16/10/2026
What a beautiful day in the woodland today with the Dreckly Dinkies. We love seeing the Autumn sun shining through the trees in dappled light with campfire smoke catching the rays. There is so much to explore in Autumn, with new mushrooms popping up (and being eaten) daily. Today we even found a mushroom egg! After some free play and exploring we cooked toffee apples and toffee pears on the campfire, working on safe knife holding, peeling and cutting skills. The Dinkies carefully and safely prepared their fruit before rolling them in brown sugar and cinnamon. They were a very popular treat! We then used our sticks to toast marshmallows, because it wouldn't be forest school without s'mores. After all our cooking we realised that we could set light to the ends of our skewers to make torches, remembering our important fire circle rules. Once the sticks had cooled we were amazed to see how they could also become a natural art supply, with the group (and adults) creating some beautiful charcoal artworks. How useful one stick can be! We decided we didn't want to make the rainmakers today and that is ok because choice is one of our most important things at Dreckly woods. Instead the children lead themselves to den building, working in teams to create a stick house, a den under branches with a doorbell, a shop to sell sticks and finding a 'long' magic fairy doorway between trees and ivy. We love the imagination of this younger group. They also did really strong and safe carrying of some really big sticks, showing strength, coordination and determination. There were lessons learnt about listening to each other's ideas and conflict resolution, but mainly just a great mix of teamwork, giggles and friendship building. And look at the wildlife that has already been caught on our camera showing a lot of interest in the sweet chestnuts you scattered today...a robin, a blackbird and a squirrel! Next week with the Dinkies we will be doing some woodwork, making fairy log houses and hedgehog accessories using different woodwork skills. If you know a little person (under 7 years old) that would like to join in the fun next week please tag them below. Next week will be our last week before half term. Happy Dinky woodland days!🌳💚
