Our Week in the Forest...
The weather has definitely taken a turn towards chilly this week. Wrapped up with a lot more layers and wearing our new fleece lined waterproofs we have talked a lot about keeping warm and putting our hats and gloves on when we get cold. On a rainy Tuesday we went down to the lake to jump in some muddy puddles. We saw two swans swimming across the lake and the children were delighted to watch a dog swimming laps across the lake and bravely daring to swim between the swans, provoking a few hisses from the swans who were not so keen to share their swimming spot. We have also begun to learn a penguin dance this week complete with penguin actions.
The children have been really observant of the workers at Kew and Chiswick House and Gardens this week. They stood and watched the workmen laying the cement between the paving stones near the bridge at Kew and waved to the workmen setting up a marquee outside Chiswick House. They had lots of questions about what was happening and why. They were very keen to know why floorboards were being set down and what the marquee was for. The addition of new lights to the gardens, in preparations for the light show before the new year, were also quickly pointed out and the children were delighted to see some of the lanterns that have already begun to appear around the park, particularly the large Noah’s ark and animals on the other side of the lake.
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