Our Week in the Forest...
Well here we are at the end of yet another fun and laughter filled week of summer camp. As always, the site has inspired so many ideas and play opportunities for the children. We have been visited by the reappearance of the box hedge caterpillars in one of our bushes and every day the children have been fascinated by their activity. Concerned with the wellbeing of their newfound beastie friends, the children engaged in conversations about how best to handle and care for them, or the kind of things they might want to eat. Some of the children worked to construct little paper boxes to fill with natural resources so that their caterpillars would stay happy. These miniature habitats were cradled with great care and we would regularly see groups of friends peering in together and gently coaxing the caterpillars onto their fingers.
This week has been a beautiful example of how children can flow easily from one activity to the next and build instant friendships around these moments. Construction has featured as another resounding theme and we have been wowed by how intricate their creative ideas have been. Utilising spare parts in the form of planks, benches, pallets, cable reels and endless metres of rope our campers have constructed pirate ships, houses, sailing boats, swimming pools, cinemas, dens, tree houses, fire stations and racing cars. Every project starts with a kernel of inspiration and, through cooperation and idea sharing, evolves into something truly wonderful and rich with detailed features.
So many activities have been crammed into the nooks and crannies of this week with the children choosing between face painting, mud sculpting, mobile making, water colour painting on leaves and, of course, the ever-important climbing of trees. We can’t wait to see what next week brings and to witness what the site inspires our campers to do. Have a lovely weekend all!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham