by Sandy Buyze, Storyoga Preschool –
Storyoga Forest Walk
Every Friday, rain or shine, we head out on our Forest Friday adventure!
Route Details
• We leave from the Storyoga Academy, which is located in the McTavish Academy of Art, 1720 McTavish Cross Road. Turning right onto McTavish, we walk for 160 metres, then right onto Cresswell Road and downhill for 550 metres.
• Once we’re past the main trail on the right, we look for our trail entrance that crosses over a little wooden bridge and opens up into a beautiful meadow. The children love to run freely across the meadow until they reach the forest on the far side.
• Before entering the forest, we like to take a moment to admire the beautiful lichen on an oak tree by our forest entrance. We love this entrance to our forest walk because of the meadow but also because as we enter the forest we get to cross a stream over a non-fixed bridge – the children have become so adept at going down the bank, across the wobbly bridge and up the bank on the other side. Sometimes we like to stop and fish in this stream with strings tied onto sticks, pinecones attached at the end for weight.
• We follow the trail until we reach a fork; at the fork, we take the trail on the right and continue along until we reach our “Resting Place,” an opening in the woods – there is an incline in the path just before you reach the opening. It is here that we spread our blanket, gather in a circle to enjoy hot chocolate, forest crackers and dried fruit as well as a story; we reflect on the stillness of the woods, the birdsong and the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. We spend some time here exploring, playing, climbing and creating forest pies and soups!
• When it is time for us to begin our journey back to school, we turn right out of the “Resting Place” and walk ringing our fairy bells until we reach The Fairy Village – you’ll recognize it by the placement of a fairy door and the fairy woodland flags that decorate the space. Take a peek – do you see a forest fairy?
• We continue walking to the end of the path; as we exit the forest, there is the main path on the right that borders the forest – this path will take us back to Cresswell Road. for our return to Storyoga.
Things to Note:
• there is free roadside parking on Cresswell Road
• there are no washrooms
• the trail is muddy during winter
and early spring
• there are many more trails to explore in this forested area; our forest trail takes the children approximately 20 to 30 minutes to walk/run
