As the pace in nature’s changes hasten in anticipation of a new season, so too has our new starters ability to manage the site, and the variety of surfaces are being handled very well at some spectacular speeds already! Be it escaping the dreaded Stick Monster or running to find the best hide and seek spots, many little legs are making light work of the whole site now. These lightning limbs are always accompanied by joyous laughter and screams of delight which is always wonderful to hear.
During this last week of Summer, we have listened for sounds in the forest around us, with children describing the “Plip, plwip, plop” of the acorns as they dropped through the sunrays. Plentiful acorns mean Lucy the Wood Pigeon is often nearby and the children’s eagle eyes have also identified cackling magpies on the lookout for our food and several scampering squirrels too.
Super sunshine earlier this week meant wheelbarrows brimming with exquisitely wet water to play in, were a must. Children particularly enjoyed bringing in loose part blocks and other wooden lengths to create a fun “water park playground” for dinosaurs. Looking after little pets and creatures has featured across both the red and green team this week with much collaborative work being observed where little homes with roofs, rooms, beds and ladders have been built for pinecone hedgehogs and mice.
Construction continued throughout the week as children persevered with moving the larger logs and even sought knot-work help to drag them smoothly with friends to planned locations. Trains, boats, and pirate ships have been recreated with these logs and large planks, and the children have loved taking their friends and teachers to dozens of destinations including Cornwall, Portugal, and Brooklyn. We might not have been able to get away in the real world, but the power of the children’s imaginations of pretend airports and beaches have been just as fabulous! In these moments it is always great to hear the children share their unique experiences of their own lives into play, in ways that keep it spontaneous yet carefully curated in parts.
Thoughtful creativity came to light later this week to problem solve issues that required understanding the early math concepts of measuring. Firstly, a bucket hat stuck in a bush saw a combination of children drawing plans and active measuring to find the best way to topple or pluck it down. The children worked well together to realise their goals and with a great try-again attitude succeeded triumphantly!
Similar bush-based quandaries found some children pondering how to raise and support a poorly young tree. More plans and perseverance saw similar successes with a creative and structurally sound tripod of branches. It was great to see one of our morning Forest School Rules reinterpreted and realised in such a way that the children feel some responsibility for looking after their wonderful surroundings. Working in harmony with nature is exactly what we love to see here…and I’m sure our forest feels the same too!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth