It has been the most amazing week ever at Fulham and what a delight it’s been having our parents back on site and able to play with their little ones. Our Little Forest Folk-ers were so excited and proud to show their parents how things work in the forest and introduce them to their friends. It was truly special, and the team was unanimous in rating this the best week ever! The parents had a chance to read some of our favourite books to the children, sit on our super fluffy blankets or just relax on a log. The children were drawn to the reading area and were completely immersed in the moment.
We had, of course, lots of play in the mud kitchen where the children cooked and baked the most delicious dishes for their parents - after mixing and stirring, putting in the oven and waiting for it to cool down before serving!
One of our most popular activities this week was collecting bugs using pincers. The bugs were hidden under leaves and twigs inside a pallet and on top, there were ropes in a zig zag pattern making the task a little bit more challenging. This activity was excellent for the children to practise their grip and for counting and learning about minibeasts. We had books about insects, creepy crawlers and other bugs and the children are so naturally inquisitive that the quest to learn and the stimulus in our environment is endless!
Following on our bugs theme, the children have been visiting our box tree caterpillars and learning about their life cycle. During the two weeks, they grow into 3-4 cm long caterpillars with bright green bodies with black stripes. Fully grown caterpillars feed on the delicious box leaves until they are ready to pupate (around 2 weeks). After about a month, the caterpillar forms a chrysalis which emerges as a box tree moth. The children were in awe and wonder watching the caterpillar munch their leaves.
Our miniature village has also been a huge success this week. The children used loose bits of wood to build an incredible small village with houses, bridges, and roads. On Monday, Ben found a log with a family of almost 10 snails! Our little adventurers immediately transformed the village into their city, and it looked like the snails really liked it! There were some snails crossing the bridge, one was slithering up one of the buildings, and others were exploring other bits in the village. The children found it so interesting and fun to follow their slimy trails and try to find where they were.
Racing cars were also a requested activity in the forest this week and together with their parents, the children explored ways to make ramps for the little cars to go faster and further. They tried putting planks and trays over logs to create a steep drop, then they added more bits on the sides to create a narrow corridor, and so they experimented over and over again to see which ramp worked best. It was super fun!
The children have been highly engaged in our 3-4 letter word cards activity. They thoroughly enjoy finding the words for each card, but also writing their names or the names of their friends. Their interest in numbers and letters is growing and having provocations such as this really helps stimulate their passion for learning.
After a busy but wonderful week, it’s time for us all to enjoy a much-deserved long weekend! See you all next week and enjoy your weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham