The Forest Day!

Finally, after a postponement due to staff issues, we got out into the Forest on 23 April, the first Thursday after the Easter holidays.

We did so much and it was such fun. I've written it up in detail in my Final Project portfolio, but here is a taster...

We stopped and looked, listened, touched and smelled lots of things. We did shows and told stories, made nature sculptures, counted rings, found feathers, lots of tracks, a dead frog and a dead bird, live tadpoles and a nesting osprey!

A highlight was going off-track and the crossing of the bog. The children took turns leading and pathfinding through the undergrowth, checking on the welfare of the group and alerting them to wildlife. They really enjoyed taking control and I could see it was a real challenge for some of them to decide on a good route in such wild country. The various leaders then realized the power they had and led their charges along the boggiest bits, absolutely loving the squelchy moss and water. We had to cross a narrow plank bridge and made the most of dipping their boots in the water as they crossed. The smallest girl struggled a bit with the terrain, but managed it and loved the bog! Then we crossed an area of moss several feet deep, which was quite a challenge for some, but so soft and sinky! They loved the feel of it - sat on it and bounced on it. 

There was the special tree spot – an area of lovely misshapen Scots pines.  The kids really enjoyed picking their favourite tree and spending some time with it. The children then told why they had chosen that tree and what was so special about it.

special tree

Once they had looked at the bark etc. they began climbing and swinging and really behaving like great wild little animals (in the best sense). 

Making music from a cone and a feather

One boy found a feather and larch cones and explored all the different kind of sounds they could make together. 

At one of the three burial cairns I told the true story that a farmer who wanted to use the stone from the cairn c.1800 had found huge human bones in it. ‘There were found on their removal human bones of a gigantic size, among the rest a skull sufficiently capacious, according to the description of a labourer employed by the farmers, to contain “two lippies of beer”.’ (Hugh Miller Scenes and Legends, 1835). At this point something happened that made me realize how immersed in their imaginations some of the kids were. A boy in our group found the note to us from the other group on the cairn, but was scared by it and tore it up. He said he thought it had really been left by ghosts. Once we had calmed him down we pieced the paper together. Luckily we could read it because it was beautiful. It read:

I’m older than the trees

I have bones in my rocks

I have rocks in my bones

My spirits flow in and out

Of the rocks til the end of time

My people must sleep

Please do not disturb…

We love Millbuie! (and sausages)

We could have done with two days to fit everything in that we wanted to do, and some things will need to wait until another day. But overall the feedback from the children and adults and Facebook comments that evening confirmed the Day was a great success.  We have definitely started building the special relationship between the children (and adults) and the Forest that the project is all about.

At the end of the day we returned to Wester Brae for a bonfire, sausages and marshmallows.