Tools, turkeys, and transformer trees
Our Little Forest Folk-ers are among the most imaginative people we have ever met, and this week has shown just how limitless their minds can be.
Our new camp is home to a very special Y shaped tree and has been the source of endless fun for our friends. The strong sturdy branches stretch out like arms, providing the perfect structure for climbing and balancing practice. Our long-term foresters are experts at positioning themselves in the safest way possible that still allows for great climbing. It’s been amazing seeing how our newer additions to the Little Forest Folk family have observed the older children and then mimicked their steps while braving the climb (all with educator supervision and assistance of course!). This is a perfect example of how beneficial the mixing of ages can be in an early years environment! Our big 3, 4 and 5 year olds are able to share their months and years of forest knowledge with all our eager to learn new starters, and they take great pride in this responsibility.
Our magical tree not only acted as a climbing frame but transformed into a batmobile, a castle to protect noble knights and steam trains taking our friends off on holidays to sunny beaches. The Lion King is always a regular role play in camp and it turns out our tree could also transform into pride rock. This week it has featured some VERY dramatic Scar and Mufasa re-enactments…
This week we’ve been going tool crazy! Bowsaws and hand drills have made an appearance and given our foresters a chance to show off their nifty skills. A large log represented the boundary line, and everyone knew to respect the bubble around the tools. We love introducing tool work to our friends, discussing, and learning the safety rules such as wearing a glove on our helping hand is excellent at giving them a chance to calculate risks and how to decrease them. Seeing how our friends’ physical capabilities to saw through a log develops overtime is so rewarding for both them and the educators!
We love an excuse to get crafty and this week our friends have experimented with paint and pipettes, spraying the colours all over cardboard and even setting up some targets to hit. Forming shapes with popsicle sticks and glue and creating beautiful paper children are amongst some of the many creative crafts we’ve completed throughout the week.
With Thanksgiving also on its way for our friends over the pond, our children have begun thinking about ways to celebrate the holiday here in camp. We decided leaves, paint and googly eyes were a great combination to create Turkeys. Handprints and colourful autumn leaves formed some excellent feathers!
Have a cosy weekend and fill up on energy for next week! We’ll leave you with this…
What did the little tree say to the big tree? Leaf me alone! 🌳
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick