People of Glossop please share!

Less than 2 weeks until the Easter hols in Glossop and 3 weeks in Leek and if you’re not off on your hols and have not sorted childcare yet or thinking of something fun for the kids to take part in, then we are running 2 Easter camps at ‘Inside Out Forest School’. One in Glossop at Dinting Cricket Club (5 days) and one in Leek at Pickwood Woods (for 3 days). If you want your child to experience something completely unique and so much fun in the holidays then we can offer full on days of outdoor woodland experiences, campfire cooking, crafts, games, team building and so much more! We are a team who have lots of experience working with children and are all DBS enhanced. If you would like to find out more check out our website for details under holiday camps and book on from there. We give sibling and block booked discounts! Www.insideoutforestschool.com

It was all about feeding the birds this morning at Little Explorers in Leek. The poor things have had a harsh winter and it may not be over yet? ( rumour has it we have more snow on the way!?!? 😱). Anyway it felt like Spring was here today and the little buds were sprouting from the trees and bushes. Starting off around the fire circle, we had another big tribe today, plenty of 4 year olds and even a 5 year old! We introduced ourselves, went through the FS rules, listened to a story ‘owl babies’ and then delved into the woods on search of letters, feathers and birds!! There was an opportunity to make 3 different types of bird feeders, a threading treats on to a wire, a peanut butter roller and a lardy pine cone one. As well this, there was some Mini wooden owls to create too. Lots of little hands were put to work, rolling, threading, squishing and pushing. The results were fab and there was lots to take home to feed the birds in our gardens and yards. Trudy popped some popcorn on the campfire and this went down well, it was supposed to go on the wire but much of it didn’t make it that far😜😋 After snack time a few of the kiddies went off exploring and bug hunting, rolling logs over and searching under them, we discovered all sorts, including an unusual looking centipede. Finishing off with toasting marshmallows, we then revisited the bird theme with identifying some woodland bird pictures that were hiding in our woods from earlier and ended with reflection. What another great morning with a super bunch of little ones and their parents. Trudy and I are already looking forward to next week. It was also lovely to hear how ‘wowed’ Paul the owner of the woods was, when he saw our ‘Little Explorers’ session in action for the first time today!

Juniors Explorers was back this morning and it was great to see some old and new faces! The weather didn’t let us down, we had a slightly wet start but then the clouds blew over and out came the sunshine and the heat!! 🤗👏🏻👍 Simon couldn’t make it today so it was just Trudy and I so we decided to head down into the woods before we stoked the fire up! Wow...the woods have changed over winter. We can see for miles And the culvert has been cleared which has created a really fast flowing stream ( plus all the rain from last night), we even spotted some ducks having a swim!! Down into the woods we climbed, through the undergrowth ( which is ready to start growing back to create our Himilayan Balsam jungle), through the stream, over the ‘bog of doom’ and up ‘Heart attack’ hill. We had a few slips and slides along the way but that’s all the fun of it! Back to base camp for snacks and later on we enjoyed pancakes with delicious toppings. I had planned quite a few craft activities and team building experiences for the last hour BUT the kids decided to dive into the last of the snow and use their big hunting equipment to creat mini snow homes- castles and igloos out of snow balls. With the sun out and the snow so crisp and deep, it was perfect conditions, with hot chocolate on tap, and some major hammock swinging going on there was never a moan or squeak of being cold! Of course we finished the session with marshmallow toasting, s’mores, reflection and lots of full bellies! A brilliant bunch of happy and kind little souls today! We can’t wait to have them back next week and hopefully many more!

Woo hoo! Finally it looks like Spring may well have gone and sprung, it was practically toasty today at 11’c 😂I was down to just a hoody!! The blue skies were out especially for our Little Explorers taster session in Glossop today and what a turn out it was. Just wonderful to see so many new faces, raring to explore the outdoors and get their hands dirty😉 The pancakes were a hit and so were the snacks and marshmallows- in fact food definitely left an impression on these little ones😉🤗😋 it’s so fab that we now have Trudy on board our LE sessions to make our fires and cook for us...we can now start to involve the little ones in some prep and campfire cooking skills. We started with the story of the ‘Big pancake’, introduced ourselves, went through the Forest School rules and then explored our boundaries hunting for 40 cheeky pancakes that were hidden away! Back to base camp we turned these pancakes into name medallions and then went off exploring again on a scavenger hunt. With our findings tipped out in front of us, we chose our favourite items to mark make into some clay pancakes. It was super to see the little hands getting stuck into manipulating that clay and creating some great shapes. Leaving them to dry we went off bug hunting, walking in the snow ( there was some left which was crisp and deep👍🤗) exploring more of our space and swinging in our hammocks. Some children used the natural objects that they had collected to make a mandala style pancake out on the grass! We finished off with toasting marshmallows around our fire circle and reflection, passing the speaking stick around listening to everyone’s thoughts and opinions on our session and experiences. What a fab morning, thanks to everyone who came and we hope to see you again next week. You can just drop in for £6 ( no need to let us know) or go on to our website for a reduced price of £5 if you block book. 18 months and younger are free. Thanks Esther and Trudy

