Our Week in the Forest...
This week we have been venturing further and further, exploring new parts of the forest, which has offered up new and exciting challenges.
On our walks into the forest each day, we are being visited by a particularly friendly robin. The children stop to talk to the robin who is quite happy to perch on a branch just centimetres away from lots of intrigued faces. As our Little Forest Folk-ers try to coax the robin further down the path, they notice the colours in his feathers and his tiny but very sharp looking beak, proving that they are experts at seeking out these details.
When walking into the forest, it is the children first who notice all the minute details in nature that occur all around us. One day a child spotted a brown and orange butterfly resting on a brown and orange leaf. It was only when the butterfly flew up into the air that the educators in the group could spot it! We were then treated to a wonderful dance as two butterflies circled around us and in the trees above. The forest was silent as we watched them.
Further down the path our Little Forest Folk-ers spotted an array of things; tiny slugs under leaves, jelly fungus on logs, rainbow coloured leaves that had fallen to the ground and a whole range of different footprints in the mud. They show so much interest in finding out what is happening all around them, always looking for little clues.
In the afternoons, the children have been taking us to the aptly named 'Rolling Hills'. We ventured out to find them in a new part of the forest enjoying some incredibly sticky and thick mud on route. When we got there, the children immediately ran to the top of grassy hill and proceeded to turn themselves into sausages, hot dogs and cocoons as they rolled, slid and glided down the bank. Echoing around the forest were the wonderful sounds of laughter that did not stop for the next 45 minutes. The educators stood back and it was amazing to see how the children negotiated the space and made obvious attempts to keep each other safe.
After a wonderful first half term on Putney Heath, we are all excited for October holiday camp next week. We will be heading down to Barnes and welcoming back many old friends. We can't wait to share stories of all our exciting adventures!
Little Forest Folk
Barnes