This week at Fulham we have been celebrating Black History Month as well as exploring around our local park. We’ve had the pleasure of exploring our wonderful library in the sunshine, reading old classics such as ‘Handa’s Surprise’ and being mesmerised by the enchanting artwork in ‘Julian is a Mermaid’ and ‘Julian at the Wedding’.
The children have enjoyed creating artwork inspired by different West African wax prints. We had wonderful conversations about the meanings behind the patterns, which depict stories, proverbs and people - the spiky ‘Nkrumah’s Pencil’ pattern for instance, is inspired by the first Ghanaian president. The children designed their own lovely patterns out of paint, sparkly pom-poms, and scraps of various fabrics. Some children even used the bits of cotton to collage into miniature outfits, carefully selecting the choicest pieces.
We have explored our body and movement whilst listening to different music and artists, boogieing along to Florence Price, Scott Joplin and Aretha Franklin. The children have enjoyed using their full bodies to feel the music and express themselves. They also enjoyed a calmer listen to some lesser-known classical musicians, such as Saint-Georges, whose musical motifs were borrowed by Mozart.
We have also talked about George Morgan who invented the three-position traffic light. The children used lots of different food, to build their own traffic light on skewers to eat for snack time. The children were so independent and focused on creating both sweet and savoury ‘traffic lights’ and had an extra filling snack as they gobbled up their own creations!
In a further look at black scientific innovators, we introduced the children to Granville Woods, who helped with the invention of the telephone. The children then built their own telephones to talk to each other, as well as special friends and family from home.
Black History Month has inspired such a wonderful, diverse, creative week, and it has been a joy to see the children engage so positively in the activities and listen and discuss the history that inspires them.
As part of our circle time, we talk about oral health and how to keep our mouths healthy and the children love brushing Piraty’s teeth each morning. We understand how important it is to educate children from a young age to look after themselves and be independent in their self-care. Talking about feelings and emotions is also beginning to become embedded in our children’s minds, language and how they interact with others, learning about respect, empathy and self-regulation.
Next week, we will be celebrating Halloween and we would like to invite you all to bring our Little Forest Folk-ers in costumes every day of the week if they want to! Our lovely educators will definitely be embracing the spirit!
Have a great weekend everybody!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham