Hello from a sunny forest. We hope you stay well and positive despite everything that is happening around at the moment. There certainly has been a lot of positivity in the forest this week and we left all the worries behind us.
To learn more about mathematical concepts and a deeper knowledge of natural objects such as food we had a lovely activity throughout the week that children had shown a great interest in. With few children still being unsure about certain foods, this has been an invaluable opportunity to experiment with textures, smells and colours. Victoria, our creative chef has set up a station with natural dyes where children could smash, squeeze, mix and apply dyes we found in the food onto the canvas. Children worked with pomegranates, raspberries, blackberries, turmeric, paprika, beetroots and some green veg. To extract the ‘paint’ we used mortar and pestle and watched the magic happen. We got some lovely pink, brown, orange and purple colours that created a lovely mix on our canvases. Some children agreed that the artwork resembled curtains that we will be using to decorate our room. We extended this lovely activity by using mud and sand to make natural paints. In some buckets we blended water, soil and sand and watched the colours do their magic. We wrapped the trees in some recycled paper and used that for expressing our creative skills. Very soon the forest was filled with glorious canvases that made our campsite look even more beautiful and inviting.
We didn’t just focus on expressing our creativity and imagination. We had a lot of room to put our bodies to work and strengthen our muscles. The forest was scattered this week with various climbing opportunities – there was a spider-web climbing frame that our lovely Victoria had built. A few of the children decided to extend that and with a few ropes and logs had built a bridge that their friends could climb onto as well. We observed some great team work and new concepts being put into action. Our campsite at the moment has a magnificent, old tree that provides so much shelter but also a space for building zip-wires, swings and slacklines. This week the favourite was a small swing that children could spin onto instead of swinging.
A lot of the children had been showing an interest in music lately from singing popular tunes to requesting songs that we put on in the forest. We have combined the two and had a small party in the forest with dancing, singing and playing instruments. From tambourines, shakers, drumsticks and self-made percussions we filled the woods with music and rhythm. It was an interesting exercise for the children and teachers alike to try and play the rhythm of our favourite songs. It’s been lovely to see so many children being able to recall newly learned songs as well as being able to sing popular hits with so much precision. We are quite confident that most of the little forest-folkers know all the lyrics to ‘Let it go!’ And they know the rhythm now too!
We hope that you stay positive and that we will see you very shortly. We are here for any support and learning ideas you might need. We will continue to provide the best care and support we could possibly do . Stay healthy and positive!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick