Our Week in the Forest...
The Wonders of Light
With the wetter weeks behind us, both the children and educators were keen to explore what the weather had left behind and what captivating creations we could craft with a new week ahead of us.
We began the week waking up to a hot but cloudy day, encouraging the children to engage in some water play! The children used the water in multiple ways, exploring the way it navigates its way down pipes, mixes into materials and investigating the weight of different volumes. This was combined with various mud makings, where children crafted slimy cakes and tested their strength to see how far they could dig!
Adventure walks caused the children to discover multiple natural wonders with the slugs and snails well on their way with the hot and humid weather. With their natural curiosity flowing the children were eager to explore the way the creatures moved and their various shapes and sizes. Much to the children’s delight, it wasn’t just mini-beasts that made an appearance but also the growth of multiple fungi. This sparked various questions with the children as they itched to understand the difference between mushrooms that grow in the forest and mushrooms they find in the supermarkets; understanding that there are different types of mushrooms that we can and cannot eat!
Midweek with the dark and gloomy forest that we are currently setting up camp in, allowed the children to explore the wonders of light. Setting up shop in the tent, the children were eager to test the ways in which they can manipulate different coloured cellophane. With the children in awe of the transparency of the material, they fashioned different patterns on a white backdrop, crafted their own colours by layering sheets and took on the ultimate test to see how many pieces they would need to make it completely opaque; preventing any light from shining through it. The children also explored how the material related to their emotions as they put each colour in front of their faces, expressing that the blue made them feel “tired”.
This continued towards the end of the week where the children used natural light instead of artificial, creating beautiful pictures which they could hold up to the sun and this would make a pattern on the floor. The discoveries the children had found when using this material sparked other ideas as they created kites which they found flew better than when using paper; arriving to the conclusion that this was because the material is lighter.
Curiosity from one of the children regarding Sylwia’s bracelets which she had collected from different cultures, allowed for some beautiful bracelet building. These were made out of natural materials with flowers and stems being used to twist around twine to create accessories the children wore proudly for the rest of their adventures in the forest that day.
With a busy week left behind, we are excited to see what we will find post weekend, with our forever changing environment captivating us endlessly. We hope you have a glorious weekend with the temperatures soaring, keep cool and stay hydrated!
Little Forest Folk
Barnes