Our Week in the Forest...
The children noticed a change in our environment this week with daffodils popping out of the ground, and flowers starting to bloom on some of the bushes. This led to discussions about spring time and what the season may bring, to which one child replied, ‘My mum and I get hayfever in Spring!'.
For some children, they thought that spring meant baby animals would be born, which led to discussions on animals and bugs we saw in the forest. Mr Heron, the aptly named resident heron at Chiswick House was spotted late in the week and showed us his enormous wingspan. We used this as an opportunity to discuss length and size, before the children spread their own wings and flew around the pond.
The children also pointed out the Canada geese, a flock of pigeons and the black and white coots walking carefully across the frozen over lake.
Of course, with lots of mud came lots of worms, and the children learned about slow worms – we are really hoping to find one in our forest one day soon!
The emergency services were the most popular role-playing game and the children became paramedics, fire fighters and police, with sirens wailing through the forest. We had discussions about what the emergency service people do, and how they can help us. The children were very curious about why they can drive so fast, and have such loud sirens.
Our physical skills were tested this week with lots of balancing, across branches and over logs. It was lovely to see the more confident children give advice to their peers on which foothold to use, or where to put their hands. This sense of support and community is so strong within our group and every day the children are learning from one another throughout their play.
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick