BURRATOR Outdoor Preschool celebrated the end of a successful first year recently with a day of outdoor activities.

Using natural materials the children worked together to build a giant Gruffalo.

Starting with a tree trunk, the children used a bow saw to form the arms and other lumps of tree to form a head and horns.

Mud was used to stick the details together, such as copper coloured fir cones for his eyes and a windfall conker shell for the wart on his nose.

The children also collected and painted fir cones to be spikes and twigs for his many claws and teeth.

Parents were invited into the woodland at the end of the day to share a lunch of pizza that had been cooked on the camp fire.

The Burrator Outdoor Preschool is based outdoors with no ceiling or walls to restrict the children’s learning.

Ann Dawes, preschool leader, said: ‘The natural environment is such a rich resource in which our children explore using their senses, build dens, problem solve. make music, discover nature, balance on logs, help to prepare campfires and cook on them and learn to manage their own risks.

‘We especially enjoy using tools to make cookies and kazoos. We have lots of fun and learn together.’