Our Week in the Forest...
On Monday we split into two groups at Kew and headed off in two different directions. One group wanted to do some fishing, so they headed to the lake behind Kew House and hunted for the perfect sticks to turn into fishing rods. Some of the children went for long and thin sticks, while others preferred sticks with multiple branches to maximise their chance of catching a fish. The other group had an incredibly active day covering every inch of Kew Gardens! In the conservatory they watched the fish and were even lucky enough to see a fox in the gardens.
The children’s interest in fishing carried over to Chiswick gardens where the children enjoyed making more fishing rods in the forest. The endless possibilities of a simple stick amazed us, and educator Claudia from LFF Wandsworth even showed us how to make a bow and arrow! Conor helped the children make their own forest paintbrushes, which the children used to spread the ‘cement' they had made by mixing dirt and water. The children used the cement to hold their igloo/den together as it kept getting knocked over or torn down overnight - hopefully this should do the trick!
This week we were quite surprised to discover a den hidden away under a tree in Kew gardens. As we clambered on and under the den we quickly became aware that it was not as robust as our own dens. On our return to the forest this week the children noticed straight away that the den, which had been the focus of a lot of our play last week, had been pulled down over the weekend. The children exclaimed with disappointment that it had been broken and decided that it needed immediate rebuilding. A group of dedicated builders set themselves the challenge. After some thought they decided to remake the ‘tee-pee’ structure. With a little adult support and some strong muscles, the children lifted and hefted the heavy logs into place to rebuild their den. Lots of stick ‘tools’ were used as hammers and electric drills to bang and drill the wooden beams into place. When other children came to ask what they were doing they proudly exclaimed that they were builders and showed off their tools and their new den. It was great to see their role play and teamwork as they worked as a team to remake their den.
Have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk Chiswick