“To learn to read is to light a fire.” Victor Hugo, ‘Les Misérables’
This was certainly true of Year 2’s outdoor lesson this week! TB was incredibly enthused and inspired by a book he was reading about owls, he was showing anyone who would stop and look at it. TB suggested that as the Outdoor Classroom topic is birds, it would be a great idea to do a session on owls.
So they did!
The children started the session watching a short programme indoors, which gave them some basic knowledge of British owls; what they like to eat, how they hunt, where they choose to live. They then moved outside, up into the woods, where TB, very bravely, stood and gave the rest of the year an insight into the life of an owl. The children learnt about the five most common owls in Britain; barn owl, little owl, long eared owl, short eared owl and the tawny owl. Plus an interesting fact about each type. Mrs Wilson’s personal favourite being that female tawny owls shout ‘twit’ and the males reply ‘twoo’!
Year 2 then played a game called ‘hunt the mouse’. Everyone stood in a circle facing outwards pretending to be mice, except for one person who was the owl. The owl stood in the middle and a piece of very scrunchy paper was secretly given to one of the mice on the outside. The owl had to use its sense of hearing to identify the mouse and capture it for dinner! What a fabulous owl session, thanks TB!
The following day George brought in some photos of himself holding owls.
Kindy and Nursery have been saving food leftovers from snack time to feed the birds with. This was taken up to the woods and put on the bird feeding station. Some of the children discovered what they thought must be an ostrich’s nest.
Another day, another game! This time, a game to teach the children about life cycles. There was much hilarity amongst the Reception children as they became birds chasing worms around the Pre-Prep garden. Mrs Wilson has made some cat masks to throw into the mix for next time!