Our Week in the Forest...
It’s been lovely to have so many mums, dads, grandparents and nannies join us in the forest and get stuck in with what the children have been doing.
We’ve continued to work on our drilling and sawing and the children are now accomplished, often overheard telling their parents how to use the tools safely. This week we challenged the children by making bracelets that needed a smaller drill bit than the watches we had previously made. Marlon asked the children what we could use to make the smaller holes, and it didn’t take long before our excellent little problem solvers had figured out what they needed. Once they had cut the number of discs they needed and drilled the holes they then had to thread elastic through the holes. This proved difficult for some, but they beamed with pride when they at last saw the thread poke through before finally decorating them. The children love using paints in the forest, and if you have painted with your child before, you will know it’s a challenge not having every colour in the palette turn brown. Add to this the fact it has been an extremely muddy week in the forest, the children all ended up with beautifully brown bracelets.
Takeshi’s Castle and Total Wipeout also arrived in the forest this week. Our cable reels, delivered by the builders working at the front of the garden, have been used for chairs, tables and even wheelchairs, however this week the children lined them up one in front of the other and tried to walk along them. Our children love a challenge, so they lined them up on their sides meaning they rolled and wobbled as the children walked along them. Some mastered it straight away, while others needed help to start. By the end all the children were much more confident and had made improvements; those who didn’t need any help were much steadier, those who wanted a hand were able to do it just holding on to a finger by the end or completely on their own.
We’ve also had lots of mud play and splashing in puddles ensuring that the adults who joined us this week got a real taste of what it’s like to be in the forest. We hope the mornings you spent with us enlightened you to the unique and natural way your children are experimenting, learning and growing at our setting.
Little Forest Folk
Fulham