We’ve had another fantastic week of forest adventures and exploration. Many of our older children are becoming interested in science experiments and learning how things work. Volcanoes have remained a firm favourite throughout the year and the children love looking at our fact book and learning all about them. After another go with the volcano explosion experiment that we did last week, our mud kitchen was turned into a ‘science lab.’ Our Forest Folk-ers donned their white coats and used mud, water, paint, and various other items to create potions and concoctions. One adult noticed a menacing looking purple liquid being produced by a small group. These mad professors clearly knew what they were doing as no explosions were heard coming from the lab!
As part of the drive to retain our title of ‘Eco-school’ we continue to encourage the children to think about recycling. As well as our regular trips to the front of Heatham House to recycle our own waste, we have provided the children with opportunities to role-play in our own pretend ‘Recycling centre.’ Our eco-friendly little friends showed excellent awareness of different materials such as plastic, cardboard, rubber etc and could sort various objects into piles. We are also aiming to reduce landfill waste and have begun teaching the group how to reuse the peels and skins from fruit and vegetables for composting. We now have a tiny hill of compost decomposing, all ready to help our flowers blossom this summer.
Our forest is perfect for developing gross motor skills, but we pay attention to fine motor skills too. This week we have been using coloured string to thread intricate patterns into cardboard. The children first made their own holes using the unconventional method of placing the cardboard on the ground and using a dibber to drive holes in. They then selected a colour and began trying to poke the string through the individual holes. Luckily the dibber made nice-sized holes that were just right for threading through. Later some of the children extended the activity by making necklaces using patterned beads and leftover string.
At Twickenham Little Forest Folk we are always talking to the children about fire safety, particularly when we have a cooking session around the campfire. On Tuesday we had one of our important regular fire drills in the forest. After hearing Miranda’s fire whistle, the group (including some of the new starters) reacted calmly and followed in a line as we left the meadow and walked our way across the small footbridge to the grassy area where a register was taken. After checking the time, we discovered we had beat our own personal best! Well done to all our Forest Folk-ers!
As you may be aware, Friday is our cooking day. However, with the weather improving we have started encouraging the children to assist the educators in making their own playdough. They are getting really good at waiting their turn and helping educators to make the perfect consistency and the craziest colours. After squeezing in some green, yellow, and purple paint the children squished the playdough into all kinds of shapes. Some made creepy crawlies, others created scary monsters and we even had an erupting playdough volcano with soft, doughy lava!
We hope you all have lovely weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham