Fulham - Forest archaeologists

Our Week in the Forest... 

Upon the children’s return to the gloriously sunny forest this week, it was wonderful to hear about all their exciting adventures over the bank holiday weekend. Now that the summer seems to finally be here, the children are doing tremendously well at adapting to the changes in the setting. Not only do they understand the importance of wearing their hats and sun cream, they are also incredibly aware and observant of the sudden transition within the natural world around them; from the stinging nettles that are springing up everywhere to the abundance of insects that are appearing.
 
Inspired by their interests, we supported the children on some magical adventures throughout the palace gardens this week. The song explains it well, ‘If you go into the woods today, you’ll be sure for a good surprise!’. Now we may not have had a ‘Teddy Bears Picnic’, but they were sure in for a treat as we had arranged some secret treasure hunts in the forest throughout the week! After exploring the gardens, the children discovered treasure boxes that contained materials for making their own treasure maps! The children enjoyed creating their own intricate maps using the natural materials around them and continued on their adventures all the way to our setting, where they discovered the magical ‘X’, and what did they find?

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Later on, in the week, some of the children started talking about dinosaurs and this encouraged an activity involving painting their own bones and then hiding them themselves. The children since then have loved discovering how many bones they could find and what arrangements they could make, we may even trick some of the archaeologists that occasionally work within the garden!
 
This week we have also seen, and talked about, different people doing different jobs in the palace gardens. We have observed the beekeepers in their unusual white outfits, the ‘badgers’ working on their shave horses, the gardeners planting the most wonderful looking plants along with looking at their plant stall and the builders restoring Fulham Palace. The children’s growing curiosity and confidence have also given them the opportunity to ask questions, particularly with the gardeners who always have time for the children and love to impart some of horticultural knowledge, especially about plants that have interesting fragrances.
 
Possibly inspired by all this activity around them, the children decided to design their own parks this week using different tools and natural materials around them, using immense imagination and creativity, maybe some new ideas for Fulham Palace?

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Little Forest Folk
Fulham