Our Week in the Forest...
If only there was something to write about in this week’s newsletter… oh wait, snow, snow, snow! It’s been a cold week, but the children have loved being outside. On Monday and Tuesday, we set up base camp as normal and the children played in the sun and snow that sprinkled intermittently. There was lots of excitement, but nothing compared to what would be experienced on Wednesday or Thursday.
The sun provided enough respite for the children to enjoy the outdoors at the start of the week and they experimented with catching flakes on their tongues and in buckets. When the cold became too much they ventured into the tepee to play with the musical instruments, read stories or just cuddle under a blanket. The new blankets worked almost too well as some children understandably wanted to spend the whole day cuddled under one. The children did their best to make snow angels and snowballs with the little snow we had, and we also did some exciting mark making in the ground. The children drew numbers, letters or drew snowmen we wished so badly we could build.
On Wednesday however, the real fun started. Snow had fallen in truckloads during the night and as it was too cold to spend all day outside, we decided to base ourselves at the Tennis Pavilion. After collecting the sessional children, we explored the snowy gardens, making much better snowmen, snow angels and snowballs than the days previously just until we started to begin feeling cold. We then found a sheltered spot in the sun to sit down and have a drink of some nice warm apple juice to warm our tummies. We then walked back to the tennis pavilion and for the rest of the day, the children could choose from a mixture of activities inside, or they could wrap up and venture out into the tennis courts to continue playing with the snow.
Thursday took on a similar pattern and in the morning the children loved being pulled around on our make-shift sleighs. As the educators built evermore impressive snow sculptures, the disappointment was real when a child would tumble into it crashing it to the ground. After going back to the tennis courts, the children could paint, draw, create masterpieces with play-dough, play board games or continue exploring the snow outside.
Although it’s been cold, the children have been so busy learning, exploring and experimenting, feeling cold was the last thing on their minds. By letting them choose their own activities at the tennis court it gave the children ownership over their learning and having the children take pride in what they do and achieve is such a big part of our ethos. We hope you have enjoyed the snow as much as we have!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham