Hello everyone,
Despite world book day being a month away, this week has been all about stories. Each day our outdoor activities have related to a particular favourite of the forest. On Monday we started the week off with ‘The Three Little Pigs’, a perfect one for us as we have plenty of sticks to build a house with! Some of the children became pigs themselves, creating snouts out of egg cartons, paint and string. On the mark-making table we got messy using toy bricks as stamps, covering the paper with lots of colourful shapes (and plenty of hand prints). Miranda had some excellent assistants who helped her to make a stick house using lollipop sticks and Sellotape. Good luck to any wolf trying to blow such a sturdy building down!
Tuesday was a magical day as we welcomed the arrival of a coven of little witches as we celebrated another children’s favourite ‘Room on the Broom.’ In the morning we gathered a large pile of sticks perfect for creating our very own broomsticks. After tying a bundle of sticks together with string we watched as each of our Little Forest Folk-ers zoomed around the site. After coming back down to the ground, it was to the mud kitchen for lots of spells and potion-making. Set-up included a jerry can and a variety of different-sized containers that the children enjoyed adding mud, leaves and coloured paint to, to create some truly disgusting liquids. Some of these potions were so bewitching they turned people into frogs!
On Wednesday we had fun acting out ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears.’ Making use of our tuff trays we explored the texture of oats and the group enjoyed scooping these up and pouring them into containers. As usual some of the porridge was ‘too hot’, some ‘too cold’, other bowls ‘just right’ and even the new category of ‘too warm’ was announced after some tickled tastebuds! Despite all the noise, we discovered Goldilocks fast asleep on a makeshift bed constructed using a pallet, some blankets and a comfy pillow. After trying the bed for size, some of the children found it was ‘just right!’
Then it was the turn of ‘The Gruffalo’ and his terrible teeth and terrible jaws to make an entrance in the forest. Our very own log pile became home to five hissing snakes and this gave us a chance to incorporate number recognition and counting into our play. Celine very kindly set up a ‘Gruffalo cafe’ in the mud kitchen to keep the monster satisfied. The ‘owl ice-cream’ using shaving foam and paper cones went down a treat with everyone!
What a busy week!
Enjoy a restful weekend and see you next week!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham