This week has been a whirlwind of activity and excitement in Chiswick, and as the weather can’t quite decide which season it fancies being from day to day, we always find ways to make the most out of the wettest and windiest days.
Transport has been a hot theme at the moment with aeroplanes, buses and trains making frequent appearances across our two camps. After red team engineered their plane, they flew it all the way to South Africa for an explore. They ventured into deep dark jungle, but were stalked by a scary lion, but never fear: our friends transformed into a horde of brother and sister adventurers to protect us, scaring away the lion with ease.
As per usual the catering and food service industries in the forest have been booming, so much so that some unusual recipes have started popping up. When business is so good, why bother making the same old thing? It has been much more fun letting our imaginations run wild and seeing the funny reactions of our customers! Spicy marshmallow ice cream anyone?
We have recently relocated our camps to a much beloved and well-played-in section of the forest that boasts some of the best trees for physical activities in the forest. Live oaks and magnolias have these low branches that grow thick and horizontal; ideal for climbing. We have enjoyed testing our gross motor skills, balance and bravery seeing how far our monkey hands and feet will take us. We also are lucky to have the most perfect place to rig a gigantic swing which has been an endless source of fun. So fun is this legendary swing that children have been known to wait patiently and orderly to use it for minutes!
Just in time for world book day a certain story has become a huge hit in the forest. “What the Ladybird Heard” has inspired plenty of play and activities in the last few days. We spent a morning creating maps from paper and crafting materials and later in the day used them for role play, being mooing geese and bad guys splashing around in the ponds. The children were so good at misleading us with the wrong animal noises!
Green team has been diligently collecting building materials for a bug hotel which we are putting together day by day at the Hogarth Centre each morning. Watch this space!
Thanks to all the children and staff for another magical week in the forest. Looking forward to the next one!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick