Nature Explorers

Year 2 had a wonderful day as Nature Explorers, working towards the Junior Foresters Award.  They started the day playing a game that taught them the principles of fire: fuel, oxygen, and heat (or ignition source).  Working in two groups, the first group then had a hands-on introduction to dead hedging as they weaved willow branches between posts to create a hedge in the Forest School area.  This was lots of fun and relied on great teamwork as well as strength to bend the branches.  The plan is to fill the gap between the new fence and the old one with shoots cut from the lime tree, providing a microhabitat for many woodland creatures. 

Meanwhile, the other group were busy learning about the British mammals that feature in Roald Dahl’s ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’. They created plaster casts of fox prints, learned about badger food chains and visited Hilden Grange’s very own badger sett. After lunch the two groups swapped activities and were then treated to toasted marshmallows around the fire as a reward for their hard work.