CLM Forest hidden in a book

As part of the project activities, we participated in the Slovakian campaign "Forest Hidden in a Book". In the city library, second-year students participated in a discussion with forest educators from the National Forestry Center in Zvolen. Forest pedagogy is environmental education aimed at getting to know nature, life in the forest and discovering nature's secrets through games and experiences. It is based on sensory perception of nature in the form of experiential learning - games that develop all components of a person's personality. Forest pedagogy activities take place most often directly in nature - in the forest. With its activities, forest pedagogy complements the knowledge and the environment, its protection and sustainable development. It is the easiest way for foresters to bring the forest environment and all its functions closer to the general public. The aim of the "Forest Hidden in a Book" campaign is to show children and the younger generation, primarily through books, the importance of forests and forestry for society, to protect the environment, to form positive attitudes towards nature, and at the same time to the need for reading itself. First, the age-appropriate students learned about the work of forest educators. After the initial game in the forest, there was a conversation with the forest teachers about the importance of the forest, about forest animals, especially about the protected grouse and the behaviour of people in the forest. Subsequently, the students prepared a worksheet on the given topic, and during the following week, the students created their own book of riddles about plants and animals living in the forest, including hand-drawn illustrations. The students submitted the book to the competition, and although it did not win a prize, the children gained new knowledge and experience, joint teamwork and learning in an experiential way.