The weather today was cloudy but dry. We were eager to get outside today because we knew we were going to make a shelter for Harriet. Harriet is the name we had given to the hedgehog Mrs Willington made yesterday!
As it was a bit chilly, once we’d off loaded all of the resources we take outside, we played a quick game of “stuck in the mud”. Three children volunteered to be on whilst the rest of us ran around trying to avoid being “tigged”. I noticed that the children quickly caught were soon freed by their friends. Also, I seemed to be a popular target!
Next I shared with the children that I wanted to introduce another “call back” system with the children. This one would be used only if there was a serious emergency. The call was 3 blasts on the whistle. We practised this call back twice and the children were super quick at calmly gathering in a line ready for the next instruction given. Mrs Willington did a very good impression of pretend collapsing!
We quickly gathered in the forest area to discuss the task for today. The children got themselves into groups of 2 or 3 to find a suitable position for the location of their hedgehog shelter. The groups scattered themselves and quickly got to work erecting their mini shelters. The children used sticks which came from a gardening project from my own garden. Some needed to be cut, so this was an ideal opportunity to demonstrate a “tool talk” for the loppers. Several children had a go at safely using the loppers themselves under my very close supervision.
The finished shelters looked great – most importantly the groups showed great team work skills and cooperation. We hope our important visitor next week will be able to judge which one will be best for Harriet (as I couldn’t).
To finish off today’s session I got out a flint and steel. We discussed what 3 things are needed to make a fire before I demonstrated how to make a spark. Initially the children were a bit scared – however when I asked if anybody would like a go themselves, they all shouted, “Yes”. Karam and Joseph went first and both were pleased when they produced many sparks. The rest of the group will get a chance next time!
See you next time.
J Perks
