Session 7 - Mush-moon

Today's decidedly muggy weather did not dampen the spirits of the Forest School gang. Our session focused on searching out all the different types of flora growing in the school grounds.
The children, armed with i-pods to capture their findings,set about scouring every nook and cranny of the grounds.
We were genuinely surprised by the sheer number of different plants we have happily co-existing in our school grounds.
We began our search in an used area of the school field. Here the children photographed everything from spongy moss to spiky thistles. We looked at how the vetch used tendrils like an octopus to latch itself to the towering grasses. We talked about how we could use books and the Internet to look up plants that we didn't recognise.
Lurking under the hedgerow, the children discovered a variety of fungi including some very impressive shaggy parasol mushrooms. One of the children took a stunning close-up picture of one of the mushrooms which we nick named 'mush-moon!'

 

The group photographed an array of berries in all different colours and we talked about how although some are poisonous to us, they provide a valuable food source for the birds (of which we saw sparrows, seagulls, magpies and finches during our session)
One child found a holly bush and commented on how clever plants were being able to defend themselves with their spikes.
Another of the group said how wonderful she thought the multi-coloured leaves were. Looking back at her pictures she noticed that one of her leaves looked like a beautiful tropical bird.


After the children had had time to share their photographs with each other, they collected some leaves and berries to make a sticky picture. We were starting to get a little chilly, so we decided to take a break and have a biscuit and some hot chocolate.

We had hoped to plant some ash trees today, but as time was yet again, running away with us, we chose to concentrate on planting some more spring bulbs.
The children were amazed by the number of earthworms that popped up to check on our progress. One child explained to the rest of the group that the tapping noises we were making whilst digging and stomping around had tricked the worms into thinking it was raining and they were coming up to investigate.
On close inspection, we were able to see the soil through the wall of the worm's body, much to the delight of some of the children and disgust of others!

The session drew to a close with the group sharing what they had enjoyed most which ranged from hunting worms, to taking pictures to planting the bulbs. One highlight of the afternoon was when one of the children said that they had taken a photo of 'sharing'.