We weren’t quite in the North Pole last week, but it seemed cold enough at St Mary’s Primary school in Radcliffe, for a heart-warming themed Forest School Session. The whole school unleashed their inner elf and dressed up to help raise money for people affected by dementia. They were colourful in their reds and greens, and some children had put a lot of effort in to look especially elfish with blusher on their cheeks.

The group arrived at the seating area in fine voice singing loud for us all to hear. Little Prancer elf (Josh) set off to the field on a quest to design a candy cane game with the group. This was adapted into a form of hide and seek called ‘out the elf’. At the end, when all the elves were found, everybody gave each other a big hug. Next, the group made their own little elves out of twigs and they embarked on an exciting adventure with Rusty Sparkle Pants elf (Mel). They travelled through the ‘Candy Cane’ woodland, past the sea of pink marshmallows and walked through the syrup and waffle willow tunnels to build a shelter for the night. The found a variety of natural materials and the results were very creative – and very sweet.

Merry Mistletoe elf (Trisha) heard from the children that their favourite Christmas film was of course ELF. The children informed the adults that elves try to stick to four main food groups: “candy, candy canes, candy corns and syrup”. To spread some holiday cheer, we cooked delicious hot jam donuts over the fire with a hot chocolate drink. There was not an angry elf in sight.

Merry Christmas from the Forest School team and remember - there’s room for everyone on the Forest School nice list.

To find out more about our Forest School Project, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery, visit our project page: https://www.lancswt.org.uk/forest-schools-manchester