Year 5 have been very busy and engaged in Forest School this term.
In the first session they learned a new knot - the Marlin spike hitch: grab both parts hanging rope with the palms of your hands (palms facing outwards), twist the rope into two loops on the outside, put your hands through the loops and grab the rope above - feed the sticks through the rope - finished! Ask the children to practise this at home.
The challenge was to create your own rope ladder. They had to cut the logs to size using a bow saw and then make a rope ladder. Fantastic perseverance.
In week 2 we remembered a little bit about the trees in our area and it was all about the planting - perennials, seeds, trees, fruit bushes, adding woodchip and soil to the polytunnel and the plants. Some children chose to make bird feeders, they looked at ants nests or made a river flowing down the mound.
Tying in with their class learning, children got to build different European rivers and landmarks, practising map skills and team working skills.
A different challenge was to make their own pencils. We looked at properties from Elder and willow plants - Aspirin is made from Willow and it is very bendy and therefore used for many crafts. Elder has opposite leaf stems which is unusual and is soft in the middle which is why we used it to add our charcoal lead in the middle. We built a fire and cut the willow into small pieces - adding it to a closed tin (apart from 2 holes). This process turns it into drawing charcoal that professional artists use. Finished was the pencil.
This week we will be cooking popcorn over the campfire.
Have a great half term everyone.
Year 5 Forest School Term 5 - 2024
