This week the children have been playing in larger groups showing wonderful teamwork, collaboration and creativity!
In the forest this week the children worked hard to make their own boats. They moved logs and planks together, stuck sticks into the mud and even hung a mini flag as the sail! As the children morphed into pirates it was wonderful to listen to their conversations as they set sail across the sea. They talked about where they were going and who they would meet. Eventually they decided that they needed to follow the map and find the island with the treasure. On their way they discovered a nuclear reactor and had to shut it down. Their ship grew wings and took off into the sky and the pirates soon turned into superhero guinea pigs! One hero used his laser eyes to shut down the nuclear reactor and saved the day!
The travelling theme continued as the children came onto camp on another day and they found a wonderful car made from the logs and planks! They took turns to drive it and announced their destination loudly to the group – “Scotland!”, “Centre Parcs!”. Soon though the car broke down and the children worked together to put oil and petrol in the back of the car and used their tools to make sure everything was put together properly.
With the strong winds this week the children enjoyed a change of scenery as we ventured out into the open meadow. Here the children had lots of space to move about and were often running around singing superhero songs trying to save their friends from the pear house tree! A mini ravine was also home to lots of digging and cooking as the children got stuck into making mud pies, birthday cakes and magic potions in the mud kitchen. The superheroes used the magic potions to gain extra superpowers so that they could become more awesome!
With a new environment the children were able to find different flora and fauna. Little holes in the ground were searched and the children found beetles, slugs, worms, spiders and woodlice. They studied them closely and talked about the way they moved in their environment. Most of the children wanted to have a little hold before trying to find a safe place to put them down. Some even made special little houses for them to keep them safe from the children’s feet.
The children this week were also given materials to get crafty! With sticks and string the children made bow and arrows, dogs on leads and firefighter hoses! With pens and paper, the children made their own decorations for the kites they tried to fly in the wind! With the kites not flying so well the children decided that paper aeroplanes would be more fun, and they were right! The children ran around flying their planes and talking about how high, far or fast their plane could go!
We all had such a wonderful time this week and we can’t wait to do it all again! We hope you all have lovely weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Putney Heath