Mighty Adventurers Forest School

The boundary was set and agreed and gradually the children gained knowledge of each area until they were free to roam across the whole site as long as they remained within the boundary. They understood why boundaries were important as there was no single sightline across the different areas, so if there was an emergency, eg someone was lost, everyone knew where to search. To begin with I banned playing in the bogs as they are dirty, deep and the children were getting stuck, with wellies getting stuck, children needing to be rescued and having to return the children completely covered in bog. The children kept “disobeying” and I realised I was banning the activity because I was worried about how the parents would react to transporting their bog covered children home. There was one particularly boggy area that the children would be found in which we called “Deer Tree Bog” which had a fallen tree on it’s boundary. I saw that the children gained a lot from jumping in and playing around the bog. They explored the sensation of it on their hands and sometimes on their feet when they lost their wellies. They had to fight against the suction then work out how to release their lost wellies, and I watched as they became more daring as the more adventurous children extended the play by using the fallen tree to leap off of to see how high they could jump (which resulted in them landing deeper into the bog) or if far they could leap, sometimes trying to leap over the bog completely (then falling back into it with squeals of laughter!). Ultimately what was particularly exciting was the cooperation that was needed within the group to rescue the “stricken” victim. I realised that the activities happening around the bog was such that it was my mistake to ban such a rich seam for exploration and play.

The next issue that arose with Deer Tree Bog was that this was the only place they would unthinkingly cross the boundary. This was so they could test the boggier area on the other side of the fallen tree that marked the boundary, and there was a little stream within that bog that they wanted to jump over (and get more stuck!). I realised I had imposed the boundary because of the natural feature (the fallen tree) and they were wanting to make more use of that area than I had predicted. I was worried about one of them falling in the stream incase they got knocked unconscious and they were there on their own. We sat down and we agreed a compromise that they would let me know if they wanted to cross the boundary, and when they came and asked I would only say yes if they were in at least a pair. Again, this released another set of rich play opportunities as they established an adventure course along tree trunks, under branches, balancing before leaping across the stream. There was the cheering of excitement as the boldest child leapt and landed clear of the stream, and then squeals when he entertained them by twisting and falling backwards in the bog to make a “bog angel”. Most of the group followed suit and it was added into their “routine” with various levels of fear, doubt and fierce encouragement and a team spirit was cemented that was unshakeable for the rest of the project.

At the end of the session one of the hesitant boys was inspired by this new hero figure, and as the children returned to base he hung back, dug his fingernails into his clenched fists, shifted his weight from foot to foot, muttered to himself “be brave be brave be brave” and leapt. He had chosen a narrower bit of stream, stumbled and nearly fell on his landing, but emerged from the bog grinning proudly. “I made it!” he announced as this little boy strutted up to his mum at home time!