The Spinney Hoole Pre School

The Spinney Hoole Pre School children returned to the woods for another Forest School session. Although the sun was shining the wind was chilly so once they had Woodland Circle Time they played a game of Pass the Pine cone to warm up. After some more jumping about to get them moving we returned to the Woodland Circle for snack and hot chocolate. The wind was still blowing a bit too chilly for some of the children so they returned to nursery to warm up.

Some of the older children were warm so they were happy to stay out in the woods for the very exciting activity of lighting the fire! The group once again talked about what fire is useful for such as cooking and keeping you warm. They also talked about how fire can be dangerous so it is important to be very careful and follow the fire safety procedure when the fire is lit.

Before the fore could be lit they needed to sort the big pile of twigs and put them into piles. There was a pile of very thin silver birch twigs that would be added to the fire first, then the next size up (about the width of a pencil) and finally two piles for the bigger sticks (about a thumb and wrist’s width). The children were very good at sorting and enjoyed snapping the larger sticks to make them smaller.

Once the sticks were sorted it was time to watch the Forest School Leader talk through the different things a fire needs including heat (such as a spark), fuel and oxygen. She then showed them how to create a spark by using a fire and steel. After a few attempts the tinder finally caught and the Forest School Leader added the thin pile of sticks, then the medium size, then the larger sticks as the fire needed to be fed to grow!

Once the fire was burning nicely the children had the chance to toast a marshmallow each. They were very good at following the safety procedure to make their way to the Forest School Leader, being careful not to enter the inner fire circle. They then sat next to her and with a marshmallow on a long stick toasted it over the fire! It was so squidgy, sticky and sweet!

After they had all toasted their marshmallows it was time to carefully put the fire out with water before returning to nursery for their lunch. They did so well at today’s session and were very pleased with themselves that they toasted a marshmallow!

Links to EYFS:

• Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Managing Feelings and Behaviours – Self Confidence & Self Esteem (toasting their own marshmallow)
• Physical Development: Moving & Handling (sorting sticks)
• Characteristics of Effective Learning: Active Learning
• Communication and Language
• Mathematics