What an array of weather we have had this week! We can’t believe that on Monday we were still wearing shorts and it didn’t even cross our minds that we would be soon putting more layers on. It’s a real wonder how quickly the world can change around us!
To celebrate Autumn Equinox this week we have used lots of autumnal nature treasure in our play and in our creative creations. Conkers, colourful leaves, maple tree seeds, spiky husks and all other magnificent items that we could find on the forest floor, quickly turned into a work of art. Our favourite double-sided sticky tape was on the roll as we used it to make nature masks and pretended to be forest monsters. Some of us were so disguised behind the masks that our friends really had trouble of guessing who we were! With a few sticks, a piece of twine and colourful leaves, we created fairies and gnomes that told stories for us.
The conkers also provided a lovely base for our literacy explorations. We lined them up in the shape of letters we were familiar with and our friends quickly grew curious about each other’s name letter. We had a lot of ‘M’s’ being practiced until someone came and exclaimed: ‘That’s not M, that’s W like in my name!’. Funny how the world changes depending on the perspective. Our Little Forest Folk-ers often have those moments of learning about other’s different views when playing in the forest. What might be a stick to one, it could be a sword, a horse, a plane, a painting brush or spaceship rocket to another. It is often a wonder to the educators as well where the imagination is taking our little ones and how creative and complex some of the stories and playful moments are.
Some of our loveliest moments we had this week were provided by a rainbow parachute. We used it to throw up and down in the air to create colourful waves. Very quickly the conkers came to play (again!) when someone threw them in the middle of the parachute, and we all tried to keep them in the middle of the fabric for as long as we could. The best part however was when we all went under it and pretended to disappear. It was a lovely sensation to have the sheet touching our faces and making our hair static. The very next day the parachute turned into a door that we used for our very own homemade den. There we hid from a monster that sounded very much like our educator Freddy. We wonder how that happened!
Our garden was also busy this week as we sowed some winter lettuce to be enjoyed when the cold months come in. We mixed some soil with the compost and made sure that the pots were well watered before placing our new plants in the warmth of the room. We are now waiting patiently for the seeds to sprout. In the meantime, our chilli peppers are showing first signs of flowers, so we are getting very excited about seeing them bloom, even though the season for growing is over.
We hope that the sun returns this weekend so you can enjoy some blissful rays of sunshine before another week of forest adventures! Have a lovely weekend all!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick