Kahlo Residential: Day 2 at Ringsfield Hall

Morning Feed:

Day 2 began with a bright and early breakfast at 8am for Kahlo class after a lovely night’s sleep. All the children enjoyed their food before rushing outside with Kat who showed us the animals that live on the grounds who also needed breakfast. There was Parker the goat (a ‘nosey parker’ apparently), Piggles the pig and several sheep.

Woodland Activities

Orienteering

In teams, the children had to work together to read maps and find a treasure chest & flag. Once they opened the chest, there was a list of challenges inside they had to complete: Touch a worm, touch a nettle flower, make some mud art etc.

Den Building

Working with Stacey, the children had to get into groups and begin building a structure out of sticks that would be strong and a suitable wild home. We knew that a triangle is the best shape to make because it’s the strongest; then we were able to add more and more sticks to create the perfect den. Some groups had Cinderellas who happily slaved away to clean the forest floor and create a perfect home for their stepsisters!

Creating a Fire!

Everyone loved this activity with Valentina where we learnt all about the ingredients to making a great fire. First, we gathered as many ‘snappy’ sticks as possible from the forest floor to use as kindling. Then in groups, we created a nest from hay, carefully placed some thistle flower seeds inside (“It looks just like cotton!”) along with some charcoal cotton – the remains of a burnt tshirt which is so dry, it helps the sparks to spread.

Valentina explains how to make a great fire

Then for the most exciting part – we used two metals to create sparks that jumped into the waiting nest. By rubbing steel and magnesium together, we could create small fireworks that helped to start a tiny smouldering. Blowing carefully on the spark meant that the smoke increased and suddenly we had a fire!