Our communities are kicking off this year learning all about Rhythm Earth. We are celebrating the beginning of another year in the woods. Another year of strewing materials, being in tune with nature, laughing with our communities, splashing in creeks, and observing nature and with our friends.
Sometimes it’s hard to explain the magic that happens at forest school. But other times it’s really clear. It usually is when we notice or see a spark of curiosity and wonder in a child’s eyes…. or even better, an adults’!
So often, that curiosity is sparked by nature but when it’s not, it’s sparked when our leaders strew supplies across the forest floor. What is stewing you might ask?
Sandra Dodd offers this as a definition: “leaving material of interest around for our children to discover.” It’s a popular concept in unschooling and homeschooling circles. It’s a really valuable technique to encourage child led learning.
Strewing is leaving things out for kids to discover and to spark their interest. When we arrive in our outdoor classrooms, this is exactly what leaders do with the weekly supplies. People are influenced by things in our path – the kids are influenced by what we stew and that explains why we have had tremendous success with it!
The secret for our leaders is not getting too involved. The art of stewing is that kids can pursue it or not. There are no expectations. The weeks‘ intended activity might be “shelter building“ but the kids might use the twine and tarps to slide down a hill, make a kite, or collect leaves. And all of that is ok because we want to honor what’s important to each child. There is no agenda to force what isn’t naturally interesting.
Some kids will see the materials and take off in the woods. One of the most successful days of forest school last year, that’s exactly what the kids did. ALL of the kids. Not one was intrigued or curious about the supplies or activities. So we just let them go. They ran through the trees and climbed them, they swung from branches, and jumped from rocks. Most parents sat and chatted with each other, just allowing their kids to play. Until….
Until the leaders picked up a few things and started using them to build animal homes. It took about 10 mins but a few kids trickled over and watched for a minute before asking if they could help. So we let them. Then a few more came, and a few more, and a few more. The next thing we knew, the whole group was spread out through our classroom area building animal homes.
The kids‘ wonder and curiosity was intrigued when we were spotted spontaneously “playing“ in the woods. This happens time and time again at forest school. Kids will see leaders or other kids doing an activity and it becomes a recipe for magic. They learn more, are more creative, and have more fun than if they were forced to sit down in a circle an complete a task.
Stewing allows children to draw in what they need. It’s not forced learning, it’s natural. Katherine Anderson says, “Strewing seeds the environment with things to explore, furthering current interests and introducing new ones.”
That’s what Barefoot University is all about! But you don’t have to be at forest school to see strewing in action, give it a try at home.
– Amber