The Beauty of Imaginative Play and Water Purification Skills: Highlights from Forest School This Week
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- 4 min read
May 21-22; Ages 5-11; SkyRiver Forest School; Provo Canyon, Utah
What a fantastic day we had with this group. Every week we get to know these kids a little better, and every week we're reminded how creative, kind, and joyful they are. Today was filled with imaginative play, meaningful learning, laughter, and plenty of opportunities for the kids to simply enjoy being kids outdoors.
The Best Soccer Game Around
Before our official activities even began, one of the kids brought out a soccer ball and what followed was one of those moments you can't plan for.
Kids from both the younger and older groups jumped into a giant game together. At one point it felt like everyone was playing. There were smiles everywhere, lots of laughter, and plenty of enthusiastic running. Some of the older kids were helping lead the action while the younger kids gave it everything they had.
As teachers, we love moments like these because they happen naturally. Nobody had organized it. Nobody was told they needed to participate. The kids simply wanted to play together. It was such a fun way to begin the day and a great reminder of how much these mixed-age experiences benefit everyone involved.
Fairy Cities, Hotels, and the World's Best Pizza
Once everyone arrived, many of the students eagerly returned to their ongoing fairy-city project.
One of our favorite things about this group is their imagination. The fairy city has continued to evolve each week, and today it expanded well beyond a simple fairy village. The students proudly showed off their newest additions, including a hotel and a pizza restaurant serving what several children confidently declared was "the best pizza in the world."
Blankets were spread out, hammocks were hung, books were available to read, and the children moved naturally between building, reading, storytelling, and playing together.
These moments may look like simple play from the outside, but they are filled with creativity, collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and friendship building.
Learning About Water Safety
This week's lesson focused on one of the most important survival skills we can teach:
Safe drinking water.
We talked about where we might find water if we needed it in a survival situation and discussed streams, rivers, lakes, ponds, rainwater, and snow as possible sources.
The students quickly learned an important lesson: just because water looks clean doesn't mean it is safe to drink.
We discussed how natural water can contain dirt, bacteria, parasites, insects, and other contaminants that aren't always visible to the naked eye.
Filtration vs. Purification
A major focus of today's lesson was understanding the difference between filtering water and purifying water.
The students created muddy water filled with sticks, leaves, dirt, and other debris. Using simple materials, they practiced filtering the water and observed how much cleaner it appeared afterward.
This led to an important realization:
Even though the water looked cleaner, it still wasn't safe to drink.
Filtering removes visible debris, while purification removes harmful microorganisms that can make us sick. We discussed how boiling water is one of the most reliable ways to purify it and make it safe for drinking.
The hands-on nature of this activity helped the students understand the concept in a way that simply talking about it never could.
The Great Water Challenge
The highlight of the lesson was our water-carrying challenge.
The objective was simple: move water from the stream into a container placed several yards away.
The challenge? We didn't provide any tools.
Students had to work together and use whatever resources they could find in nature to solve the problem.
The creativity was incredible. Teams experimented, adjusted their strategies, encouraged one another, and celebrated successful ideas. Some approaches worked surprisingly well, while others led to lots of laughter and creative problem-solving.
Activities like this help children practice teamwork, communication, perseverance, and critical thinking while having a genuinely fun experience.
Creativity, Friendship, and Free Play
After our lesson, we returned to camp where the afternoon was filled with creativity and connection.
Some students gathered around board games while others returned to imaginative play. Later, many spent time making beaded bracelets and painting small wooden hearts to take home.
One thing we continue to notice about this group is how well they play together. Friendships are growing quickly, and the students consistently include one another, collaborate on projects, and support each other's ideas.
That sense of community is one of the things we value most at Sky River, and this group demonstrates it beautifully.
Thank You
This really is a wonderful group of kids.
Whether they were building fairy cities, reading in hammocks, creating artwork, solving water challenges, or playing soccer with students of all ages, they brought enthusiasm, kindness, and creativity to everything they did.
Thank you for sharing them with us each week. We feel incredibly fortunate to spend our Fridays learning, exploring, and laughing alongside them.
We can't wait to see what adventures next week brings.
– Miss Sidni, Miss Lauren, and the Sky River Outdoor Schools Team