One of the most suitable places for building a relationship with nature is a forest park. Our humane one, with its size and multiple spaces, provides many opportunities for getting to know it and playing games of various kinds, that’s why we chose it for teaching. It is a space that stimulates the imagination, allows contact with nature and provides space for multifaceted experiential learning. And experiential learning or learning through play was chosen as the most modern trend in education by the 1st grade teachers at our school. On one beautiful sunny day in October, they called the forest educators from Sobraniec. Those with the students worked in an environment that they know in detail, so they had excellent prerequisites for accompanying them through the forest. Most of the children were motivated by the fact that forest educators became their teachers for a while.
Since they wanted to create a permanent positive relationship with nature in the students, they had to introduce cheerful and playful moments into the teaching process. During their own activity, the students experienced an emotional experience that they will not soon forget. The activities allowed them to independently observe, search, discover and acquire knowledge. At individual stations, they learned to observe a certain object, which made it easier for them to understand mutual connections and remember them. The most interesting activities included putting together puzzles – forest animal families, plants, predator and lizard games, sowers and gatherers, and also making your own wooden medallion with a forest animal of your choice. They could also color the medallion. After completing the tasks, each child received a small reward – a bookmark with an animal. Forest pedagogy is a modern form of communication between foresters and the public, it is the easiest way to bring the forest environment and the functions of forestry closer to the general public. That was also the goal of our activity. Thanks go to all teachers and, not least, to the students for the passion they showed in individual activities. Good luck to the forest!