On Monday I had the pleasure of helping out with the Diamond, Emerald and Sapphire class trip to Chelwood Forest. Looking after 5 children, my daughter included, we set off on a short bus ride to the forest. It rained all day but that couldn’t dampen any one’s spirits.
The first activity we tried was finding things in the forest that matched adjective words printed on yellow card. Our groups first word was ‘long’. It didn’t take the children long before they were bringing me long leaves and long sticks! We placed these down with our word on the ground and set off to find 'shiny' things. One of the children brought me a crisp wrapper: it certainly was very shiny and very out of place in the lovely setting of the forest, so we decided to use it for our adjective and then throw it in the bin afterwards.
Next up was roasting marshmallows over an open fire. A quick health and safety chat from Mrs Sadler and then the children all got to roast their own marshmallow. Yummy but very smoky!
After a quick break we set off for a forest sensory walk. We found toadstools and a water fall. The children were asked what they could hear, see and smell. We could smell the wet leaves and smoky camp fire; we think we heard a frog and we could definitely hear the rain! Some of the children pretended they could smell Mr Cozen’s group creeping towards us through the trees.
After lunch we set off for our last activity. We stopped in an area that had ropes, logs, sticks and tarpaulins. The children were given free rein to play how they wanted providing they didn’t go outside of the coned area. Some children made log seats, some built dens out of the ropes, sticks and tarpaulins and I saw a couple of creative ideas that involved making a rope swing. Mixed in with running around and pretending to be a whole host of creatures our class rewarded us with lots of big beaming smiles. They obviously had a lovely time and were quite exhausted by the time we got back on the bus.
The trip was a brilliant addition to the term topic of the deep dark wood, a lovely, educational and fun experience. The children all behaved wonderfully but I was glad to get home to a hot cup of chocolate and some warm, dry clothes. A big thank you to all the parents that volunteered to help on the day: without your support, dedication and enthusiasm the school would not be able to run activities off site. And thanks to the teachers who spend the time planning and organising this and other trips that bring education to life for our children!
Dave Howson
Chair of Governors