Our Week in the Forest...
This week, the forest has been alive with the sound of music, laughter…and children covered in paint!
We have had several different activities throughout the week for the children to take part in, but one thing that has been particularly interesting to observe was how the milder weather brought about a slightly different approach to learning for the children. When it is colder, the children seem to need more adult direction, with them often tending to prefer educator led activities. This week has been different however in the sense that the children have been so engrossed in their own learning. Of course, they still like to take part in the activities we have set up for them, but there has been imaginative play in abundance around base camp and on our walk in with the children. Each week something different seems to take hold and this week Jedi’s have been out in force.
The tree cookies and log biscuits that the children have been painting this week have been used for lots of things: watches, bracelets, medallions and necklaces. However, for lots of the children, when the tree cookies were pressed it turned them into Jedi’s who could use their mind powers to lift trees and logs, save people in distress but most often, catch educators! Those who didn’t want to be Jedi’s still enjoyed drilling holes in their discs and experimenting with different coloured paints.
Our children have continued to be creative with how they use the mud kitchen equipment. The pots and pans have been turned upside down and made into drum sets. A few children enjoyed being given a tune to try and copy, some of whom could do it extremely accurately. Others preferred to rock out on their own, with one particular highlight for the educators being when one children were overheard shouting ‘I love you darling!’ in the middle of his drum solo; there are definitely some future rock stars amongst our children.
Cheltenham races may have happened last week, but we had Fulham races at camp this week. Children searched for the perfect stick, length and thickness which is the key to finding the best racehorse before running around the forest with their hobby horse. Some were happy with just one stick, whereas others wanted to make theirs more realistic by tying a smaller stick on as a head.
Whether during child led or educator led activities, the children have remained completely engrossed and captivated by what they have been doing and as educators, we’re continually surprised by how inventive, creative and well developed your children are.
Little Forest Folk
Fulham