Reception – Amazing Animals – Forest School
Reception have had a wonderful morning at Forest School where they took part in three activities all around their topic – Amazing Animals. Children loved taking turns in our free-flow area of the Forest School area making homes for animals in the sand pit and role-playing stories and adventures. They transformed themselves into monkeys on our ninja slackline, thinking about how to move from one piece of apparatus to another like monkeys do in the tree tops. The children also had the chance to cook up some delicious meals for different animals based on their diets (whether they are a carnivore, herbivore or omnivore) in our mud kitchen! The second activity was based inside the polytunnel where pupils helped support animals in the future by potting up some tree saplings we have had delivered. After choosing the correct tools for the job, pupils scooped compost into containers before watering them and adding a young tree into the hole and patting it down. To finish, pupils then filled the plant pot to the top with compost. The saplings will remain in the pots all summer where the compost will act as a fertiliser and stimulate good root development before the young tree is planted out next winter where it can focus on more root growth; giving the tree the best chance of survival during any prolonged dry periods in the summer of 2025. The final activity on offer today was helping our creepy crawly friends by topping up the bug hotel. After gathering sticks, stones, leaves and any loose natural materials they could find, pupils crammed it all into the nooks and crannies of the hotel. Well done Reception!