Session 1: Thursday, May 3, 2018
First days are so fun-meeting new friends and figuring out how we are going to be together in the forest. So fun, in fact, we forgot to snap photos! Our afterschool program is all about getting the yayas out after sitting for much of the day. It often takes us a while to get down into the area where we like to play as we check out the Fortress of Relaxation, the Minecraft cliff, the sleeping dragon, chucking an acorn at the sign to get in, and finally having snack together, despite the lack of evidence, we did have some fun!
Session 2: Thursday, May 10, 2018
And the clouds opened and it POURED! With the unexpected deluge of water from the sky, we headed to the site for some warm cider under a tarp that J & H quickly put up. Some of us weren’t prepared for the weather and found it quite chilly, so we commenced “training”. Running up and down the hill in the rain to warm our bodies, which evolved into a jumping game and a few rounds of whistle hide and seek-once you get wet-you can’t really get any wetter!
We kept the cameras in our pockets, so that they wouldn’t get ruined!
Session 3: Thursday, May 17, 2018
Happy that the rain has brought us dandelions and other flowers, we always stop to pick a few and admire the ones we shouldn’t pick and ALWAYS stop to smell them.
We head down to the shelters to play a game of “zombie tag” – a kids game invention while a few others take a closer look a the colours around them with gem stones.
Session 4: Thursday May 24, 2018
The sun is shining and we are feeling fine! We head into the park and learn about the power of sunlight and maginfying glasses. For the record, this was under very controlled circumstances and there was lots of water nearby-we weren’t starting fires, just burning a few holes in leaves and on twigs. We then headed into the forest to eat snack, work on some shelters, windows, and a fairy garden.
Session 5: Thursday May 31, 2018
C’est tres chaud, so we head to the water’s edge when we get to the forest. And there astonishingly we witness the miracle of Ted and Tedley’s wedding-yes two rocks made their vows by the harbour and we wish the happy couple all the best!
Session 6: Thursday, June 7, 2018
It is such a epic journey to get from one school to the other-the tickly twigs and the spiky tree of doom!
We managed to get there to head into the forest…and it happened that one of our friends wanted another friend to join us-but she wasn’t able to. Soooo a crow named wobbles took and interest and followed two friends into forest school!
and we did some mining.
And then made some paracord bracelets and flutes!
Session 7: Thursday, June 14, 2018
From hot to cold, this spring is like a roller coaster of temperatures. We find critters and ham it up on the slackline!
Session 8: Thursday, June 21, 2018
It is the solstice and our last afternoon together. Some of us work on paracord bracelets, other recommence “training”, and then we gather for the Journey Stones before we embark on our summer adventures.
