Affordances of nature

In Forest School, “affordances” refer to the opportunities and challenges the environment presents, influencing how individuals interact with it. These opportunities, like a fallen log or a sticks, invite actions like climbing, jumping, or creating, fostering physical skills and promoting engagement with nature.

Discoveries

The children are leading and integrating their learning. They are observing and wondering and imagining and questioning and challenging each other. They find lots of other interesting things in the woods.

Getting to know the elder tree

We met the elder tree today. We smelled her flowers and leaves. We touched her smooth young bark and her older bumpy woody bark. We wondered. We heard stories and had a letter from the elder tree via the grandmother tree. We created with her elder sticks. We made tea out of the elderflowers.

Affordances of Elder sticks

We offered the children some elder sticks and asked them what they noticed and what they’d like to do with them.

Fairy village

Work continued on the fairy village today.