Children in Year 3 have been learning all about the Stone Age in class, but it’s always good to have a little taste of the real thing in our Forest School. To mark the end of this topic, we made a campfire, using wood that the children had collected and dried over the last few weeks. Around the fire we talked about how food would have been gathered and prepared. Why the balance of energy spent hunting, compared to the energy gained from eating the animals they caught, was so vital to survival. The children learnt why understanding seasonality was so important and how plant knowledge would have kept communities alive. They went foraging in our nature garden and found lavender and rosemary, even pine needles from our Christmas trees which when put into a tea added vitamins to help maintain good internal health.
We compared this with how we live today, the bountiful availability of food all year round and discussed how this may impact on our health positively and negatively.
Whilst we talked, some berries, apples and pears were cooked over the coals, followed by some nettle tea. At this point no natural sweeteners were added. As you can see by their faces, some children were surprised at the sharpness of the taste. As they ate more they began to describe the flavours they experienced. Next we added some honey, many preferred the fruit this way and of course the honey adds a good energy boost.
What an incredible way to spend the afternoon tasting natural food, practicing our fire making skills, sharing stories and singing songs.
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- A bit bitter at this point.
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- A bit more eager once the honey had been added.
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- Some children couldnt get enough nettle tea
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- We reread the Stone Age Boy.
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- And made some drawings in charcoal.
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- Others not so sure.
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- Perhaps a bit of an acquired taste.
