I am impressed. We're a few weeks into the start of term and we have welcomed in our new faces to the Den (preschool) room and the confidence and willingness I've seen from these children has really astounded me.

It's always nice to have a fall back activity you know will be hit with the children. That for me is mini beast hunts.  The children needed something a little less physical last week with all the heat we've had of late.

Set to a back drop of chirping Crickets and Grasshoppers, Forest School this week has looked at what it means to be STRONG! Against popular belief, I haven't been secretly training my own little Forest School army of minions ready to over-through Midsomer Norton and Radstock at a moments notice, so that I may final establish my Red Fox kingdom (although that does sound like fun).

One week of swinging from branches was just not enough exercise (or rather, fun) for our Free Rangers, so this week on Forest School we extended it to explore what it meant to swing! Last week, if you haven't read my last blog (shame on you), detailed how the children started learning about exercise and health, and pushed themselves physically and mentally on the rope swings, as well as learning exercises and movements to aid them in tackling the assault courses.

When I last ran this week's activity, it brought to my attention the extent of how children (and adults) are hugely emotive beings. When they are unhappy or cross, they will frown. When they are sad or hurt they might cry.

It's been the week the children have been baying for ever since we started the recent theme of fires. At last! Pancakes for everyone! After we'd begun to learn about fire lighting last week, we moved onto putting that knowledge into practice and making a fire for a purpose.

Fire. The one captivating tool in my Forest School arsenal that sparks so much creativity, curiosity and focus. And in the case of this week, we certainly saw plenty of sparks... Leading on from our previous week's focus of using tools to process firewood (we get through a hell of a lot of wood when we do have fires!), we gave the children another look at the mysterious processes and functions behind fire, an element that we as humans have feared, respected, and bent to our will since time immemorial.

Last week at Forest School we were using tools to process wood for our store and starting to understand how we make a fires.  At the beginning of our sessions we went on a hunt for all types of sticks, twigs and logs.

With the bundles of pollarded Elder we had cluttering the grass, I felt it high time we made use of this versatile resource last week on Forest School and decided to craft some woodland jewellery with the children on Forest School. In order to complete them, we dusted off the tools that hadn't seen much use of late and checked the saw blades and the drill bits and charged the batteries for the drill.

Because last week's theme was far too much fun for just one week, we decided to make use of our wonderful site further afield and continue the awesome adventure theme on Forest School all over again. And the week was not a disappointment. As I mentioned in my previous blog post about the open-ended creativity of children given the right amount of space and time, a child can create a whole world of fascination, all of which we witnessed on site here at Free Rangers.

With Spring fully upon us, we've enjoyed getting reacquainted with a very different looking Forest School site last week on Forest School. Coming back after Easter, we were welcomed back to a site in full swing, and it has given the children plenty to keep them occupied. Swallows, not to mention a plethora of other feathered friends have provided a beautiful soundtrack on our return, our apple trees are in full blossom with their delicate scent, the Bluebells have poked their little hats through the grass and the cow parsley is now as tall as me giving a white topped labyrinth of pathways and hiding spots for the children.

Last week's Forest School focus revolved around understanding and appreciating the abundance and individuality of the natural world hidden beneath our feet. Armed with magnifying glasses and trowels, the children were tasked with hunting down and exploring the mini world of bugs.

Forest School this week saw the children extend the bashing of last week into this week with the activities being based around the gross motor skill of bashing, hitting and crushing. Many the children during last weeks Forest School focus enjoyed using some mini mallets to aid them in their structure and building activities, allowing them to bash the pegs in, develop their games and play as well as knocking over a few carefully stacked pieces!