16/12/25 – WW2 Pilot Shelter Building

P4 began by recapping the Forest School Rules. We then discussed out task today. First the children started off with at knot tying warm up where the practiced tying a ‘reef knot’ and a simple ‘overhand knot’ around some twigs. They worked on this in pairs. Then they we gathered back at the base to explain the task. Children had to imagine they were British Pilots from WW2 and their planes had been shot down by the German Army. They needed to safely survive in the forest area and build a shelter to help keep warm until they are rescued. We discussed how the shape and design of the shelter is important and the resources they would need for this. Children were also encouraged to collect natural materials to help the shelter blend and we discussed why this might be important. As an additional challenge children had to use torches in their shelters to send Morse code messages using the guide and their clipboards to record. As a plenary we discussed the choice of site and shape and children displayed their shelters to their peers.