture. They then helped Cindy cook the doughnuts on the campfire and experimented with batter ratios. The children were so pleased with the outcome – the doughnuts tasted delicious!
Goxhill Meadows
Goxhill Meadows is a fantastic experience to improve mindfulness and reflection. Engaging with nature has been shown to significantly improve well-being and spending time with animals is an effective way for children to build relationships, confidence, self-awareness and resilience. The children who had visited Goxhill Meadows previously were eager to give a guided tour to the children (and adults!) who were visiting for the first time. They spent the day around the animals, learning how to understand the animals body language and to also be aware of the body language of others around them too.
The children worked in small groups with the goats, chickens, alpacas and ponies and learnt how to be mindful and remain calm around the animals. Some of the children had never been close to animals before, but with the support and modelling from the other children and adults, they were able to challenge themselves to try new experiences.
Maker Space
Maker Space has state of the art manual, digital and electronic equipment and skilled staff that provide workshops which encourage young people to create, invent, explore, learn, think and exhibit. In this workshop at Maker Space, the children were exploring woodwork and creating their own moveable robots. The children used nuts and bolts to configure their own robots and used their own creativity to design a personalised robot. This workshop required some great fine motor skills, but as always, the children persevered and challenged themselves. Look at their amazing creations!
