Forest walk

We feel very lucky to be surrounded by such lovely native bush, we often see a variety of birds including native birds and talk about the lovely native plants and trees that surround our centre.

We packed our bag with a treasure hunt and pens, some magnifying glasses and a torch to go and explore the forest.

Before we went, we discussed what we might hear, see, smell and feel in the forest.  The tamariki had some great suggestions: 

* Some things we might hear :  ducks quacking, birds, maybe a crow, bees buzzing.

*Some things we might see: trees, sticks, Pohutukawa, Rocks, grass, concrete, Tane Mahuta, possums, tigers, moss, bee hives, leaves, signs, flowers, pinecones, butterflys, moths. 

*Some things we might smell: lunch, picnics, toast, plants. 

 Once inside the forest we partnered up to work in teams on the treasure hunt. It was very exciting each time we found something on the list. We had a korero about how we wouldn’t take things from the forest as these treasures belong to the forest, but we could circle them off our list. 

We saw many types of tress and plants and the children took great please in finding the signs that told us the names of the special native trees. 

If we all stayed very quiet, we could hear the birds flying and chatting high up in the trees, but they were so quick they were hard to see. We heard the running water of the stream and saw how it went through the forest.

We could hear Tawhirimatea rustling the leaves. 

It was nice to feel the different textures on the tress and forest floor like bark and moss and ferns.

We found the biggest tree in our forest and wondered if it was Tane Mahuta….. It was so big no one could get close to getting their arms around it.