November 6
Wow, what a time change! We managed to squeeze in about 40 minutes of sunshine before the cold and darkness started to creep in. But these wildlings were not about to let that stop them. We went over knife safety and practiced our carving skills as everyone worked on the art of spoon making. Each wildling was determined to create theirs in their own unique way, and those that stuck with it certainly did.
We also tried our hands at making nail tin lanterns, which we quickly discovered is quite the challenge, so we pivoted and made nail and knife lanterns instead. A few wildlings took it upon themselves to gather tinder and start our fire, which we were all very grateful for as the chill set in.
We ended the evening with marshmallows, games that had everyone screaming and laughing, the good kind of course 🙃, and plenty of warmth shared around the fire.
November 13
We have absolutely loved this crew. It felt like taking all my favourite humans and putting them in the same room.
This was a wild day, chasing sunlight once again, but these guys worked fast. They chopped veggies for stone soup, cut dough for donuts, and divided up the clay they harvested weeks ago. I took it home and filtered it for them, it is air dry clay, so if it hardens you can soak it and soften it again.
Then they made lip balms and bath balms in record time. What an impressive team. They even cracked and divided up a lot of glow sticks, and once the dark settled in, they played night game after night game.
What a great season of connection, growth, and learning.
I am so sorry I forgot to send their nature books home with them. They were hiding from the snow in my cart and I forgot 😬. I will hold on to them, so if I see your wildlings in spring I will bring them.
Previous Weeks
The day was full of energy and teamwork as we played games where the winning team earned the chance to choose the next fire foods, sparking creativity and a touch of friendly competition. We then set out on a fall walk, learning to identify and collect edible wild plants that we’ll include in our nature journal and field guide books, a hands-on way to connect with the land and deepen our knowledge of the world around us. To wrap up the day, we cooled off at one of our favourite water spots, grateful for the unexpected warmth and the chance to enjoy nature’s balance of play, challenge, and discovery.
Today our Wildlings wasted no time. As soon as they arrived they unpacked the gear, dove straight into shelter building, sawed down dead branches, and then headed to the creek to cool off, all on their own initiative! Beautiful!
Naturally, the season brought up many discussions on animals hibernating and which do and do not. Then came the big test to finish the day: their shelters faced the ultimate storm water challenge! (Be sure to ask them how their shelter held up).
Just as the day had begun unprompted, we ended it the same way, gathered around an unplanned fire. It was the perfect way to warm up after creek adventures.
It was a day to soak up one of the last 28-degree days, and the kids made the most of it! Most of the afternoon was spent gathering clay to keep our land-clay entrepreneurs stocked, quickly shaping it into all sorts of dishes with their freshly delivered goods. Alongside that, there was some serious shelter building in action. The whole day was packed with self-driven teamwork and collaboration 💪💪
Their challenge to start their own fires began with a magnificent fire collection walk, where they gathered their own bird’s nests. Then they came back to use the flint and steel to start their fires. Their nests were some of the best I’ve ever seen at forest school. I think almost all of them got their fires started within 10 minutes—some within the first minute! They chopped up apples for apple cider, and we roasted hotdogs and s’mores as per their request.
We ended the day with a group story build and threw an enormous amount of leaves on the fire, only to properly extinguish it five minutes later :).
After coming upon an “injured hiker” we decided it was time to learn some first aid! The kids tackled the order of operations (treating the most life-threatening injuries first), choking, anaphylaxis and EpiPen use, poisonous snake bites, broken bones and splinting, as well as how to assist someone when walking or lifting. We worked together to flip an injured person safely and demonstrated how to create hypothermic wraps. (We ran out of time to make our own, so we’ll do that when the snow comes!)
It was a fantastic day of critical thinking, problem solving, and communication. The group really started asking smart, practical questions to figure out what information they needed to help their “patients.”
To wrap up, we hiked over to “the hole” to observe the stage of decomposition of a deer that’s inside. We decided to pick flowers and give it a more respectful burial, then made an exciting discovery…a new burrow with a collection of bones at its entrance!
Dedication, dedication, and more dedication!
That’s all I can say about this group today! I have never seen this level of commitment in all my Forest School sessions.
After reading about ancient peoples from around the world who left messages in caves so their stories could be remembered, we decided to do the same. The kids gathered ashes, slate, berries, and even coal, smashing, filtering, and mixing everything with egg yolk to create beautiful primitive paints.
But that wasn’t the real test of dedication… that came when I told them they had to make their own paintbrushes! Many of these Wildlings weren’t settling for anything less than top-quality brushes. When I mentioned that people in the past sometimes used animal hair, one quick thinker grabbed scissors and… before I knew it… was trimming another’s hair for a handmade brush! 😬
Well… that caught on quickly. Soon, hair paintbrushes were everywhere! 🫠🙃
(Not to worry, it was just tiny chunks… mostly. I made sure it came from the most inconspicuous places!)
What better way to learn autonomy than through creativity, teamwork, and a touch of bold innovation?
What a fun-filled day this was! We started off learning about natural glue, then made our own using sap and charcoal. Of course, they all wanted to try a piece of sap! We put it to the test by crafting rugged spears, complete with “sinew” bindings. Before long, a few of the kids had transformed into wild men and women ruling the forest with their spears, while others gathered cattail bundles to make beautiful cattail dolls.
We wrapped up the day by sharing stories and reminiscing about all the adventures we had.
First thing on the menu? Destroying a fleet of pumpkins in every way imaginable! Hammers, saws, smashing, rolling them down the hill (in full commotion style), and of course, throwing them. My personal favorite was the group that cut theirs in half and cooked up sparkly soup concoctions inside them over the fire!
We made baked potatoes, apple crisps, and hot chocolate over the fire, then spent the rest of the day learning about the marbled orb weaver spider, games, and plenty of storytelling.
