For the first week back of the new year, we didn't have our usual book of the week but instead decided to base our weekly activity around making a camp fire and learning about fire safety.
We started by telling the children about the three things needed to make a fire: heat, fuel and oxygen. We talked about how we behave near a fire: no running near the fire, don't ever go near or touch the fire, make sure we have a bucket of water nearby, don't walk across base camp but instead go around the outside, only grown-ups allowed to tend to the fire/add more logs and how if the fire goes out it can still be very hot.
We showed the children how to build and then light a fire: start with some cotton wool, add some twigs, add slightly thicker sticks in a cross hatch fashion, start the fire by lighting the cotton wool with a flint and steel (of which the children all got to have a go) and when the fire gets going, add some thicker logs, always be aware of how big the fire is getting and learning how to keep it under control. When the fire got going we took a large pot, added in some kernels and made popcorn! We also talked about the dangers of smoke and what to do if the wind blows the smoke towards you (either move position or close your eyes). We showed to children how to extinguish a fire and when the logs had cooled, how we could draw pictures using the leftover charcoal.
Additional activities included making butterflies out of lolly sticks and leaves and painting tree bark in various colours.