Wild Woodpeckers - Wednesdays

Welcomed to the farm with a selection of herbs and common plants to try and identify, which sparked some rich chat about the many potential uses of each plant. 
Gathered around we share what we were grateful for and set off a different route, across the fields and into the woods,  which allowed us to practise some of our map and compass skills - taking and following bearings and logistics of taking grid references. It was also a great route to collect some plantain to make some ointment (great for cuts and bruises.) Although, it was another bitterly cold day, so once in the woods we set get to work on the fire and had a superb story from Anna to keep our hearts warm as well.

There was a lot of energy going this session to get firmly into building the shelters and getting them into a fit state for the winter weather. I had the joy of experiencing a superb moment of standing back and seeing the sharing of both resources and time between different groups of children working on their shelters. Furthermore, the exchange of advice, as all the shelters are in different stages of development and of slightly different design; it sparked some rich communication around techniques and materials best to use.
With such free flowing interaction, the day had a wonderful free flow movement to it and resulted with some fantastic development: in people through our social sharing and understanding, progression of shelters, working on crafts of carving mushrooms, butter knives or trees and all in the balanced presence of the natural living world.