Our Week in the Forest...
This week in the forest the children have ventured down some new and wonderful creative journeys. Their ability to build, design and innovate astounds us on a daily basis.
Music has been a theme this week with many of the children getting involved in creating their own songs, beats and rhythms through drumming, playing guitar, singing and tap dancing! The children used songs that they already knew and changed the words creating their own original tracks. We had new versions of Incy Wincy, Twinkle Twinkle, Fireman Sam, Postman Pat, Spiderman. Some children took this a step further and made up their own song from scratch. They performed their song whilst tap dancing on top of an arrangement of upside down pots and pans!
Throughout this term the children have been exploring projects that have related to the seasons. We have given them opportunities to create artwork using natural materials. This week we have seen the children develop these ideas and have spontaneously started their own natural artworks. Whilst we were on an adventure the children decided to start collecting some of the bright yellow leaves that were piling up under a nearby tree. Some of the children started to bring them over to a muddy area and placed them down carefully next to each other. Soon more children joined in and you could hear them talking about what they were doing, how they were going to achieve it and what they wanted it to look like. They were building a giant sun!
One day this week we had nothing but a ball of string to take with us to the forest. The children were left to their own devices to play and explore the natural environment without resources. The children amazed us as they quickly formed groups. One was going to make a potion, mixing together leaves, mud, water, berries, grass and a secret ingredient. Once it was all mixed together the children worked together to decide what the potion would do to you if you drank it. They decided that it would turn you into an ice-berg for 100 years! The other group created a home in some bushes and were working together as a team to defend it from a nasty goblin. They decided that they needed bows and arrows so Mar set about supporting them to tie string and sticks together to make them. Some children were able to do this completely on their own, bending the stick and tying a knot at each end with the string!
For the last two Wednesday afternoons the children have been lucky enough to have some fantastic healthy eating classes. During these sessions the children have been learning all about the health benefits of different foods and where they come from. This week they were focusing on purple and blue foods. First we studied a red cabbage, looking at the colour of its leaves we all agreed that it was purple! The children got to explore its raw form by peeling back its layers, carefully trying to take off one whole leaf. We then had some fun with the leaves using them as hats and filling one with water to drink out of! After tasting it raw the children were introduced to some cooked cabbage to compare the flavours. We were surprised to find out that more children seemed to prefer the taste of the raw cabbage! Once tasting had finished it was now time for cabbage bowling! The children lined up and tried rolled a cabbage along the floor to knock over some cups that were lined up as pins! Everyone thought that this was extremely fun!
Next, the children were given the opportunity to explore blackberries, they looked closely at the colours whilst carefully feeling the different textures of the drupelets and tiny hairs that cover the fruit. Then of course it was time to try some and the children loved the soft texture and sweet taste. The last food to come out was a carrot which appeared to be brown, however the children watched as the skin was peeled back revealing a wonderfully bright purple colour on the inside. The children loved tasting the carrots and also enjoyed a game at the end where they got to pull paper carrots from the ground – learning how carrots grow and where they come from.
Little Forest Folk
Barnes