February was an awesome month! We were challenged with cold and rainy weather, but the kids showed such resilience. We had an amazing time celebrating Valentine’s Day, learning all about clouds, camouflage, simple machines, and preparing for our Fun Run Obstacle Course.
🎈🎊🎉CONGRATULATIONS 🎈🎊🎉
Wild & Wonderful Forest School would like to take a moment and celebrate a huge milestone! Wild & Wonderful has been chosen as a recipient of the VELA grant! The VELA grant is a grant rewarded to schools and entrepreneurs creating alternatives to traditional schooling. The grants are awarded through the VELA Education Fund, a national nonprofit organization.
Valentine’s Day Art
The children enjoyed making string nail art for someone special for Valentine’s Day. They ALL did an amazing job! Some are still hard at work on their projects. Once they are complete they will be featured in our next newsletter.
All About Clouds
We learned all about the water cycle and what actually is happening to water when clouds are formed.
We then made a cloud in a jar for the kids to see the process of condensation.
The students tracked clouds on a daily basis using our cloud identifiers. We learned that different types of clouds can predict the weather.
They have enjoyed tracking the clouds and seeing if they are correct in their weather predictions.
Camouflage
While teaching camouflage, we played a game called Birds and Bugs. I put the children into three different teams. Each team then got to pick a bird they wanted to name their team. They then had to find the bugs that were dispersed in the grass
The “bugs” were different colored pasta noodles: tan, orange, and green. When I said go they had to fly and find the bugs and bring them back to their team. I put 30 out of each color.
They quickly learned that the green bugs were extremely difficult to find because they were blending into the grass. They recorded their results and NO teams found green on Tuesday!
This game was followed by a lesson on the four different types of camouflage. The students also completed an art project on one type of camouflage: concealing coloration.
Can you spot the student in the picture below? While learning about camouflage we played a game called Watchtower. This is where the students had to sneak up on my tower (a designated tree). I would circle my watchtower and try to spot them. They were allowed to move while I wasn’t looking in their direction. Whoever reached my tower first without being spotted was the winner. For this game I had some wear camouflage clothing while I had others wear neon colored jerseys. In this picture below there is a student actually hiding in camouflage! Can you spot him? 😁
Wild & Wonderful Fun Run Obstacle Course
Every semester the students and I collectively think of a way to give back to the community. This semester the students and I have chosen to build a one-mile obstacle course on the land! The course is very family friendly and we are asking everyone to come out and support the children. They have decided that all money raised from the Fun Run will go to Tenn Green Conservancy, an organization that conserves land in TN.
Please come out April 11th, anytime from 2:00-5:00 to run the race! A new heat will begin every 30 minutes. To register for the race please go the following link below. Following the race there will be a refreshment table and table the children have set up to sell items (eggs, cookies, etc.)
https://forestschool.gvtls.com/
If you cannot make the race, but would still love to support the students please consider donating. To donate please follow the link below and please put in the donation Wild & Wonderful Forest School Donation
https://tenngreen.org/how-to-help/donate/
They have been working really hard on building the obstacles. Here are few featured below that they have built and named so far.
Leaping Ladder
Jumping Tires
Balance Beam
The Spider Web
Simple Machines: Lever
This month our emergent curriculum took us to discover a simple machine called a lever. The children are constantly wanting to move large rocks for a variety of purposes.This led us to question how we could do this without hurting ourselves.
I had each child try and lift a heavy rock they found down by the creek, then rank it on a scale of 1-10, 10 being the most difficult. Every student gave it a ranking of 8 or above.
We then build a simple machine called a lever. We learned about the fulcrum, or where the lever pivots. We then learned about the load, work needed to be done; and the effort, or the force used to do the work
We then lifted the exact same rock with the lever they made and asked them to rank the level of difficulty when lifting with the lever. They all ranked it a 1. As you can see the kids also enjoyed using it as a see saw as well.
More Wild & Wonderful Moments
Creek play on a rainy day!
Clocking 5,280 feet for our fun run
Having fun on a rainy day!
The students identified this footprint down by the creek. After some research we identified it as a heron footprint.
Along with our nail string art we had a fun valentines exchange
Forest bathing even in the rain! The children actually found the rain to be very soothing and relaxing.
An intense battle of capture the flag. It was best of three games, boys vs. girls.
Both teams huddled up before the final game to strategize.
Coming up!
In March we will continue to work on our obstacles for the Fun Run Obstacle Course. We will have our family week where families will be coming out to work on the course along with their children. We will also be welcoming in spring by preparing our garden boxes. We will be searching for flowers and completing a flower-resin project, while also seeing what the emergent curriculum creates for us!
