Clay creations, ramp physics & old friends!
What a wonderful week we’ve had in the forest! Summer has officially started, and here at Little Forest Folk we all learn to adjust to the changing seasons, finding refuge in shade, breeze and water breaks and enjoying a sunbathe!
We’ve cherished having holiday camps again, it’s so rewarding having old friends return to do what they do best, and to offer the opportunity to children who have never experienced the magic before. Siblings playing together is always a treat as it allows for the company ethos of different ages interacting together, with older children teaching and assisting their friends, and sometimes younger children reminding their older counterparts how it’s really done!
As always, we’ve been keeping our creative skills nice and sharp with a variety of arts and crafts in the forest. Earlier in the week we took part in plate painting where we decorated paper discs with depictions of our families and friends, landscapes, animal friends and abstract colour creations. Painting is a great opportunity to practice both fine and gross motor skills, mark making, expression and building confidence. We enjoy experimenting with different tools to make different effects; this week we found sponges interesting as the marks they make change as they run out of paint. Clay is one of the best mediums to make with as it can become absolutely anything with enough imagination. We have loved seeing the little people, creatures and pieces of jewellery come out of our Little Forest Folk-ers workshop. More recently we’ve been working with tissue paper, which is a bit fiddly, but our crafty children made some beautiful card hearts overflowing with colourful tissue.
It’s a known fact that forest children are excellent climbers, balancers and jumpers thanks to all of the physical challenges we’re able to take advantage of outside. This week we’ve had a go at balancing across planks like pirates being banished from ships, shimmying and climbing up rope ladders and leaping from logs going into commando rolls. After we finished balancing on the plank, we tried racing cars down it on a slant. We found that the heavier cars would go faster, and even faster if we increased the steepness of the slope. Collective problem solving has always been a strong point at Chiswick. This week we've built bridges over river rapids so our children can cross, repaired our tarpaulin with special tape and built homes for our insect and mollusc friends.
What a wonderful week we have had, and we hope you all have lovely weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick