Our Week in the Forest...
With the grassland area under our majestic plane tree in need of some respite, the much loved swings came down, the pallet board obstacle course was no more and the boundary lines retreated back to the snack area but with this, the back of the forest opened for exploration and adventures. Our Little Forest Folk-ers wasted no time in bringing these areas to life. Firstly, they had ideas with what should be done with the pallets and, in place of an obstacle course, we now have a cube-like den that can become whatever the children like.
We have seen them drape tarpaulin over the top to create a hiding place from Xiao the monster, we have seen sticks be used to represent mechanic barriers when it became a car park and the addition of cushions and logs made it into a home. However, the saying goes “home is what you make it” and so, groups of children set about painting the house with chalk, turning the pallets (and themselves) a marvellous shade of blue.
The collection of logs invited our Little Forest Folk-ers to look to them as sources of canvass using brushes and hands to mark make colourful patterns on them. The collection of water colours provoked lots of colour mixing as children experimented with how many colours it would take to make muddy brown (clearly the swampy grasslands had inspired them!).
In the climbing area, there have been baggage scales with buckets hooked on them and pulley systems so children could weigh and lift items in the forest. These included small logs, bouquets of sticks and autumn leaves as well as stones and mud. This has been a fun way to engage with concepts such as weight and volume, as well as additional exposure to numbers in our forest.
As the evening meal time has been happening under a winter, twilight sky, we have enjoyed eating around the fire. We think there could be no better way to end a day than sitting around an enticing fire, being warmed by its flames, a hot dinner and being in close proximity to some pretty awesome friends!
We wish you a wonderful weekend and look forward to seeing you all next week!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham