Our Week in the Forest...
This week the children have had a week of discoveries.
At the beginning of the week they noticed that some work were happening at the Bishop’s Tree. Interested to find out what was going on, the children went over for a closer look. We couldn’t get too close as a safety barrier had been erected, but from our safe position behind the barrier the children noticed that some new Bishops had appeared, along with some windows in the Bishop’s Tree. One of the children thought the windows looked like upside-down shields.
The discoveries continued at base camp. This week the children found a male stag beetle, a cockchafer beetle and the longest worm anyone had ever seen! Inside our climbing tree the children spotted a very large bumble bee. We watched it closely for a while and noticed it was going in and out of a hole in the ground. The children thought there must be a beehive under the ground, and we had a discussion about what we should do. Some of the children were worried the bee might sting them, others were worried that we might tread on the bee and it would become extinct. Jo asked them what they thought we should do? They all agreed we should not climb on that tree any more until the bees had gone. Jo wondered how everyone else who hadn’t seen the bee would know where not to climb? One of the children suggested writing a sign. So along with Jo they scribed their words and the children added pictures of a tree and bees. Jo then helped them tie their sign onto the tree for everyone to see.
With the big climbing tree out of action the children had to find somewhere else to climb. The box tree next door looked pretty inviting and the children discovered that if they climbed halfway up, there was a branch they could swing down from. Everyone enjoyed having a go, taking it in turns and encouraging each other. It is always so heart-warming to see spontaneous care and encouragement from our children towards their friends who are maybe finding something a little tricky or are not as confident as others.
Also this week, Harriet introduced the idea of bird feeders. The children were keen to join her and make their own feeder from an apple and sunflower seeds. It was hard to get the core out but with a bit of help everyone managed. Using a stick as a perch for the birds they created wonderful feeders. The seeds were very small, and it was quite fiddly poking them into the apple. The educators were very impressed with the children’s concentration and determination, using their fine motor skills to pinch and press in the seeds. Most children took their feeder home, but some remained in the forest overnight, hanging from trees. It was curious to see the next day that many of the seeds were missing. We wondered what types of birds may have eaten them, or maybe it was the squirrels?
We hope you all have a lovely sunny weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham