Topic Work and Forest School - The Ancient Egyptians
Using Forest School across the curriculum - Ancient Egypt
The pictures show our current class of mixed Year 3 and 4 children, many of whom have been at Chrishall since their reception year and are experienced forest schoolers. As reception children they attended forest school sessions weekly and in subsequent years have had half term long blocks of weekly sessions.
Aspects of their topic on Ancient Egypt were covered during their current forest school half term block. The forest school ethos informed everything the children did and in the middle of one session there was a prolonged snow storm and the only "proper" thing to do was play in the snow. That may seem a long way from the desert, but the Egyptians did use sledges on the sand (see our pictures of working together).
Working Together
Moving heavy new logs for the circle on tarpaulins. The ancient Egyptians slaves dragged the stones used to build the pyramids on sledges across the sand.
Playing with Nature
Using found materials to construct square based triangular prisms making pyramids of various scales – some even fit a ‘mummy’!
Using the contours of the woodland floor
Each group worked together to make a river – possibly the Nile. Lots of their geography and science knowledge was put into practice here to make their rivers flow when the rains came (a bucket of water out of the pond).
Skills
Knots were learnt and practised over several weeks, then used along with sticks to answer the challenge – Make a shaduf that can lift a bucket filled with water through at least ninety degrees.
Well being
All sessions began with time in the sit spots which is as good time to work through ideas. Topic based suggestions that the children could think about in their spots included:- mental lists of what they knew about ancient Egypt, differences between sitting in our wood and next to the Nile!
Woodland Paper Making
The Egyptians wove papyrus from reeds, but we included native leaves in the paper we made as no papyrus was available.
Building a fire to cook outside
The children experienced some of the flavours of modern Egyptian food with falafel qnd humus served in flat breads. A well deserved treat after irrigating the crops with water transported by their shadufs.
