Wow, what can I say.... there was certainly lots of celebration of new life and watching the awakening of nature. How lucky and privileged we felt every morning, saying hello to the new born lambs, play with the sheepdog puppies and have our questions answered by the ever so patient farmer Will. Do you know, that sheep have only one row of six teeth?
And then there was this strange looking plant where once the haystacks have been. All yellow and shrivelled up. "What is this?" "Is it alien?" The children decided to keep it safe with a ring of stones. Photosynthesis on the go. Slowly the leaves uncurled and turned green. What excitement there was, when the children come back after their Easter break to discover a flowering daffodil!
In the woodland shrieks of excitement could be heard when the first toad was discovered. Every log was turned over to find worms, beetles and woodlice. Many a new carefully planned home was designed for the creatures.
We sat still listening to the birds singing around us, got wet building dams in the stream, we enjoyed cooking and eating freshly foraged nettle crisps, and the children had wonderful treats of spring inspired cakes and soups in the mud kitchen café.
The children took over the map reading and took us into unexplored regions! We found frog spawn, witnessed a dance by two male pheasants (how great is that!), had a break and story sitting on logs and embraced nature art. Sitting in the sun, drawing spring inspired pictures... what better way to capture the wonderful spring term we have all embraced at Home Ed and Holiday Club Hinton.
By Britta Wells,
Forest School Supervisor
Outdoor Adventurers Home Ed Hinton
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