We were very lucky on Sunday to avoid the showers when we
met at Legbourne Wood to look at Autumn seeds, fruits and berries. Eleven
children and eight adults attended. (Some by bike – well done to them!)
Whilst waiting to begin our walk the children looked for
hidden fruits and berries on a ‘Forest floor’ sheet. They began to match some of the fruits and berries
with the appropriate leaves.
Once we were ready the children made some good suggestions
for health and safety issues and Keith filled in those they hadn’t
thought of.
On the first part of the path the children looked for
various seeds and collected them in a tub where appropriate. They were very
thoughtful about only taking what they needed and about taking care in what to
pick. After a while we stopped and talked about seed dispersal. We discussed
why it was necessary and thought of different methods plants used. As each
method was described the children looked through their tubs for examples to
match.
For the next part of the walk, the children were given a
sheet naming six trees to which they had to match the appropriate leaves and
fruiting bodies. We looked at examples of some of the trees on the way and many
of the children were keen to add to their seed collection. We also noticed that
there were some different plants on this section of the walk as the path was in
more sunlight. When we reached our next point we talked about what we thought
the most common trees in Legbourne Wood were and went through the sheet
together with the children offering their results.
Next the children (and those adults who were allowed by
their offsprings to assist!) eagerly participated in an orienteering activity.
There were four different options that Keith had devised and each spelled a
nature word if completed correctly. This was a very popular activity and
several children completed many if not all of the options.
In addition, they were also able to make a small rotating ‘helicopter’ to reproduce the effect of maple, ash and sycamore keys and
make a seed/berry idial to aid with tree and seed matching.
As we returned we talked about our session and looked at
the different parts of the wood especially where a large area had been cleared,
presumably due to Ash dieback.
All in all – an ex-seed-ingly enjoyable and productive
meeting.
Louise Scott
