As the mornings are now light and the evenings are noticeably darker, our spirits remain bright, unlike the dark, crisp autumnal leaves that lay on the ground.
We have embraced the wet and windy weather, we started by finding various different containers to catch water droplets in. The children turned this into a competition to see who could catch the most water in the quickest time. Some used cups, and some used containers but all got wet!
We continue to attempt to “bridge the divide” at Wandsworth, as Educator Dan created another excellent socially distanced activity. Dan noted how the two teams don’t get to dig together, something they used to love to do. Dan went on the hunt for resources, where he found bamboo, a builder’s tray, topsoil and spades.
Dan attached the spades to the bamboo using sticky tape, before filling the builder’s tray with soil. What came next was a truly fun and engaging activity in which both teams could participate at the same time. Children from both teams used these telescopic spades to dig, fill and empty buckets and cups. Physical skills were tested, but the activity was a huge hit, so much so we created a queuing system to practice turn taking as everyone patiently waited their turn.
Just to see the children chatting to each other over the barrier again, whilst participating in something hugely enjoyable, was a pleasure for the teachers to witness.
Red team have been VERY interested in all things spooky this week, which of course is very topical! “Jamie, can you be the wicked witch?” has definitely been the most asked question this week, which is entirely down to Jamie for sharing his witches cackle party trick with the children, once they heard it, that was it, Jamie’s Halloween role was cemented!
We role played a scene where the wicked witch would pretend to be a fairy-godmother, knocking at the door before being exposed as the Wicked Witch by the children! This led to the children running between houses to hide from the Wicked Witch with the warty nose! We scaffolded this learning opportunity by making some of the children into cats, monsters etc, and before we knew it, we almost had the whole cast from the excellent “Room on the broom” story!
Green team have been on some fantastic adventure walks this week! One day finding a teeny tiny stream which was flowing oh so gently downhill. One of the children had an idea, which involved seeing how easy it was to jump across the moving water, so we took it in turns to jump across! Some of our explorers decided to splash in it, which leads me onto our next subject... the return of muddy puddles!
This week we have really made the most of the environment around us, as we have gone in search for the biggest and muddiest puddles we could find! We have really enjoyed what autumn has thrown at us this week, and we look forward to seeing what is in store for us next week!
Happy Halloween everybody!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth