Tuesday Forest Pups – Kiwanis Park

This fall Tuesday we were once again graced with a sunny day at forest school! Though the weather is beginning to bring in a chill – especially felt during hammock time – we are so grateful when the sun can make an appearance to warm us up.

One of our students: “Bunny”, is notorious for falling asleep during jushammock time; always says it’s his favourite part of the day! {Stay tuned for a one day collage of all the sleepy hammock pics of Bunny from this year}

 

But believe it or not these children did much more than just sleep on their day in the forest. On this day, the students voted to start the day off at “Bumblebee camp” where they enjoyed swinging around on the ninja line. This camp is one of the best to set up our Ninja line because of the availability of both wide open spaces and strong trees. 

 

Though Ninja Lines are super fun, nothing truly beats the joy of climbing a giant tree; after lunch and hammock time we packed up and took a walk to the best climbing tree in the park. You may recall from a previous blog that this tree lost a very large limb in the last hurricane, well this turned out to be a blessing in disguise! The limb on the tree was large enough to hold many bodies to climb on at once, but was often too high for many children to truly enjoy. Now that the limb is on the ground beside and now provides many more climbing opportunities for students of all ages and abilities. 

Before packing up from another great day at forest school the students were eager to make time for a beach trip… what a busy day!

Do you have a favourite climbing tree? If not we are happy to share ours !

 

Wednesday Forest Pups – Kiwanis Park

We may be five weeks into the program, but believe it or not, today is the first day we’ve had all four students in one class! 

These students are always eager to play in the water with the ducks and make many delicious items with the mud kitchen. 

One of the unique things about this class is that, of the four students, each of them came into the program with one friend. So although this year at forest school was a first for all, they had the opportunity to experience it with friends: both new and old. 

Many of these students have also never been in an “away- from -parent” program before and we were so proud of how amazing they did from day one ; begging their parents to stay longer (as their age group was only offered as a half-day program).

 

 

Thursday Homeschool Program – Bedford

This particular day of forest school was one of our favourites. It was a beautiful fall day in the forest. The mushrooms were enjoying the sunshine as much as we were. We thought there was no better place to spend it than “Frog pond” (Hobson Lake). We made a quick stop at the lake to eat snack and play a few rounds of camouflage before heading to the waterfall. 

 

Once at the waterfall it didn’t take long for the true exploration to begin. Today we expanded our usual boundaries to include further down the waterfall; and it didn’t take long for them to get their feet wet.

 

They spent hours climbing the waterfall like a staircase and playing in the large foam piles gathered in the pools.

 

But no matter how much fun water play is, there’s always time to climb a tree or gaze for frogs hanging out nearby. 

 

I think on just this day alone one of our students climb 5-6 trees around the forest; including, this infamous beauty that leans over the waterway above the falls. The smile on his face truly says it all. 

 

 

Friday Travelling Toddlers – Point Pleasant Park

I am so proud to announce our second “Wild Child Travelling Toddlers” we had roughly 25 people join our program over the two hour span ; with glowing feedback from the families. 

 

 

Saturday Nature Explorers – Cole Harbour

We had so much fun this Saturday that we didn’t manage to snap a single picture! For that I will include a picture of the beautiful park we play in and tell you about our day as nature explorers. 

 

This group loves to build forts and climb trees – like many other groups; however with only running a 3 hour program on Saturdays, I am often quite impressed with what they accomplish in such little time. They always make the most of their time with us; often getting in a few rounds of a group game on top of all their other ventures through the woods and the hikes to and from camp. 

Lesson one: time management to get the most of your time outside. Lesson two: enjoy every second, no: ifs, ands or buts.