What’s happening this month with THL?
The new school term is about to start. Have you booked your favourite Forest School session yet? We have all day sessions at both our Ham Common Woods and Crane Park sites and would love to see you there!
We are hiring!
Are you a level 3 Forest School leader? We are looking to add additional leaders to our THL Forest School family and would love to hear from you if you are already Level 3 qualified, are partially qualified or are keen to get qualified and want support through the process.
Are you a keen lover of all things Forest School and interested becoming a Forest School assistant? We would love to hear from you as well. Our Forest School family always has room for more members so do reach out if you think this sounds interesting.
What we are reading this month
Wild, by Emily Hughes
In this picture book, described as a stunning visual splendour that will enchant children while indulging their wild side, we meet a little girl who has known nothing but nature from birth — she was taught to talk by birds, to eat by bears, and to play by foxes. She is unashamedly, irrefutably, irrepressibly wild. That is, until she is snared by some very strange animals that look oddly like her, but they don't talk right, eat right, or play correctly…
You can buy it here.
What we are foraging for this month
Elder berries
Photo by Tadeusz Zachwieja on Unsplash
There is some great information about elderberries and how to forage them on The Salt Box like the following… “Medicinally, elderberry has immune-enhancing and antiviral properties. It is a powerful natural remedy in treating viral infections like colds, cases of flu and upper respiratory infections. In addition, elderberries also have lots of vitamins, minerals, and dietary fibre.”
Make sure you cook them before eating them as the raw berries contain toxins that are broken down by the cooking process.
What we are making this month
Conker Crafts
For over a hundred years children in the UK have enjoyed the tradition of drilling through a conker, threading a string through it and challenging an opponent in a game of conkers. We agree that it is great fun! However, there are many other fun things to do with conkers as well. We have compiled a list of conker ideas for you below:
If you give any of these a go we would love to see the results!
Can you spot me this month?
Buff Tip Caterpillar
Look for these hairy yellow caterpillars until November when they will winter in crevices of bark or rotting wood before they emerge in spring as a Buff Tip Moth. The Buff Tip moth is a master at camouflage. When its wings are closed it looks remarkably like a broken silver birch twig. Tho Moth flies only at night during the months of May and July so may be tough to spot. Do check out the photos in the resources below.
If you manage to spot one or even get a photo we would love to know about it.