Our Week in the Forest...
“The future belongs to the curious. The ones who not afraid to try it, explore it, poke it, question it and turn it inside out.”
With the summer circus production arriving at Chiswick house, the children have fully embodied their inner acrobats when playing in the forest this week. By setting up the slackline in a variety of configurations the children have been challenged to navigate the tightrope in a range of different ways. Some children have used an overhead guide rope, while others have opted for walking sticks to support their balance. It has been fantastic to watch the children push their abilities beyond their limits, working progressively towards walking across the slackline without the help of any adults or balancing aids.
Whilst watching our tightrope walkers in training, some of the other children noticed that the sticks used for balancing had the perfect notches on them to use for stilts! Slowly but surely the children took turns plodding across the forest clearing far taller than usual. As each child took their turn, they were showered with praise and cheers from their adoring fans, their friends.
The levels of self-confidence, pride and gratification is high in our children, as it rightly should be. Our children continue to amaze us daily with their resilience and motivation to grow and learn.
The children’s interest in all creatures great and small has shone through again this week when they found a bird’s egg whilst out on an adventure. With the egg still fully intact, the children showed their care and attention when inspecting the egg. We talked about how there was a baby bird inside the egg waiting until it was big enough to hatch out and join its mummy. The children speculated on what type of bird it might be, what colour it’s feathers were, and whether it would be a boy or a girl.
Back in the meadow, the hunt for minibeasts has been in full swing. The children have covered the entirety of the forest site in search for as many bugs and insects as they can tally up. Persistence was the game and our children won first prize. We’ve seen stag beetles, snails, worms, caterpillars, and even a chirpy little grasshopper! After the field work was finished, the children opened a book on insects to research any interesting facts about their new friends.
“I just turned over a log but there were no insects living under it. I think they must have crawled underground!”
Following on from last week’s awe inspiring volcanic eruption, the children have continued on their path of prehistoric curiosity and wonder. When talking about volcanoes one of the children made the link to dinosaurs and the ice age. The only natural thing to do then was to excavate and investigate ancient glaciers to see what was frozen inside. The children worked together using primitive stone tools to chip away at the chunks of ice that they came across when they arrived in the forest. Through teamwork and clear communication, our archaeologists were delighted to find a range of different animals frozen inside the ice. The conversations that followed covered a vast spectrum of intrigue; Where did they come from? How long have they been frozen in the ice for? How old were they animals before they froze? As the investigations continue, we’re sure that we’ll have a full summary of the children’s findings in no time!
Nursery world awards 2017
We are incredibly excited and proud to announce that Little Forest Folk are finalists in the 2017 Nursery World Awards in the following categories:
Nursery of the year
Health and Wellbeing
Online & Social Media
Newcomer of the year – Liam Bartlett educator at Little Forest Folk Wimbledon
Newcomer of the year – David Trillo educator at Little Forest Folk Wimbledon
Winners will be announce in the Autumn!
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick
