This week at Twickenham the children had an interest in oceans and the seaside, and this inspired and created lots of wonderful opportunities for learning and play.
One of our Little Forest Folk-ers had been on holiday to the seaside and had told us all about crabbing! We all wanted to have a go, so we made fishing rods out of wool and sticks and got to go crabbing. Each cardboard crab in our sandy tuff tray had a number on it too, so we hunted and counted and then made a lovely number line with them, that is still hanging proudly above our snack circle. We heard lots of stories and learnt some facts about the crabs of Christmas Island and the giant coconut crab! The children scurried around the forest, sideways, with their hands as pinchers.
One of our Little Forest Folk-ers was telling us all about the Lifeguard boat that they had seen. This inspired some wonderful imaginative play - our construction area became a pier, and each crate was a boat to rescue. An emergency bell was a fashioned out of a saucepan and hung from a sturdy tree, toilet roll tubes became binoculars, and our tyres were tied to a rope for a life ring to help save any of the friends stuck out at sea!
Our interest in the seven seas got us thinking about becoming pirates! The lifeguard pier became a shipwreck, donned with a skull and cross bones flag painted on card! Little Forest Folk-ers walked the plank before heading off into the forest to look for treasure. Using a treasure map, they searched through the sand in our tuff tray for anything that sparkled, carefully collecting them in their egg box treasure chests! We even made smaller boats that floated on puddles out of fruit punnets and sticks.
Seashells were also found in the sand this week, carefully using our tweezers to pinch and collect the shells, just like our crab friends, counting them as we put them in bowls.
Fallen tree bark became our paper as well and we practised some wonderful mark making on each piece. We also developed our fine motor skills by peeling and sticking ocean themed stickers on to card to create story scenes. The children especially liked the crab ones.
Our wild area at the back of our forest had a good trim this week by an educator, so it was ready to explore. We found a fox’s den and lots of blackberries growing in the brambles. We picked them, gave them a good wash and then drizzled yummy, sweet honey on the top for an extra special afternoon snack!
We also went river walking, picking even more juicy blackberries to take home to wash and eat with our families. We collected them into jugs and then shared them out for each child to take some home. On our walk we also spotted some of our wildlife friends. We said hello to a woodpecker, heron and our local moor hen!
Our eco council spotted some rubbish floating in our river during our walk and were sure to pick it up and dispose of it correctly.
A fun filled week where sticks became magical wands, and our mud kitchen restaurant was open and serving customers delicious looking meals inspired by recipe cards from our local supermarket. Next week we hope to use some the blackberries we froze into delicious smoothies!
To top it all off Twickenham Forest School turned 2 years old this week! We celebrated with a forest party and some yummy chocolate cake. We enjoyed spending the day making bunting and a banner out of twigs. Some of us even made beautiful forest crowns. Happy Birthday to us!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham