‘Bunch Up Together’
On Monday the long-awaited day finally arrived. After months of the children looking and waving to each other, we came back together as one big group. The children were absolutely delighted as we gathered together at the rope which had been between the green and red group. Karen asked the children, "What day is it today?" a child replied, "It's bunch up together day!". We asked for a volunteer from each group to ceremoniously cut the rope, hooray! The children had so much fun showing each other activities such as Dan’s man-made mountain mud patch and also Simon’s super swing!
The super swing in the forest is a 5m high swing, hung from a tall tree. Navigating new heights calls for some bravery and naturally, our Little Forest Folk-ers rose to the challenge and the squeals of delight and laughter rang through the air. Other activities the children have bonded over include the mud kitchen and books.
Story time has prompted some beautiful role-play together this week, with "The Spaceship" book inspiring a trip to the moon. With Cici they encountered moon monsters and with Katie they went on a picnic. Foraging for "food" on the moon and imagining that white wood was bread. After reading "Paper Dolls" Dan did a great art activity with our little ones and created some much-treasured paper dolls. The older ones put their scissor skills to the test and managed to cut out their own dolls! And as nothing goes to waste in the forest, all the off cuts got put to good use and created crowns.
Now that we are back together as one big group, we are back open to having Playworkers come and visit us! Pia and J have been doing some wonderful activities with the children. J, who comes from an artistic background, injected some magic into the forest, creating fairies out of sticks and doing some beautiful artwork with the children. Pia has been wonderful at ensuring no child is overlooked during the transition into one big group, paying particular attention to our younger ones and keeping them engaged.
The first five years of a child's life includes periods of rapid growth and change. Our little ones are doing this during a time of massive global change and adaptation. They've done fantastically, taking on any changes we've had on site. By answering their many questions and having Educators that are keeping a keen eye to observe how they are handling these changes, we hope to make this transition as smooth and joyful as possible!
Hope you have a wonderful weekend in the sunshine!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth