This week in the forest we welcomed our new children joining us in September. It was truly lovely to see some familiar faces of younger siblings. It was impressive to see our older siblings showing their family the ropes at Little Forest Folk.
This gorgeous weather has meant more exploring through the wonderful site of the Chiswick House grounds. Jay showed the children how water filtration works by cutting a plastic bottle in half and filing it with sand, rocks, grass, and sticks. After a lot of patience watching it drip through, it was very interesting to see the water change colour from murky to see-through!
Whilst waiting for the water to filter, we plunged our hands in the pond to see what little creatures live below. We found little fish, tadpoles, and mosquito larvae.
On one adventure walk this week we delved into the wonders of nature by going foraging. The children spotted mint, nettles, and dandelions. We also made yummy elderflower pancakes foraged from the delicate white petals. The children have become aware of what plants are poisonous too; such as foxglove or holly berries.
We also found the rarest pine called a Wollemi pine originally from Sydney, Australia - there is only 100 adult trees known to exist in the wild!
This week we’ve celebrated World Environment Day and World Ocean Day! We’ve created scenes from under the sea which included fishes, octopuses, and crabs! We also talked about the upsetting fact that there is a lot of plastic in the ocean, so reminding the little folk to lead a cleaner and greener path.
Since wintertime we’ve been working on getting our green flag for Eco schools. The areas that we’ve been working on are Biodiversity, Global Citizenship and School Grounds. We discovered these areas when doing a survey. We then chose a plan to make our space more conscious of the planet, this is called an environmental review. We’ve worked on growing vegetables and herbs for bees in our allotment, raised money for Ukrainian charities and Chiswick House and Gardens and we’ve gone on many litter picks to keep our grounds looking healthy.
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick