It’s Yasmin again – the Learning Team Intern at Foxburrow. As winter arrives, the reserve is looking absolutely beautiful!

November was another very busy month, with visits to several Wilder Schools. It has been great to see what these schools have planned to develop their grounds and create space for wildlife. During my most recent visit, children were creating posters and leaflets to raise money and materials for their projects, including hedgehog houses, bird boxes and wild flower beds.

This month I joined the tree platforms and ladders training. This was the first in a series of accredited skills training courses at Foxburrow. We spent the morning assembling a new platform in Crag Pitt Wood and the afternoon creating ladders, using both rope and silver birch. It has been great to see the platform being used and loved by many different groups.

It has been wonderful to put the things I learned during my Forest School training into action with Wild Tots. Our lovely Wild Tots did a fantastic job whittling sticks to make stick men for our Stick Man Special and have persevered with the palm drills to create some amazing crafts.

Although we have had some very chilly days in the forest, spirits have remained so high and the atmosphere has been wonderful. Our Wild in the Week groups made some deliciously festive damper bread, with cinnamon, orange and chocolate! It has been great to countdown to Christmas with our nature themed advent calendar, with daily posts on social media. We are very much looking forward to our final festive family events.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!