Until now we’d all headed into Quaker woods en masse. This time we entered one at a time and took the opportunity to slow down and just observe. I leant against a rocky back rest and waited and listened. This was a wonderful chance to reconnect with nature which I captured as the sun shone down on this fern perched nearby. Lily called us back together with a very convincing cuckoo call where we discussed the various bird calls we’d heard. Then it was onto hear and seek games (like hide and seek but blindfolded). I quite enjoyed being sneaky and trying to creep up on ‘it’ without being heard which is actually quite hard in a forest with twigs everywhere.
Autumn is a second Spring when every leaf a flower.
We had a great laugh reviewing through the medium of sound with Tom producing an Ali G style rap and me ripping off the theme from Tree Fu Tom (a different Tom) to describe yesterday’s leaf kung fu. Lily then had us using forest sound notation to make music – truly innovative.
NAME THAT TUNE. Each item represents a sound in a loop.
Using the friends meeting hall we then covered a lot of educational theory on accelerated learning, learning styles and multiple intelligences.
Lily dissected her emergency pack. If you’re going to do any outdoor education its worth making sure their emergency pack is up to scratch. Better safe than sorry.
Emergency kit. Much, much more than just a first aid kit.
Then it was time to go back to the woods for more practical. We were introduced to safe whittling with knives at which point I whittled yesterday’s mallet so it had a smooth, rounded handle.
We needed some refreshment so we tried boiling water in a Kelly/storm kettle. With wet wood that’s not so easy. Kelly Kettles have been known to scold especially if boiled with the cork in. When they pop they spray boiling water in a plume. We avoided that by creating a no go zone with sticks and making sure the cork was out.
It was a lot of work for a cup of tea so I elected to upgrade to hot chocolate!
TEA TIME. Note the kneeling position (as modeled by Lily), cork out, established zones with sticks, thermal gloves and flat surface. If you see someone using a storm kettle without this then challenge them - They're not safe and could scold someone!