Our Week in the Forest...
“Jumping in Puddles, that’s what we do!”
We end the week with a new tune in our ears as we have introduced the children to an authentic song which has been created by two of our Educators! The children have thoroughly enjoyed sitting down at the start of their days in the forest to listen to our new forest rules song which we plan to sing every morning in the coming months. The tune has certainly got stuck in all the Educator’s heads and some of the children have begun to sing the chorus already; “Jumping in puddles that’s what we do, Robin our friend here’s a crumb for you, climbing up trees and getting stuck, climbing up trees, please Charlie come save me!” We hope for all the children to sing along to the rest of the song in the future, helping them to have a deeper understanding of the forest rules, whilst also making our morning circle joyous and upbeat!
Our Little Forest Folk-ers have enjoyed more physical challenges this week as they have continued to balance on the tight rope, attempting to get from the beginning to the end without falling off. We have also had an obstacle course in the forest numerous days this week with children feeling a little apprehensive on the wet planks and wishing for assistance, however when going around again they were able to conquer the task independently; showing their resilience and eagerness to tackle a challenge! Later in the week the children were also challenged with a rope ladder which had been tied around two ropes. This looked incredibly tricky however the dong at the top was too tempting to not take on the climb and soon the children were up and down very fast!
We have also had a variety of imaginary play in the forest this week, with the majority related to animals. This included a David Attenborough style show with Selina narrating a cheetah who was quietly resting on the branch of a tree but was soon interrupted by a feisty lion who came, and both animals started getting into a nasty fight! However, soon the two cats turned on the narrator and Selina’s fate was rather gruesome! Another role play was focused around a group of beached sea animals including a narwhal, a blue whale, a whale shark and a sword fish all being washed up on the beach. Meanwhile Libby who was relaxing on the hot sunny beach, enjoying her annual leave had to rescue them rolling and lifting them back into the ocean. It was thirsty work but all animals were safe and back with their families…phew!
We ended the week with an adventure to the puddles on the path, collecting some water to use to make a really awesome forest potion. This was also made of different types of leaves, mud and other natural materials which the children all collected together and worked as a team in order to make the potion extra magical! This was teamed with some other children making a beautiful fairy house which our friend Robin also enjoyed and decided to pay a visit to! One child explained to me that the fairies have their circle around a really tiny mushroom next to a big oak tree.
With another incredible week behind us, we look forward to seeing what the weather alongside other natural wonders brings us next week. We all hope you have wonderful restful weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Barnes