At The Priory we were so lucky to have Elise from Woodland Makery come to run a Forest School session. The children were able to experience a range of different activities from making our very own apple juice, creating apple spirits, making a fire, toasting marshmallows to make s’mores and then finishing with sparklers and lots of other exciting activities as well!
It was just fantastic from start to finish, as the children were able to be hands on throughout this whole session which was such a joy to watch as their faces lit up as they became completely absorbed in each activity. We were in complete awe of our children as we watched their focus, determination, resilience and empathy as they supported and nurtured each other to guide, model and cheer each other on. This was an experience for all of our children and it was so lovely to see Babies, Twos and Pre-School come together to create these wonderful moments.
The children were so excited to make their own apple juice! Elise talked about safety and the importance of keeping safe when using a knife and explaining about using a special knife safety glove when cutting up the apples. The children listened and followed the instructions so well and became completely absorbed in the process to make this. They were able to chop, crush and press the apples and then watch the juice trickle out to create the end product and enjoy a lovely fresh cup of juice.
The rain did not stop us from having fun, it only added more joy for the children as it created puddles to splash and create chalk paintings in. When the rain did stop, we were able to light a fire to make s’mores. Elise explained about fire safety and how you need to kneel down when toasting the marshmallows. We found it very funny when some of them caught fire and we had to blow them out but this made them more delicious as the marshmallow oozed out from the biscuits.
We sang in the rain, toasted marshmallows with a rainbow behind us and then finished with sparklers…what more could we have asked for!
Diwali