Our Week in the Forest...
As the crisp cold mornings of winter become more frequent and the days get shorter the children at Little Forest Folk Barnes carry on as if nothing has changed. The only thing they now need is an extra few layers of clothing, some warm gloves and a good hat! Studying the ice crystals on leaves on the walk in has sparked some great conversations between our little adventurers. They discussed who put the ice there, why it is only in some places and not others and what it looks like when the sun shines through it! Some discussed how many frosty leaves they had collected proudly announcing it to their friends. Some decided that it is a sign that there will be snow and sure enough a couple of hours later a few snow-flakes fell down!
Other investigations this week included a group of children studying a log. They looked closely at the texture on the surface and tried to figure out which tree it may have come from. Then they studied the area where it had snapped off coming up with reasons as to why it isn’t growing anymore. Our favourite was that “the tree wanted to learn to fly!” The children used tape measures to compare the width and length of the log with the trees surrounding them. They used a microscope and magnifying glasses to get a closer look at the holes that were all over the log. Some decided that worms lived inside! Some children spent at least an hour trying to figure out the history of the log and what had happened to it!
We also did lots of den building this week and each time it made the foundations for some wonderful role-play. We had the three little pigs living in one of the dens before the big bad wolf came and scared them out to build new homes around the forest. We also had a whole team of Gruffalos causing all sorts of havoc before someone suggested the brilliant idea of making a Gruffalo gate to keep everyone safe!
A wonderful week in the forest and our last with the wonderful Matid. We will all miss you and hope you come back to visit the forest sometime soon!
Have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Barnes