Well, we thought we had seen the last of the snow but Oh No....the white stuff made an appearance again this morning in the High Peak. It was so lovely to be welcomed back to ‘Peak School’ Special Needs School in Chinley where I volunteered 3 years ago when I was studying for my MA in Autism. Such a pleasure to spend a day with a super bunch of kids and see how they’ve all grown, developed and thrived in the time I’ve been away. I will be spending more time here over the next coming months and can’t wait to see how the children take to ‘Forest School’ and also how the school grounds change as Spring appears. Today I worked with 2 different age groups with differing needs BUT hey, we all went outside in the snow and braved the elements to see what nature we could find around us. The mud, puddles and snow were a great hit👍some children showed real confidence and determination today walking on uneven ground. I created some PECS ( picture exchange communication system) cards that we could use on our nature hunt, these worked well when we came to reflect on our experiences as many are the children are non verbal. Even though the snow lay on the ground we managed to collect an array of so many interesting natural objects to take back to class; these included pine cones, pine needles, catkins, nuts, leaves, bullrushes and snail shells. Back inside, we tipped out our bags and examined their contents under magnifying glasses. Next we chose some interesting leaves, dried them off and covered them in foil on a cardboard back to create leaf rubbings, these worked out so much better than the last time I did it at Junior Explorers. Very proud of the children at Peak School today, they showed such enthusiasm, resilience and it was particularly lovely to see how our great outdoors had even a small impact on their language and learning in such a short time frame. Looking forward to learning about the little critters next week! 🐛🕸🦋🐜🦗🕷🐞🐝

What a super turn out to our taster ‘Little Explorers’ session in Leek at Pickwood woods this morning. It was all about Pancakes today😋 starting with a story ‘ The Big Pancake’- about how a cheeky pancake escaped the clutches and bellies of everyone, except the clever pig! So, off we went on our own little pancake hunt around the woods to explore the boundaries of our magical base camp. Returning with our findings, we turned them into name tag medallions, then half way through, the call came from Trudy that the pancakes cooked on our fire were ready🔥😋😋🔥 There was plenty (and the rest) to go round and a smorgasbord of toppings, as well as the usual snacks, hot chocolate and squash. With our bellies full and energised we continued with a nature hunt, collecting objects to put in our bags for later. Then everyone had a go at making a clay pancake, apparently the rolling was particularly hard work😂we used our findings to ‘mark make’ into the clay, discovering what wierd and wonderful patterns we could create. There was still time left for a go at bug hunting, we weren’t expecting to find much as most of the little critters were probably hiding from the cold but we were in awe when slugs, centipedes, woodlice and worms came out to play! Everyone got to toast a marshmallow and when we closed the session with reflection, this was an obvious big hit with our Little Explorers. What a fab bunch of kids and their parents/grandparents. It was lovely to meet some new faces and hopefully we will see you all again soon. Esther & Trudy 🍄🐛🌲🌳🕸🌱

So, after a 2 month break we are back again! This week we launch our two FREE Little Explorer taster sessions ( tomorrow in Leek and Friday at Glossop). No need to book just drop in. Both are ‘pancake’ themed and we’ll be enjoying pancakes cooked on and around the fire as well as other fun experiences planned. Saturday we launch our Junior Explorers ( 4-12 year olds) sessions from 10am to 12pm, go on line to book all 8 sessions OR drop in weekly. Don’t forget to book ahead for our Easter Camps, flyers are being sent around schools in Leek and Glossop over the next 10 days! Places are already being booked up. Spring is on its way, so let’s get out and explore our beautiful world 🤗🌲🌳🐛🌱🍄🕸

We finally did it! Forest School Italia in the snow❄️👍 We didn’t get the whole class out ( these Italian’s aren’t used to the cold and rain/slush like us hardy British Northerners) but the bambino’s that did attend, were little troopers. Aged between 2 and 8 years and all having to speak English they braved the elements in their ski gear and had a fab morning. We ventured around Rachel’s garden ( who owns the farm) and explored our boundaries while decorating our journey sticks with whatever we could find along the way. The little people had obviously heard we were on our way and were up to their tricks again, leaving their ropes and feathers out for us to find. Sadly because of the snow their homes had been destroyed and we worked together with the kids to create a little village to house them in one of the Olive trees. The bambino’s loved making their snacks and we all huddled around the campfire at the end of the session to enjoy our chocolate quesadillas and pizza style calzones 🤗😋these went down a treat followed by mugs of hot chocolate and of course the toasting of marshmallows. We finished off with the game and story ‘this is NOT a stick’, the kids used their imaginations and practised their English language to turn their sticks into whatever they fancied. We closed with reflection and it was lovely to hear the super feedback and praise for Forest School👍🍄🌱🕸🐛🌲🌳 This was a whole new experience for the Italian’s and we were so warmed by how they got stuck in, showed resilience and their fantastic positive attitudes in such harsh conditions (It was one of toughest of day’s setting up in freezing cold rain😫). Such gorgeous, friendly and welcoming children and staff. Thanks so much for having us ‘Happy Days’ pre school and language Centre- what an experience it’s been, we certainly hope to be back soon. Esther and Trudy

Arghhhh 😫😡we escaped Manchester but the ‘Beast’ has caught up with us in Italy. Our Forest School has had to be cancelled today due to snow and roads were not cleared. We are gutted 😭but rain is due so hopefully we’ll be back on it for tomoz. Instead we walked Ruth’s crazy new puppy ‘Woody’ who ate the bobble from my new hat😳😝😂and did some graffiti spotting along the way👍

A powerful little video that I was shown on my Forest School training week, the message being that every child is unique, has different talents, abilities and learning styles. Worth a read while you’re tucked up inside on this chilly day❄️👍🤗 https://www.facebook.com/boakyt/posts/10155744441729843

Arrived safe in Pisa ( no snow here but blinking cold 😬). Picked up by Ruthie and headed straight to check out our Farm base camp. Met the lovely owner Rachel who has kindly lent us her farm, fields, olive grove and orchards for the next few days🤗 Love this pic of Rachel’s Farm house, hand painted with natural materials- onions skins, red cabbage, walnut skins and beetroot ( another idea to take back home with us!). Unpacked, now planning (yes are are here to work😉honest!) and off into Pisa this arvo to see the tower and check out some local hangouts. Weather looks rubbish for tomorrow but we will have a good time no matter what!