The July Recap: Newsletter 11/08/24

It’s late: but it’s here!….

The summer holidays are well on their way and after many months of adult-initiated learning, recalling information and waaaay too much homework, this is often the longest, uninterrupted period of time in the year that children get to do what they do best: play! As Forest School Leaders, we're pretty passionate about the power of play and we will be writing some blog posts about the magic of it at some point. But for now, here's the July / a little bit of August Recap...

What we've been up to at Ways of the Wild this month:

>> July's Foraging Walk

Back at Burgess Park (because the biodiversity is so yummy delicious) we became like the naturalists of yonder year and took to pencil and paper for this month's foraging walk. We got to know the trees by sitting next to them, describing their appearance, feeling their textures and smelling their flowers. One leaf at a time, we drew their identifying features and flicked through one ID book to work out which species it might be, noting its limitations and (furthermore) the importance of checking multiple sources when ID-ing. We made bark rubbings and learned about lenticels, the site of gaseous exchange on a tree trunk, taking a moment to breathe in what the tree breathes out...

Thank you! ~ Katie

>> CommUNITY Day

Esme held the fort for Ways of the Wild at this year's Hammersmith & Fulham CommUNITY Day. She loved chatting with you all, stealing many people from the face-paint queue to get mucky in the mud kitchen and creative with some clay!

We crafted clay animals from turtles to fish, to more out-of-the-box out-of-the-box structures, such as jungle temples! It was a time to bond with family and friends, whilst crafting something in flow. There wasn't much talking whilst making: everyone was so calmly focused on their craft.

Around the back, pouring out from the tent, we had a mud kitchen. Children made mud spaghetti and soup for their families. The parents and elders sat back and watched their little ones get curiously messy!

Thank you Hammersmith Council for having us:)

>> Pop-Up Mud Kitchen!

Our first pop-up event!!

The mud kitchen very quickly turned into a fully functioning restaurant; we were all assigned roles and expectations by the head chef/head waiter. There was a blueberry making team, a soup and dumpling chef, a pancake maker, pancake cooker, drink maker and hungry parent customers that had to pre-order their meal from a refined menu of soup, pancakes, fruit and milkshakes. The head chef was very strict and workers could not eat until the restaurant closed. Somewhere in the middle of this, we made a river(?) and a bridge so that supplies could continue to make their way over to the busy enterprise.

Jay and Katie really enjoyed themselves and we're definitely looking forward to this month's pop-up!

We intend to organise a free pop-up mud kitchen once a month so that anyone can come along and get a taste of Forest School, meet other families, have a chat with us and get familiar with our site. Come say hey!

>> SUMMER HOLIDAY PROGRAM

Public Service Announcement: We've Been Having So Much Fun!

If anyone's seen any feral children running about Ravenscourt Park recently, it is more than likely one of our wonderful wild campers. Covered in charcoal, mud, pondweed, sun cream - you name it, we've got it. It's been wonderful to see everyone and watch children of different ages find commonality under the watchful eye of the trees.

The first week was all about the pond.

The mission was to clear it of sticks, rubbish and leaves. This made way for wildlife as well as rafts, fishing rods and leaf boats. In such a short space of time, we've seen dragonflies, frogs and newts frequent areas that were clogged at the start of the week: something our campers are super proud of! In fact, they became so invested in the wellbeing of the pond, that it became a matter of territory, and any stranger that entered the pond area faced a sword, spear or bow-and-arrow-kind-of-meeting, where the guardians of the pond clearly laid out the ground rules for them to ensure all remained well.

Give children the opportunity to impact an area and watch stewardship bloom (stick weapons not guaranteed nor always advised.)

This second week has been heavy on weaving, den building, scavenger hunts and water fights. We introduced the idea of tracking, noticing prints in the soil and listening for animal sounds that can lead us to the habitats of different beings. Naturally, the children went on to establish their own habitats within the wood, and soon enough tarps, blankets and sheets were hauled into the air, attached to trees, sticks, ropes and, occasionally, people. We don't encourage gun play at Ways of the Wild, but we do encourage water gun play, and boy have we paid the price. None of us went home completely dry on Tuesday, but none of us went home without having laughed hysterically either: a fair exchange indeed. We've woven loads of spider webs and bracelets this week too - a wonderful challenge for the fine motor skills and attention span.

We'd like to say a special thank you to two wonderful wild dudes who made us these wild medals (inspired by the Olympic Games) - we love them, thank you so much!

What's happening at Ways of the Wild in August?

>> 13th August - Little Wild Ones: Stay & Play

Following a lovely taster session last week, we had a local nursery and wonderful family come join us for Thursday's first official Stay & Play event.

The next Stay & Play is on Tuesday 13th of August should Tuesdays work out better for people!

We'd love to slowly gather a group of people together to make this a regular moment in the week for you to step into nature with your little ones, building a small community of parents/carers at the same time.

There's still space for our morning and afternoon sessions so do book if you're interested!

>> 18th August - Den Building - Community Picnic

We have been loving den building so much (and always will) that it feels right for our next community picnic to be all about it.

Tickets are now £10 for adults and £5 for children. We always wanted the community picnics to be affordable and truly be a place to commune and encourage as many people as possible to come and spend some time outside. We do have costs, of the space and the resources - our time and knowledge we give for free - but if enough people can come and support what we do, we can continue to keep the ticket prices low!

>> 18th August - Pop-Up Mud Kitchen

Our second Pop-Up Mud Kitchen will either be inside the Conservation Area, or just outside, in front of the graffiti wall in the North Playground depending on how crazy the Den Building Community Picnic becomes.

What will we be making in the mud kitchen this month?!

We have a bunch of families already signed up for this so do come along if you're available. You are welcome to bring your own snacks etc - there will be a large picnic blanket for us all to rest on.

>> 22nd August - Weave & Wine

We've been dreaming up this workshop for some time now, and have been waiting for summer to launch it. Weave & Wine is an alternative evening out, away from the hustle and bustle of city life, relaxing in Ravensnook with a glass of your chosen beverage (non-alcohol drinking is absolutely and obviously welcome). Jay will teach you how to make a loom for us to begin our weaving projects. Some music, some giggles - it's going to be chill. Friend discounts are available - check out the event page for more details.

In other news...

Ways of the Wild's Weekend Clubs will be coming back this Autumn! After some time off to focus on other things, we'll be bringing back our Sunday Club: a Forest School Drop-Off Session for children aged 3-11 years old.

To begin, we'll be alternating between a Saturday Club and a Sunday Club once a fortnight. Once we've got the ball rolling, we can offer both club days once a fortnight, or even weekly depending on the demand.

They will run the same way that this Summer Holiday Program has run: 9:30-13:30 for the under 5s and 9:30-15:30 for the rest. We'll be taking block bookings, so we can gather a group to grow and develop with. This will allow us to explore some of the more advanced Forest School activities, should the group be interested, the delivery of which is dependent on the nurturing of trust over time between practitioner and learner.

In general, the magic of Forest School becomes apparent after consistent, regular interaction with the woodland. It's all about holistic growth, following children's curiosities and interests, and supporting them to achieve "mini-wins" and persevere through "mini-losses" along the way.

We'll be taking bookings at the end of the month, but for now, you can RSVP to either the Sunday or Saturday Club on our Events Page, or email us directly at hello@waysofthewilduk.com to let us know!

That's all for now - enjoy the rest of your summer and we hope to see you soon <3