Hello Everyone
It may be nearly Christmas but that has not meant any slowing down of the pace of forest life at Twickenham. We have been as busy as Santa’s elves and as speedy as his reindeer.
Despite not yet being spring, our Little Forest Folk-ers have been busy helping staff to clean up the forest and get it looking its best for the new year. In the wooded area at the back of our outdoor space, they had lots of fun helping to take down the tarpaulin’s ready for cleaning and packing away. They each took turns to use the adult rake to tidy-up the forest floor (and occasionally find a missing glove or dinosaur). Whilst cleaning we looked out for Mr/or Mrs Fox who has been making regularly trips to this area of the forest, usually when we are sat quietly eating our delicious meals or listening to a story. Unfortunately, the noise created by our hive of activity seemed to keep the fox away.
As all good things come to an end, the children also helped Ruby the Elf to dismantle our wonderfully festive Christmas Grotto. Firstly, we took the colourful baubles down from our decorated tree branches, then we removed the lovely ‘Frozen’ mural and took it to the forest to paint on. The children helped to pack away the dressing-up, some finding it too hard to resist one last go wearing Santa’s beard and hat. Ruby and her special helper Celine were very kind in allowing some lucky children the chance to take small items from the grotto home with them, whilst other items needed to be returned to the North Pole ready for next year. Now the Grotto has returned to its original purpose as a greenhouse ready for future planting and growing in the new year. Ruby was very impressed with how helpful and good at tidying-up all the children were. She cannot wait to return again next Christmas!
At Twickenham we are very lucky to have some large recycling bins just outside the main gates of Heatham House. We regularly take the children to do recycling, but this week we have been extremely busy scouring the forest for any plastic, paper or glass in order to have the site in pristine condition for January (hopefully the squirrels won’t make too much mess while we are away). As well as keeping our forest tidy, recycling is one of our duties as an ‘Eco-School’, a title that needs to be worked towards each year to maintain. We also have an eco-council made up of children from the forest, guided by an adult, who discuss and make decisions regarding how to care for and improve our environment. From January Shannon will be responsible for directing all things eco, so any suggestions feel free to speak with her.
Sometimes it is the simple things that provide children with the most joy, and the greatest opportunity to develop their imagination and creativity. After laying out some very big boxes, a group of children decided to put them together to make a house containing separate rooms such as a kitchen and a bedroom. They asked an educator to cut holes in the cardboard for windows and a door (far too small for an adult to fit through). Once the house was complete, they enjoyed relaxing inside and taking shelter from what had been a very cold day.
The children turned the mud kitchen area into a bakery, producing wonderfully fragrant Christmas cakes, puddings and sweets. Ingredients used included stones, mud, sand and a sprinkle of Christmas magic. After baking, they then turned the kitchen into a cake shop and sold their tasty treats to educators and their peers.
This week has been a final opportunity for those who had not made a pomander to sit with Kelly to do so. This has proved a popular activity, with the children enjoying poking holes in the oranges with tiny pieces of cloves and then wrapping these in shiny red ribbons. We also used leftover toilet rolls to make snow-men and snow-women, first by painting the rolls white and then by attaching sticks for arms. Once dry, the children drew faces on their creation and stick a ribbon on for a scarf.
As you would expect, we have been reading lots of Christmas stories and singing lots of festive songs. Our favourites have been ‘When Santa got stuck up the Chimney’, ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘We Wish You A Merry Christmas’ and the story book ‘Elf on the Shelf’ where the idea of our very own Ruby comes from. Miranda also kindly brought in some of her own personal favourites, including a beautifully illustrated book about ‘Moomins’ and their rather odd Christmas adventures.
Have a wonderful break everyone and for those that are celebrating, Merry Christmas!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham