This week in the forest the children have been cooking up a storm!
Linn supported the children to make banana chocolate cake that was also gluten free and vegan. The children enjoyed working in small groups to measure ingredients, mash bananas and observe the changes that occurred in the mixing bowl as the ingredients were stirred together. Later, at snack time, the children got to have a taste of their creation and were able to share it with their friends.
Children requested more opportunities to practice their baking skills and after some discussion and choices, they settled on the idea of making bread. Educators were on hand to support them to make bread dough and there were lots of happy faces as children got to knead and squish the dough - feeling its texture change until it was like elastic.
Xiao helped a group of children light a fire and then the fun began - wrapping pieces of the dough around a long stick they then got to hold these over the hot logs in the fire bowl. Not a peep could be heard as children took their bread from the stick and carefully gave it a little taste. Cooking is such a sensory experience and allows children the chance to engage in maths (measure and time) in an inclusive and playful way.
During circle time, the children have been loving the song "The hairy scary castle" where skeletons rattle and ghosts go Booo! Children have been asking questions about Halloween and our educators have been sharing how winter is celebrated in Finland and Sweden, and children have been talking about the customs of dressing up and collecting sweets!
Luckily, our very own pumpkin patch has been busy producing some lovely small football sized pumpkins and we have been visiting our vegetable garden to water them each day. This started off with the use of a traditional watering can but when we ran out of water, the children decided to solve the problem for themselves. One child suggested the idea of creating a 'well'. A small crowd became very interested in following this idea through and so, with the help of an educator, they collected what they needed - a bucket and some rope. Moments later, a bucket was lowered down over the fence until the children heard a soft 'splash' in the river below. Then began massive roars of "pull!" as they all grabbed a section of the rope and heaved and pulled until the bucket made a reappearance at the top of the fence. An educator helped carry the bucket up and over the fence and then the children took hold of it, working together to transport it back to the pumpkin patch and give them a good drink. It was beautiful seeing children test their ideas, to watch how they reacted when the bucket got stuck on its way up (giving up never crossed their minds) and how teamwork can help them reach their goals.
Later in the week, some of the smaller pumpkins were harvested and children got involved in hollowing out the seeds and helping Emma give it a big smiley face using some paper scissors and a lot of perseverance! Those not interested in making pumpkin faces made little ghosts with tissue paper stuffed with cotton wool balls and the children either hung them from branches around their forest or took them as props to use in their play.
We hope you all have a lovely weekend and we can't wait to have more forest fun next week!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham