What an interesting week we had in the forest! As we reflected on our theme of community and the different people who make up our community (including ourselves!) we wanted to express what we’ve learned through the arts, specifically through a puppet show. We decided to make wooden puppets that reflect how we see ourselves. Using a palm drill, we observed our educator carefully make little holes to put in the arms and legs. Once these were securely in place, we thought about how we wanted to show our individuality through our puppets. One of our little explorers decided that they wanted to show their interest in space, and so painted a face that had star eyes and a mouth shaped like Saturn!
We also learned how to use a hammer safely to make imprints of flowers on fabric. We took beautiful purple and white chrysanthemums and carefully removed the flower heads from the stem. After gently placing them between a piece of fabric and greaseproof paper, we then gently, but firmly, pressed the flowers with a hammer to release the colours of the petals on the fabric to make an imprint.
Another fun activity saw us enjoy getting messy while we experimented with shapes. We went on a mini adventure walk along our jungle path and gathered objects of different shapes from the forest and then made stamps out of them to create a colourful and geometric inspired collage. We enjoyed the texture of the paint on our fingers – oozy, cool and slippery and carefully took our time to make interesting patterns to make our beautiful collage.
As the weather is finally getting warmer, we discussed sun safety to make sure that we are staying safe in the forest. We talked about making sure we put suncream on before coming to the forest and re-applying it throughout the day, especially when we’ve had fun at waterplay or when we’ve been sweating a lot. We also thought it is a good idea to keep to the shady parts of the forest when the sun is feeling particularly strong and to wear a hat. Most importantly, we need to remind ourselves to drink lots of water and to ask for help refilling our water bottles.
It’s been such a calm week in the forest, and we’ll be back next time with more stories of our adventures…
Have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Morden