NATURE – Leave the classroom for a breath of fresh air, isn’t that every child’s dream? It is no longer a dream today. More and more schools are setting up initiatives to teach in nature, following a very precise pedagogy. This is developed in the book The forest school. Co-written by journalist Pascale D’Erm and the network of pedagogy by nature, published by La Plage, it explains this education system and offers a wide range of activities to do in forest.
Following the principle of “taking care of oneself, of others and of nature”, these games aim to develop the senses, emotional intelligence, knowledge of the forest or even communication and cooperation. And between the twigs and the pine cones, the traces and the animal soundstrees, water and flowers, the forest is full of resources and the possibilities of activities are enormous.
We have selected five from the book, which we reproduce below:
1. My friend the tree
©Pascale d’Erm (around the fire)
This activity develops:
- Cooperation
- la communication
- trust
- take care of it
The children are in pairs; in turn, blindfolded (or closed, if the child is more comfortable like that), they are guided by their friend towards a tree. The guide will take care of his companion, slowing down, indicating if there are obstacles or branches to avoid.
Always with their eyes closed (above all, don’t remove the mask or the scarf right away!), they will touch its bark, assess the number of lower branches, their location, smell and smell the aromas that emanate from it, and then they will try to find him once his sight is restored. For this, the child is brought back to the center of the field by his buddy and his mask removed.
Then his comrade accompanies him in his research, prompting him with clues if necessary. Once the tree has been found, the child can spend a quiet moment near “his friend” the tree. If he can’t find it, it doesn’t matter, he chooses another one!
For the little ones, an adult-child pair can be relevant, especially when it’s time to be guided by the young child. A great opportunity to trust and let go!
The opinion of the author Pascal D’Erm
“Sight is a dominant sense for us and this game teaches us to develop the sense of touch. There is also an emotional attachment that the child keeps with his tree throughout the year.”
2. Painting and mud sculpting
©Pascale d’Erm (around the fire)
This activity develops:
- Cooperation
- the imagination
- la communication
While mud is sometimes referred to as dirty, forest mud is actually very clean; it is also proven to strengthen the immune system and boost mental health. In addition, the mud washes away, while the memories of good times in nature do not go away! From the bottom of our hearts, we invite young and old to paint with mud on paper, fabric (a large sheet), trees… with a stick, nature brushes (a branch with a little moss, leaves in its extremity, a feather…), or just with the hands, the feet…
You can also make mud sculptures – faces on trees, or alternatively, in 3D, mud castles, mud ball towers (mud balls of different sizes stacked on top of each other that you can cover them with different materials if you want: dry earth, moss, grass, etc.).
Throw mud balls at a target or a transparent shower curtain (possibility of being behind the curtain for guaranteed fun).
Dorogando: Japanese art of polished mud ball.
The opinion of the author Pascal D’Erm
“There is something extremely liberating in getting dirty with mud, contrary to the education they have received. Moreover, painting with mud is a very old artistic gesture that refers to the creativity of the first humans today restrained by a hygienist society.
3. Nature painting
Pascale d’Erm (around the fire)
This activity develops:
- attention
- l’observation
The adult collects 5 or 6 “treasures” from the forest (pine cones, tree leaves, blades of grass, small branches, pebbles, etc.) – preferably on the ground. He arranges them on a piece of fabric, like a nature painting, and the children have 30 seconds to fix it firmly in their memory. Then they close their eyes hard to capture the mental image of what they saw, like a camera. The adult covers the nature painting with a small tablecloth and the children must then find the same “treasures” in the forest and rebuild the painting.
Don’t hesitate to show the table once more if a child hasn’t found it (it’s a game!) and even to reverse the roles – the children prepare a table to be reconstructed for the adults.
The opinion of the author Pascale D’Erm
“Children focus on details of nature that they usually skim over without really seeing. They become much more observant.”
4. The miracle of water and ice
©Ruth Joiner (Association L’Ecole buissonnière)
This activity develops:
- creativity
- the wonder
- the senses
- understanding of the world
A game to play in winter, of course, but also all year round if you have a freezer!
The children begin by collecting various items to hang in the ice: pine cones, twigs, cupules of acorns, dead leaves, small stones, feathers… They choose various containers and fill them with water. The children put their objects in the water – some sink, others float: it is already a source of amusement.
Then a string is placed in the container, both ends hanging out of the water. A few drops of natural dye (beetroot juice, etc.) or food coloring can brighten up the glazed work. Then, it remains to put the containers outside (or in the freezer) for the night. The following days, we take out the small mobiles and hang them on a tree branch. The light reflected there will illuminate the eyes of the little ones…
This winter work of art is also an opportunity to remind children that water is 70% of us, that it streams, evaporates, flows according to an unchanging cycle for millions of years. The transformation of liquid water into ice and its return to a fluid state will be an opportunity for them to discuss cycles, transformations, change.
The opinion of the author Pascale D’Erm
“This game allows you to marvel with water, which is the basis of all life.”
5. Prey and predators
This activity develops:
- Cooperation
- problem solving
- la communication
- the senses
Combining exploration of the concept of predation and discovery of tracking, this game often gives birth to a strong team spirit in children. First of all, it will be necessary to help the children to divide into two teams: the prey and the predators. It’s up to you to decide together which animals you want to embody.
The prey have 10 minutes (or any other time decided by the group) to hide in the forest. But like any prey, the children of this group will leave traces of their passage. To do this, they will walk in single file pulling a large branch behind them, lightly marking the ground. After regarding 8 minutes of walking, the prey stop and hide around where their tracks left off.
Once the 10 minutes have passed, the predators go in search of the prey, observing the clues of their passage. It is possible to set a time limit for predators to find all prey, or allow any unfound prey to pounce to surprise predators. It’s fun for kids (even if it’s not really what happens in the animal world, what’s explained to them).
It is possible to leave arrows made with sticks on the ground to mark the path of the prey team, but also bits of natural wool of a fairly neutral color, or even very small pinches of flour thrown on the ground or on the trees. These different markings will create different levels of difficulty.
The opinion of the author Pascale D’Erm
“Sometimes it is difficult for children to name predators other than wolf, fox and lion. This game teaches them regarding prey, predator, who eats whom, and the food chain.”
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