The strikingly clear early spring light shone on us for our first session back out in the woods.
And what a wondrously enjoyable time we all had. We know how fantastic it is to be present to observe the children's engagement and reflections.
Each session we finish with sharing some of our observations, enjoyments or gratitudes. Their voice is integral to how we facilitate our sessions. What we took away from today was their words of what they were interested in, knowledgable about and engaged in.
"I can see a buzzard!"
"Look there are two more in the tree over there!"
"Shall I teach you my buzzard call?....it goes like this.....‘kee-yaaa'...."
"Can we go and check on the trees we planted?"
"I bet they have grown loads"
"Which one was the sapling I put in?"
"My one has got buds on it, I can see them coming!"
"Lets play a game here in the field"
"Watch out, there is a hole there"
"It might be a rabbit home....or a badger one- yeah, a badger one"
"We shout 'BADGER', when we see a hole!"
"The stream is still full, I wonder if it floods?"
"Lets go and make a dam, I'll find the wood and we need a poky stick too"
"Look under the bridge we made"
"I love the new pegs"
"This shelter looks like a brilliant camp"
"We could sleep here, it is like bunk beds"
"Can I make the hot drinks for everyone?"
"Come and get your juice everyone!"
"Can we put up the hammock?"
"Hey guys, come on lets find good trees for the hammock"
"The bluebells look like spiky grass growing up"
"If I move some logs, they can make a path....whoah, they are heavy, hey come and help me...oh I could roll it"
"Look I found this black stuff...oh yeah it is charcoal, I'm gonna scrape it on the log, of yeah it goes black and lumps off when you rub it on there"
"I've loved playing in the woods with my friends"
"I've loved building dams with my friends"
We loved being out in the woods again with the children; observing the emerging changes which spring brings and the space and the community we are all together. Today our adult gratitude was how beneficial it is for us to spend time in the woods for our mental health, and how we'd not realised how much we'd missed it.