This week saw the start of our Christmas inspired activities, with children being introduced to Christingle decoration making on Monday morning. First, everyone was introduced to cloves and cinnamon sticks, and using acute senses the children identified that the sweet aroma was similar to the smell of cookies, cakes and biscuits they’ve all enjoyed before. Educators helped children understand that cloves and citrus peels were used hundreds of years ago to make castles smell nice and that sometimes people would carry little sachets of these ingredients and other herbs to breathe in when some places were too smelly around London!
With these Christingle decorations children really enjoyed pressing cloves into the oranges and appreciated the benefits of learning how to use a cocktail stick to pierce a guiding hole first. Here the children showed good attention to detail by returning to the right place with the clove, which is tricky in an orange covered in pores. The skies opened during this activity and the rain came down hard, but children impressively persevered with their goals and adjusted their practical methods to get the job done. Everyone listened to safety rules so well about the little pointy tools and several children helped tie up their decorations in a choice of ribbons, resulting in some marvellous (albeit soggy!) creations.
This week we have all enjoyed thousands of bubbles billowing around through the air. Sam found a great place for the machine atop our felled oak tree and the bubbles filled the forest with fun. Some children found the sensory experience of feeling the bubbles blowing into their faces and having their jackets covered in a glistening lather “like being in a bath” so funny! We also all enjoyed the challenge of counting as many bubbles as we could with children showing great skills at getting to ten, then twenty and reaching beyond with support from educators.
Our new waterproof speaker has added an aural layer of joy with Christmas playlists jingling away all day long. Children have enjoyed recognising and joining in with familiar songs and have listened well to other songs by identifying and talking about words and lines in lyrics that have piqued their interest. As well as the natural benefits of helping children develop rhythm, this is an excellent way to expand on the way that children hear vocabulary in their lives. Children have also enjoyed playing with jingle bells along to the classic jingle bell song and we’re sure the whole of Wimbledon Common have enjoyed the songs as much as we have.
On an adventure walk around the common, the children discovered an exceptionally slippery muddy slope that they were able to use as a slide. The laughter was immensely lovely as climbing the arduous angle alluded them at first, but with strong legs and helping hands everyone pushed through the challenge and had several goes at the “slide”; there was more mud on the children than the floor by the end of this game!
Back at the Bowling Club this week, children were joyously transfixed by a very special message from Father Christmas, who naturally knew so much about the type of fun everyone gets up to at Little Forest Folk! With our Christmas tree glowing in the corner and twinkling lights all around the room, the magic has been monumental. Santa also helped the children understand how very important it is to go to sleep well, especially on Christmas Eve. He even left presents for all the children and then read us the wonderful story “T’was the night before Christmas”. These moments have been marvellous for children and educators alike, and these are how the best memories are made!
We hope you’ve all had a magical week too! As the term draws to an end for our term time families we would like to wish everyone a well deserved break and a happy Christmas. We can’t wait to see you all again in January to see what the new year will bring!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth