Frrrrrrosty fun!

It was defintely chilly in the woods this week! However, nothing could freeze Oak & Beech Groups' joie de vivre!
We read a beautiful passage written by Denys Watkins-Pitchford, a naturalist, affectionately know as 'BB'.

The wonder of the world,

The beauty & the power,

The shape of things,

Their colours, lights & shades,

These I saw,

Look ye also whilst life lasts.

We also learnt about the difference between normal frost and a hoar frost...would you like to know too?

Regular frost happens when water already on surfaces freezes as the temperature drops below zero...  The science bit: A hoar frost occurs on still, cloudless nights when water vapour in the air touches objects that are already frozen and crystallises as more vapour lands it also freezes and crystal strands grow like silvery hair. .

The eytomology bit: In Old English, 'hoary' meant getting old and growing a lond white beard. The children pondered...so Mrs Hoare could be called Mrs Frosty!!

As well as encouraging the children to observe, make connections and wonder about their natural world we also talked about fire.

We talked about how crucial preaparation is when creating a good fire. We focused particularly on kindling - the perfect source at this time of year being 'nature's washing lines'....trees! The hanging dead wood is thin, dry, snappy sticks. In order to toast their own s'mores over their own fires next week, the children set off on a quest to find the perfect deadwood. This, in turn, led them to discussing which species of tree would provide the best dead wood. It was as a result of this activity that I heard one of my favourite revelations from a member of our group.

"It was easier done than said." The adults were about to correct him when he said "let me explain..when you said it the challenge, I thought that I would never be able to do it, but then I did it and it turned out I could do it." What a great lesson for life!!

Watch this week's videos to see your lovely children in action.