Our Week in the Forest...
All of our new little adventurers experienced their first proper rain this week! This brought a whole new dimension to the forest with a wealth of new wonderful resources!
The children explored puddles galore as they slipped, slid, jumped, danced and splashed their way through them! With delight on their faces the children all got stuck in. They challenged each other to find the biggest puddle and inevitably got drenched! After their clothes had dried they were back at it again later in the day!
With all the rain early in the week the forest has come alive with mud! There is thick mud, oozy mud and leafy mud everywhere and the children have used this lovely resource for a whole host of different purposes. Some have made mud faces sticking them to the trunk of a tree. Others have turned the mud into face paint before going off to engage in role-play! Our favourite use for mud is making mud cakes and turning it into mud monsters!
With creative juices flowing the children decided to make their own amazing den - collecting leaves, sticks and branches to build it amongst the holly trees. Once built, many children decided to be cheetahs and they ran around with their claws showing and snarling their teeth!
This creativity extended into some wonderful artworks too! The children used sticks, leaves and vines as their paint brushes and painted wonderful pieces of art! Some even did their artwork whilst sitting in the tree! The climbing tree and obstacle course are always very popular as the children learn how to safely negotiate spaces and assess their own risks. With all the recent rain they are also learning that wood becomes much more slippery when wet!
This week we have also spotted some amazing wildlife. Down by the pond the children were amazed as a heron sat amongst the reeds fishing. He caught little minnows and a mouse! Then along the banks of the pond we found a European toad, a water beetle, a water spider and loads of beautiful dragon flies. The children were mesmerised as they stood studying the creatures making comments about their movement, colours, shapes and features!
We hope that next week provides us with as much adventure, fun and excitement!
Little Forest Folk
Barnes