Searching for Snakes

Yesterday, the Year 3 Forest School group were set a task by our Forest School mascot 'Lila the Gecko'. Six 'snakes' had escaped in the school grounds and she needed help to round them up. The children were given an I.D. card to help them identify the missing snakes before they set off exploring the grounds. As they hunted, they exchanged ideas about where snakes might hide out. Alex suggested that one may have climbed to safety on the roof of the gazebo whilst Michael thought they may be lurking among the flowerbeds.

Once all our 'snakes' had been located and returned to their homes we moved on to using the ropes to tie a reef knot. After a few attempts, the children mastered this handy little knot.

After playing the reef knot circle game, the children were challenged to build a rope structure (as the Year 6 children had earlier in the week).

Michael initially chose a thick polypropylene rope from which to build his structure. He tied it around one of the den building posts.

Kadijah chose to use a medium polypropylene rope to build her structure between two fences.

Alex chose a cotton rope to tie around the den building posts. As they were experimenting with their chosen ropes and building sites, the children observed each other. Michael decided his rope was too thick to tie tightly around the post. Kadijah decided that she also wanted to use the den building posts to build her structure. They all decided to use the cotton ropes to build their structure and gradually, they began to build one combined structure.

Alex kept testing how taut the ropes were to ensure the knots held fast and the rope did not drag on the floor. Kadijah suggested that the ropes be threaded through the brackets at the top of the posts to keep them from dragging on the ground. She couldn't quite reach the top of the post to thread the rope through. Alex suggested the needed to get higher and after looking around for something suitable, spotted the log stepping stones. He rolled two over to the base of the post for Kadijah to stand on. They then worked together to move all the ropes higher up. Michael noticed that two ropes would be too thick to fit through one bracket, so suggested a different place to tie the second rope. Kadijah was determined to thread the rope through the last of the posts before the boys could to get to it with the log stepping stones. She beamed and shouted, "I've done it" when after stretching on her tip-toes, she managed to thread the rope through without any help.

Once all the ropes had been moved higher, they took it in turns to swing on their ingeniously improvised rope swing.

The session was coming to an end so the children helped to untie and clear away all the ropes. Over a cup of hot chocolate we each chose a reflection card statement to share with the group.

Kadijah chose 'Someone who is determined' we agreed that Kadijah has shown determination when trying to thread the ropes through the brackets.

Another of the cards chosen said 'Three words to describe Forest School today' The three words the children picked were ropes, knots and tying.