Foul Weather Friends 30/04/20


This activity is for a rainy day.
 
Well, hello again! 
 
How very nice to see you! And how have you been getting on this slightly soggy lockdown week?  I hope you haven't got Cabin Fever.

Cabin Fever isn't a real disease, it just describes was what sailors used to feel when they were on a long sailing voyage and got fed up with everyone else on the ship.
It's not called "Out-On-Deck-Fever" because the cure for cabin fever is to go outside for a while.
So don't forget, if you are fed up;  go outside for your exercise.  You can even do it in the rain; just put your wellies and coat on like we would at forest school, and off you go. 
No wellies? Send me a message through your year group email with your shoe size and I'll leave a pair at the front office of the school for you to borrow until we're back at school.

Rain is a good thing really, because the fields all around Warwick have been so dry that the ground is cracking and as hard as rock.  That means that the seeds the farmers planted in March haven't event started to germinate and grow.   Now there has been some rain, the ground will soften, the crops will grow and soon there will be green fields growing our wheat for next year's bread and yellow fields growing colza beans (or rapeseed) for next year's cooking oil.

There is another good thing about the rain though and that is SNAILS.

Snails are wonderful friendly beasties and in Warwick we are blessed with at least four beautiful species.

Let me introduce you to the ones I've been playing with this morning...

 

Warwick Snails.jpg

Did you just say "That's not a proper introduction, Mr. Mitchell, that's just a picture!"?  Ok, watch this video then...

So look in your garden, in the woods or in the hedges while you are out getting some exercise and you will find snails this week, because it is so damp.

When you find them, you can put them in a plastic box or a jar like I did, with some leaves from the plants near where you found them.  They are not so keen on grass.
Then they will be quite happy to live with you for the rest of the day.  Keep them in the shade and put them back outside in the evening.

And that's not all you can do with snails, here's a story about a game that you can play with them.

Yes, don't forget to wash your hands!

Happy snail-petting!

Keir Mitchell