The pupils at Kingswood Pre-School are now enjoying a new dimension to their forest school sessions thanks to a wonderful yurt that has arrived at the school grounds.
Each day a group of 16 children, accompanied by Forest School Leader Mrs Harvey and two members of Pre-school staff, walk the children down to forest school, where their day starts with the children identifying their names and then hanging their name cookie on the registration tree. The children choose a log to sit on for circle time in basecamp before singing the ‘Hello’ song and then listening to and sharing the Forest school rules.
After this, the children can explore the different activities available, including time in the Woodland kitchen making cup-cakes using mud, enjoying the new dinosaur maths resources, exploring the dressing up box, listening to stories and having the opportunity to enjoy quiet self-directed play.
The forest school sessions help the children to develop a whole raft of new problem solving skills, including the creation of pirate ships and trains encouraging imaginative play, resourcefulness, team work and cooperation, with physical skills also being developed and learned.
“We are delighted to have The Yurt as an additional feature at the Prep School,” said Mark Brearey, Prep School Headmaster. “It provides a wonderfully creative space for our children to enjoy, and I am pleased to see that they are making full use of it already.”
‘Our Preschool children have had an exciting start to their Forest School experience, enjoying time spent in the new yurt and outside in the Secret Garden,” added Mrs Fiona Harvey, Early Years Educator and Forest School Leader. “It has been a delight to witness them experience the freedom of the forest and a privilege to share their discovery of the natural world during the Spring season.”