This week we were exploring, meeting the gorse plant and building fairy houses.

Gathering resources for fairy houses

First we gathered resources that might be useful for building with. ‘This could be a roof.’ ‘I could use this to make a blanket.’ ‘I’m not sure what this will be yet.’

Gorse

We met the gorse bush and heard a story about the gorse mother and her babies and how she me yellow satin tents for them and then elastic green homes that grew and changed colour as the babies grew inside. We made tea from the yellow flowers / satin tents.

Exploring and discovering

Having freedom to explore and discover different parts of the area brings the children alive.

Building fairy houses

The fairy houses involved lots of discussion, problem solving, imagining and re-imagining, ideas, building skills all using natural found objects. The children learned to use what was around them. They also learned that if they wanted something from a living plant to check to make sure that it wouldn’t harm the plant and only to take what was necessary. ‘Is it needed?’ ‘Is it taking care of nature?’

Thank you to our first group of 6th class assistants

We were all very grateful to our 6th class assistants for their incredible help with Forest School over the past four weeks. According to our Junior Infants, they were kind, fun, and always ready to lend a helping hand.

They showed wonderful leadership skills and were consistently thoughtful, caring, and responsible. Their positive attitude and enthusiasm made every session more enjoyable and meaningful for our younger students.

Well done to our fantastic 6th class helpers — we’re very proud of you!