This Wednesday felt like the sky has opened and poured down all the water that has been accumulating in the clouds for months. All that water was welcomed by all and very soon we were all jumping in the puddles, splashing our friends and teachers and building little constructions with hollowed logs to see the water trickle down onto the ground. Seeing so much water accumulating made us think of seas and oceans and we began to talk about all the creatures that live in the broad waters. One of the educators told us about strange fish living in the rivers of Indonesia and we listened with awe about various species of fish that we never knew existed.
Our adventure walks have been very exciting and longer than usual. We set off early and managed to walk for over an hour exploring the gardens and noticing how the seasons are slowly changing. We have spotted some fallen leaves and began collecting conkers and acorns that we later used for our creative play. We couldn’t just walk by piles of leaves without having a go at throwing them up in the air or rustling through them with our feet. Even though we feel nostalgic about slowly saying goodbye to the lovely summer we had, we are equally excited to welcome the autumn with all its beautiful colours and chilly mornings. But so far we are still enjoying the glorious sunshine and the breeze.
The highlight of our week was a zipline that Katie had built for us between two trees. We were zooming up and down our camps and tested our core muscles to keep us in the upright position once we were up in the air. Some of us had a go at trying to reach the other end of the zipline and ‘high-five’ the opposite tree. It was a great challenge for our muscles but also for assessing risks and understanding our abilities in climbing onto the zipline.
With so many interesting and inspiring materials laying on the forest floor we have seen an incredible amount of magical creations made by the children. Some created little houses using sticks and stalks for making the ‘walls’ and colourful and durable leaves to act as the roof. When we asked the children who will live in those little houses, the reply was: ‘fairies and rats, of course’! The activity went on and the children made a small plot of land with tomatoes, beans and peas growing in the tiny gardens. The colours and precision were inspiring!
We have seen a lot of beautiful creatures being made this week by our creative children. Using modelling clay, goggle eyes and nature around them the children sculptured wonderful beasts. We had hedgehogs, ladybirds, forest monsters, caterpillars and many that we just couldn’t find the name for. We had a go at creating different creatures by paining leaves and attaching them to sticks. Very quickly we saw some insects, centipedes, butterflies, dragonflies and even an alien-spider.
We wish you a sun-filled weekend and we hope that the creations continue at home too. Please send us pictures!
We hope you all have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick