Our Week in the Forest...
This week, the children have really let their imaginations run wild and there has been some brilliant role-play and creative activities. The children have worked together to become a team of mechanics fixing robots, screwing on bolts and filling them up with oil so they don't go rusty. The mechanics also worked on our railway line made of sticks, fixing the trains on their way to a tour of Europe. There was also some amazing role-play involving baking birthday cakes. We have been mixing together lots of different ingredients in the mud kitchen to make cakes and puddings. The children worked together to stir in lots of leaves, sticks and grass and made sure they wore their oven gloves before putting their cakes in the oven.
Storytelling has been a big theme this week. The children have really enjoyed finding a cosy spot to listen to stories and we have been discussing the difference between fact books which contain information and story books. The children have been making up their own stories and telling them to an educator out loud. The educator has then been writing these stories down and reading them out whilst a group of children act out the story on a special stage we made out of planks of wood. The children have told some really exciting stories, with characters such as a princess who drinks a magic potion and grows really tall and a melting fridge that ran out of batteries. They have been really enthusiastic when acting out their stories, and have loved performing them in front of their friends. This activity has also inspired some brilliant mark making, with children experimenting with writing letters and words and making cards for their mummies and daddies. Some of us also had a go at writing our own imaginative stories.
This week has seen some brilliant activities that require the children to use their fine motor skills. Our Little Forest Folk-ers have been using scissors and card to create some amazing arm covers and shields that then became props in their superhero role-play. We have also made swords out of sticks and coloured wool by winding the wool and tying knots to secure the sticks. The children have been using their swords and shields really sensibly to 'save the day' and rescue their friends from sticky situations. Some friends also had a go at carving some shapes into a soft piece of wood that we found in the forest. We experimented with using different tools such as sticks and tent pegs to make our carvings. We were really impressed with how well the children shared their resources and waited patiently for their turn. Some of the children then wanted to take the big piece of wood home so tried to fit it in their backpacks. We tried really hard but couldn't fit the logs into our bags. This led to some interesting discussions about size and how something that is bigger than the bag can't fit inside.
So much action-packed fun in one week! We can't wait to see what amazing ideas the children will come up with next week at Barnes.
Little Forest Folk
Barnes