Huntsville Forest School

Something new is brewing. Programming will be paused for now while the details are finalized. I look so forward to sharing more!!

Registration OPEN: https://activitymessenger.com/p/HgYwT4K?lang=en

Just 5 more spaces. Register here: https://activitymessenger.com/org/3830

Still spaces left! Register here: https://activitymessenger.com/org/3830.

Still spaces left! Register here: https://activitymessenger.com/org/3830.

Another round is opening for Spring! Get your BIG Kids engaging with the world, their peers, and their own skills and abilities more deeply. Register here: https://activitymessenger.com/org/3830.

NEW weekly class for ages 4-8. Register: https://activitymessenger.com/org/3830

Please spread the word. We are trying out a class for a younger age group with plans to add it as a weekly option. Register here: https://activitymessenger.com/org/3830

Day in the life of a forest school kid… Wednesday Feb 5 at Forest School was a fabulous day!! We started the morning sharing stories and whittling. Had a snack and played a guessing game bygiving each person a turn reading animal facts from one of our field guides and having the rest of the group guess which creature we were describing. As a special treat, we then took advantage of the fabulous skating trail . After coming back for some more food and a story, we ventured off to Basecamp from Friday Jan 31 PA Day and Thriving Outdoors program to check on the Quincy. It was still very much intact and had been visited by a weasel and the tracks were all over, including on top of the Quincy. We explored the steep hill, but found that the colder weather today made the snow more slick on the slides we had used last Friday. After discussing how to play safely on the hill in these different conditions and considering the risks, we chose to play on a new part of the hill that still had deep snow to slow us down and allow us to go only part way down the hill (dynamic risk assessments alongside the kids is one of my favorite teaching moments at Forest school). Our group became wolves then and thought up their wolf names. This was very important as we anticipated visiting our ‘wolf den’ that has been a great place to play the last few classes. We used landmarks to find the wolf den from a totally different direction than we’d gone there from before. It was so incredible to see the group find their special place. When we arrived, we found that here too there had been visitors. Evidence of both rabbit and squirrel were found as shown in the photos above. We wondered about whether the squirrel had stored food in the little tunnels and whether the bunny was king into the fort window when it had pooped :). After some minor maintenance on the forts, we did snow belly flops, sit spots, and a game of everybody’s it tag. During the sitspots we heard raven calling and trees popping from the cold. When we got back to the visitors centre we discussed awareness and honesty as an important way to stay safe outdoors. And shared our favorite parts of the day.

A day in the life of a forest school kid is tough to capture in full - there is too much to fit in!! Today we had a blast and have captured glimpses of just 6 of the steps we took to build our day of Forest School fun. We didn’t capture evidence of our morning circle and sharing, the crafts and books, the finished cozy hot tent, the process of building the Quincy and lighting fire, and helping to set up and break down basecamp, and the journey back to civilization where we were met with how busy arrowhead actually was today. We enjoyed our quiet basecamp off the beaten path where it was just our group. Plus, we couldn’t have possibly captured each moment a child achieved something new like climbing the giant, steep hill, or cooking their bannock to perfection, or mastering battoning to split the firewood. I don’t know if the children or the adults have more fun at forest school, because it is such a pleasure to share this experience with the groups. Thanks for incredible lessons and sharing your equipment with us today!!

This one is for teens and tweens who would like to learn and practice skills for surviving and thriving outdoors. has decades of outdoor recreation, guiding, and educating experience to share his lessons learned and tips and tricks. This will not disappoint. Register: https://activitymessenger.com/p/dJGBvuw

March Break Forest School Camp!!! It’s a blast. Registration open: https://activitymessenger.com/p/OmWEYUw

We all want our kids to thrive and one way to do that is to give them a break from screens and the virtual world and immerse them in the real world. Here they will learn skills, play games, practice risk management without even knowing it, connect with peers and the world around them, and build self-awareness willingly - and so much more!! Register for PA/PD day camps this winter: https://activitymessenger.com/p/HjVAvvW