Forest Classroom

Fire Fun Day

Week 7

It was a chilly day at Forest Classroom, but some friends still showed up feeling comfortable in sweatshirts, Sarah and I couldn’t imagine! We redid our painted pumpkins from last week and they all came out great!

Photo: Audubon Vermont

What’s one good way to stay warm outside? MAKING FIRES! The day focused on being fire safe, making different types of fires, and making sure we leave no trace too. Our journey began with a discussion around the importance of fire safety, how we act around a fire, what we need in order to be safe and protect nature too.  The we had a lesson on the 3 things a fire needs in order to happen, 1. Heat 2. Air 3. Fuel/wood.  Finally we learned about the different styles of fire, log cabin, TP, A-frame, lean-to, etc.

Working through our fire stuggles! Photo: Audubon Vermont

We divided into groups and were given the challenge to build our own fires in one of the styles we learned! Everyone had to collect twigs, sticks and branches and design their fire. We also had a challenge by choice of lighting a match!

Both groups were successful in creating a fire and having it last for a few minutes, our fires did come with some challenges, like not having enough fuel to keep it going, smothering the fire with too much wood, not giving it any air, etc. We were able to work through it all and had a blast.

LNT lesson Photo: Audubon Vermont

As a treat we enjoyed s’mores as Sarah taught us the 7 rules of Leave No Trace, they come with hand motions, be sure to ask your student what they are!

Roasting the perfect s'more! Photo: Audubon Vermont

Leave No Trace:

  1. Plan ahead
  2. Walk on durable surfaces
  3. Pack in pack out
  4. Fire safety and making sure you put out the fire and have a fire in a designated area
  5. Leave what you find
  6. Be kind to others you pass
  7. Respect wildlife

We ended our time working on our forts and playing some field games too!

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