We’ve had an eventful week in the forest, with the full variety of London’s wonderful weather, including thunder! For the children this meant large puddles in which to splash in and explore. They enjoyed using the junk modelling to create boats and discussed which floated and which sank. This led to an interesting discussion about the Titanic and how it hit a giant iceberg. At snack time, some of the children bit their oat cakes in half and pretended that part of it was the Titanic and part was the iceberg!
In drier conditions, the children got to express their artistic side and made their own versions of Claude Monet’s famous ‘Bridge over a Pond of Water Lilies.’ We used this activity to discuss which French words we knew and who had been ‘en vacances’ in France. One child explained how they went to France in a car. They explained how they needed to drive their car onto a big train which then went through a tunnel. During our art class, the group were shown how to use masking tape to create the bridge. We talked about what horizontal and vertical lines were and the children were able to incorporate this mathematical language as they worked. Vast arrays of colours were applied to their artworks, with each child dipping their fingers in paint and using their fingerprints to decorate the page. After the paint had dried the children got to remove the masking tape, revealing the outline of their bridge. Our Little Forest Folk-ers also got to work with clay, shaping the material to make rainbows and arches. The group worked together to build seven arches, stretching the clay wider and wider to cover the table!
With such creative energy being expended, the children required some tasty treats to keep them going. This week they got the chance to use delicious ripe bananas and yummy dark chocolate to produce the perfect snack for budding artists. The children got to practice using a knife to cut the bananas into smaller pieces and then helped sprinkle the chocolate over them. Once they were ready, we placed them in the oven on a low setting to slow cook them to perfection. Afternoon snack was spent tucking into the warm bananas with lovely melted chocolate oozing all over them!
The children have displayed lots of interest in trains this week, particularly in using the construction planks and crates to build their own train. They have been busy lining up the crates and taking it in turns to be the train driver. They were given real train tickets to aid their role play adventures, with London Waterloo proving to be the most popular destination! All aboard!
The story of Macavity the cat has proved popular with our Forest Folk-ers during story time. They have been thoroughly entertained by tales of his naughty behaviour. They each took turns to embellish the story with their own wacky ideas of what Macavity had been caught stealing. Hopefully our forest does not receive a visit from such a cheeky feline!
The eco school council enjoyed last week’s bird feeder activity so much they requested that we made some more to ensure our fellow forest dwellers were sufficiently nourished. Again, we made use of items from our recycling box such as tubes and kitchen rolls. The children rolled their chosen item in butter and then helped to spread bird seeds over them. They also assisted in threading the string through in order for us to hang them around the forest. Once they were positioned on branches and logs, the children were keen to sit quietly and watch out for any of our feathered friends. With our backs turned, one of our resident magpies’s finished off the leftovers on the creative table.
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham