Den, Den...Den!

This afternoon, half of the Year 6 class came to join  our Year 3 group at Forest School for the great den building challenge.

We warmed up with  a few round of the Goblins, Wizards and Ogres Game.

Next we formed into a circle to select the team members for the den building challenge.

Circle Selection - go round the circle and ask the children to choose one piece of den building equipment each (from a range of tarps, picnic blankets, ropes, ball bungees) and stand back in the circle with their chosen piece of equipment behind them.

Three team leaders are chosen. The team leaders are blindfolded and in turn are guided to the centre of the circle and spun around. They walk towards the edge of the circle and the first person they touch joins their team.
The new team member takes the blindfold and does the same until everyone has been picked. Some of the children attempted to work it so that all their friends were on their team. Jordan however, was thinking more strategically. He guided his team mates to pick team members who had the equipment they needed more of.

The team now have their members and equipment. If they discover they don't have the right equipment (e.g. lots of ropes and no tarps) they can attempt to persuade another team to swap some equipment with them.

They are not allowed to take any of the spare kit left over, but can make use of anything else they find lying around on the playground as long as they return it to its rightful place at the end of the session.

They now have a set amount of time to build their den in a place of their choosing.

Once the dens were finished we toured round them giving each group a chance to describe their den, the challenged they had to overcome and what they were most proud of. 
Tabraiz's team had chosen to build their cosy Hobbit inspired den in between the log thrones. They used the log stepping stones to guide visitors to the entrance (though a sign crafted from bark informed us no adults were allowed!)

Haroon's team chose the log posts as a base for their den. Once they had overcome the problem of the wind lifting the roof from their den, they scoured the school grounds for materials to add a few home comforts. An old drawer cabinet and a cone became a tv and tv cabinet, while pine branches encircling their shelter a distinctly Mediterranean feel.

Safa's group took their time to chose a spot to build their den, eventually settling on the mugger pitch as the ground was dry and the metal frame enabled them to easily attach tarps to it with ropes.


The children were then given a flask of hot chocolate and some biscuits to enjoy in their den.

Once all the equipment had be cleared away, we reformed our circle, each took a reflection stick and shared our thoughts with the rest of the group.