This week in the forest the children have really shown their ability to be independent and collaborative! We have had different projects with children working together in groups sharing their ideas and coming to agreements with little or no support from an adult!
We had a few rainy days this week and the children were super excited by this. There were shrieks of delight as they found muddy puddles to jump into! As they walked into the forest their faces lit up in wonder as the droplets formed on the tips of the leaves all around them. At that moment the sun came out and turned each rain drop into a little sparkle as the light refracted through. The wet theme continued on camp as the children enjoyed slipping and sliding around on wet logs and planks. Keen to give themselves a challenge they asked for a platform to be built so they could jump off it. Giving each other tips for techniques and encouragement for courage they helped each other to jump to great heights.
This collaboration threaded through a wonderful den building project that lasted all week. The children collected sticks together discussing their plan as they went. They talked about which wall they were constructing and where the different rooms where going to be. When it came to building the walls they helped each other to find the perfect fit so that the structure was sound. Then it was back to the mud kitchen to work on providing lunch for everyone.
The mud kitchen is another area that all the children often negotiate and collaborate on different projects. In small groups they made chocolates, cakes and a huge pizza. As they added ingredients to the same bowl the children discussed what they needed next, who was going to stir it and, of course, who was going to eat it! It's so wonderful to see how independent the children are at negotiating these often tricky social situations with an ease that defies their age!
One project this week was designing our own little wooden characters. The children were given some pre-carved sticks and drew on faces to make their own gnomes, fairies and little people. It was so wonderful to see the detail the children tried to create on the tiny sticks. They then used them in their role-play in very creative ways!
The children’s role-play games have been played with an amazing amount of excitement and energy. The children often forming groups, negotiating what they are going to do and then acting out scenarios with an amazing amount of theatre. The language on display was brilliant as the children described their props, characters and scenes. In one role-play the children became pirates, they found leaves which became their treasure map and followed the veins on the leaf to find where the treasure lay. Then after much searching they found some tiny pieces of chestnut shells which became the treasure. The children described in detail the ship that they were using, from the masts with big white sails to the cannons that lined the edge. The treasure was named ‘pieces of 8’ and the children guarded them closely!
As the weather warms up for next week we are really excited to go on some more adventures in the sun!
We hope you have a wonderful weekend!!
Little Forest Folk
Putney Heath