Foxes, December 17th

We had a wonderful last day of forest school for 2025!

We started the day with challenging the Foxes to the rope climb in the icy conditions. It was not easy but everyone put their heart into it. The belly sliding was fast and Mrs. Rikia had to slow them down at the end of the pitch by diverting them into the slushy snow. We had one injury, which was a good lesson to all - that even at the end of a run when you're past the steep stuff you can still get hurt. The injured persevered and was able to slide a little later in the day on the penguin slide. Ask your Fox what their favourite slide was for the day. Personally I loved the penguin slide in the Rabbits spot. It was easy, breezy with no obstacles and fast. Edison mastered the belly slide technique so well that we didn't even get a picture of him.

The morning was spent mostly in free time. The Foxes were inspired by Mrs. Lea's workshop about how to pick good fire wood. Being the business minded foxes they are, the Foxes set up a commercial ice slide that to slide on you had to bring good fire wood. Some of the Foxes questioned the authority of those governing over the ice slide. All in all it was interesting how they negotiated with one another and were able to build inclusion into the game even through mutiny.

As some of the Foxes prepared to make a fire out of the collected wood, a group of other Foxes went alley shopping. We found a dog bowl to make the fire in (the teacher's had not prepared for fire), a broken rocking horse and some lovely plants!

The fire makers tried hard to build their fire using flint and steal and kind of damp wood. Although the fire was not successfully lit, they all won in persevering through and working together.

After lunch we had the Secret Santa/White Elephant gift exchange. What beautiful homemade gifts everyone brought! Thank you Foxes for all the goodies.

For the remainder of the afternoon we had some fun challenges for the Foxes. There were whole class challenges and partner challenges. We saw different Foxes take leadership roles in different challenges. The Foxes are really great at letting one another take lead and following the direction of each other.

We ended the day with a sit spot and debrief that took us back to the beginning of September as we took turns making shout outs to fellow foxes. We had such a fun fall and beginning of winter with the Foxes and look forward to more adventures in the new year!