More on Barnkids

​What was out at the Forest School
Let me describe to you the Forest School location.  After the children literally run the ½ mile to the location through two picturesque fields there is the fire circle, a maze , the music center, the mud kitchen, the round house, the digging space, and the work area.  Around the parameter where they were allowed to roam was a fence.  

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The Fire Circle
Once they were at the location, the first thing they did was sit around the fire circle (even though there was not a fire) on logs fashioned as seats.  There they waited patiently for their morning snack of hot chocolate and a biscuit.   The fire circle was their central meeting place.  This is where each day began and ended.  I guess the best thing to equate this to is the “carpet time” people have in their classroom. (It may be called morning meeting, or calendar time, but you get my drift.)

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 The Maze
When asking some of the children what their favorite area is at the Forest School they collectively said, “the maze!”  Let me explain to you what the maze is.  It is a large briar patch that has a series of tunnels cut into it just the right size for a half-pint human.  It was truly adorable watching them as they used their imagination and drama skills to create a story of a family, as another group was pretending to have a veterinary clinic.  But from the perspective of an adult who could not enter the area

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​The Fence
This fence was constructed by the children.  They decided where it should go, the instructors put in main posts, and the children gathered fallen branches and wove them through to create these beautiful natural boundaries.  The instructors said that within the first 5 minutes of explaining how to construct the fence, the children were able to successfully master the construction and engineering of the fence.  Now, this might not be a hand turkey or a coloring sheet you might find in a “brick and mortar” preschool, but if you ask me, that is some serious functional artwork, engineering, collaboration, perseverance and higher level thinking (not to mention the fine and gross motor skills).  So, for you skeptics, just think about all the benefits that comes from just this one activity.  It sounds to me like a list of things the policy makers are always discussing.

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Music Center/Den
The music center was an area the also had a fence constructed by the children. It also housed several items that the children could make percussion instruments from.  They had sticks, and pots and pans, and old tree stumps.  The children were excited to show us this area.  At one point the music center turned into a pirate ship and Lucy had to abandon ship when it was time to leave.
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The good old Mud Kitchen

Mud Kitchen
The mud kitchen, according to Mary Mackenzie, and who am I to go against anything this woman says, is one of the greatest things for children in Forest Schools.  It allows their imagination to run wild.  No, that is not a pot with dirt and water in it, thank you very much!  It is a piping hot pot of lemon soup with herbs and spices.  One child said as she offered me some soup, “Be careful, its hot.  Don’t burn yourself.”  And let me tell you, that was the best lemon soup I have ever tasted in my life!

Well, that is enough for now. More to come.... PEACE!