What an exciting week we’ve had in the forest! From spaceships to police vans, the site has been full of noise and action.
One of the emerging themes of interest in our group is that of space travel and the solar system. After observing the children acting out going to space and role-playing being astronauts, we found a large cardboard box which we used to turn into our very own space craft. The children painted it and stuck on shiny bits of silver foil then drew a control panel with buttons on to launch it into the atmosphere and bring in back down to Earth! Don’t worry, all of our little space explorers made it back in one piece!
This activity brought up lots of language around planets, the sun and the moon. We talked about how the moon is not actually a planet itself. Then we looked at all the planets and studied their features. Jupiter appeared to many as the most interesting due to its giant red spot. Therefore, we chose to make our own little Jupiter’s out of cardboard, painting them in shades of orange and yellow and then attaching a small piece of red paper (carefully noting the correct position) to represent the red spot.
On Wednesday we were very fortunate to have another visit from the community. After welcoming the local fire brigade last month, we were happy to meet three police constables from Twickenham police station. At first the children were stunned into silence but after a brief introduction about their job and their uniform the children began asking plenty of questions and making comments. Some of them were even brave enough to place their hands inside the handcuffs. The officers were kind enough to let the children try on parts of their uniform and to explore other items such as a police radio, baton and hat.
If that wasn’t exciting enough the sound of a police siren was heard echoing throughout the forest as the police van was driven through the gates. The children were invited to have a look inside. After some hesitation, they climbed aboard, trying out the siren, turning on the flashing lights and sounding the horn. Some sat in the seats and strapping themselves in announced they were going off to the police station! Luckily this did not happen as our Little Forest Folk-ers are so well-behaved.
In true forest school fashion, we have been doing plenty of sawing this week, using the bow saw to cut a long, thin piece of wood. Each child cut off and shaped a section of the wood in order to make their own mallet. They learnt about using tools safely and how to use a piece of equipment called a bill hook. The children displayed excellent levels of attention and were very good at showing persistence when it became challenging. This is what we are all about here at Little Forest Folk!
In the mud kitchen we designed our own little garden centre where these mallets could be sold along with other items such as plant pots, gardening gloves, spades and seeds. However, one child noticed that a key feature was missing: a café. So, we set out cups and a tea pot to provide our little customers with a hot beverage while they shopped. Perfect!
As our forest is now covered in a carpet of leaves, the children have enjoyed collecting and observing them. On one occasion a small group collected a pile of leaves to place in the den for ‘their babies.’ They claimed to be hiding their babies from the dragons of the Kingdom! Scary stuff!
P.S. Don’t forget to look at our magnificent plane tree which is looking glorious at the moment. It is one of the biggest trees in London!
Have a great weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham