This week in the forest the children have started to get stuck into some project work exploring scientific ideas and developing literacy skills that defy the short few years on the planet they have had!
Book binding is always a popular activity and it has been great to see the children showing their dexterity to make holes using a hole lunch. Thread an elastic band through the holes and around a carefully selected forest stick! Once the booklets were made children spent time, sometimes up to 3 days, decorating and filling their books with pictures and words. We had an amazing animal encyclopaedia, forest diaries, picture books and story books. The children used a variety of media including leaves, paints, pens and tape to add details.
There has also been some wonderful mark making throughout the forest with children showing off their ability to make and create pictures representing images and stories from their imagination. They used chalks, pencils, felts and paints in a variety of colours to plan out their wonderful creations!
Enquiry based learning is at the forefront of everything the children do in the forest as they explore their own ideas through trial and error. This week the mud kitchen has been a melting pot for this type of learning. The children have explored capacity when using different sized containers. They have explored how different materials interact with water, creating mixtures and exploring ideas around floating and sinking.
The science theme continues throughout the week as the children discussed ideas around how light is refracted through a glass prism to create the full spectrum of light. The children were delighted to see the rainbow dance across the forest floor as they tilted the prism this way and that way, or when they held it up to look through it like binoculars that make the world turn upside down!
On one day we brought some speakers into the forest for some dancing amongst the trees. As the children got ever closer to the tiny speaker, they noticed that of covered up the speaker made far less sound which sparked conversations around how the sound comes out. We talked about sound waves and how they travel differently through different types of materials like the air, a tree or our bodies.
We had so much fun this week we can’t wait to see everyone again next week! Have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Putney Heath