Wednesday 4th May
May brought some very welcome sunshine with it, out with the mud and in with plenty of campfire activities!
Our afternoon began with us all transformed into spiders and flies as we played a game of tag, where the flies had to be caught by the spiders or in the web of children already tagged and stuck on the spot. Following the rules of the game, working cooperatively with others and problem solving were the skills required for this to be a success.
This week the children explored irreversible changes and looked at the process involved in making charcoal and charcloth. Willow sticks, about the thickness of a pencil, were placed inside one tin with a hole in the lid and some cotton fabric was placed in another tin, again with a hole in the lid. These tins were then placed into the hot ashes on our campfire. (Big thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Spalding for kindly donating some logs for our campfire activities this half term.) We all observed a stream of smoke coming out of the tins as the wood and fabric were placed in a low oxygen environment. We had to wait until the end of our session to find out if it had worked!
In the meantime, children were busy learning new skills…how to join 2 sticks together using a square lashing.
Perfecting their den building and use of tarpaulins, which the children were very proud of!
Pond exploration!
At the end of our session, although the sun continued to shine brightly, we still enjoyed our hot chocolate and biscuit and reflected on the learning of the session. The moment of truth also arrived when we lifted the lid off our tins to reveal… perfect charcoal and charcloth! Next week we get to try them out!
