The EYFS' First School Trip!

Today the children in the EYFS went on their first school trip to Tyland Barn, the headquarters of the Kent Wildlife Trust. We were greeted by some lovely volunteers and our trip leader - Matthew. The children adored Matthew and couldn't stop laughing at his funny jokes.

To begin our day we listened to Matthew tell us all about the work the Kent Wildlife Trust do and why it's so important. It was then time to begin our first activity... Pond dipping!

The children thoroughly enjoyed the pond dipping, which was done on a much larger scale than our school pond that the children are used to. We found all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures lurking beneath the water including: water spiders, rams horn snails, a baby minnow, damsel fly nymphs, whirligig beetles and more!

Before long the children were ready for a lunch break, arguably the activity they were most enthusiastic about! Packed lunches are a great novelty when you're used to yummy school dinners.

Our afternoon activity was a mixture of den building and fire starting, before that though we got to play a fun habitat game with our new friend Matthew. 

The children used flints to create sparks and when they were professionals at that, they had a go at lighting a cotton pad on fire! They did absolutely brilliantly and felt like real outdoor explorers. They had fun exploring the forest, building dens and playing in the mud kitchen, they also had a nice cool break in the shade with an ice pop provided by one of our lovely parents. 

We were sad to say goodbye at the end of the day, it had been a huge triumph from start to finish and I think everyone went home feeling very tired and excited about what a success their first school trip had been. 

In Topic and Writing this week the children will be writing about their favourite part of their day at Tyland Barn!