Our Week in the Forest...
We hope you all had a very lovely Easter! After a relaxing long weekend we couldn’t wait to get back into the forest. Due to schools now being on Easter holidays we are being joined for two weeks by our Holiday Camper friends. Our Holiday Campers range from 3-7 years old, some of whom have been along before. For our new friends that have never attended before it is a great chance to experience the joys of the forest and make friends with our amazing Little Forest Folkers.
This week our Holiday campers have mainly been 4-6 years old. The younger Forest Folkers love having the older children at camp and learn so much from them during these weeks. Often mouths open wide when our older children pass on their wisdom about planets and the animal kingdom in the group circle. Furthermore the older children really enjoy playing with the younger children - especially when it comes to building or climbing. Over the past couple of days the children have been building a den under the holly bush at base camp. Two campers (acting as head builders) sent out their willing workmen to gather long branches, sticks and buckets and buckets of leaves. “Put them there guys!”, ordered the head builders. “What do we do now?”, came the reply. So they carried on until the den was fully created and with the leaves for a waterproof roof. “Let’s get inside” they cried. But Oh! “No, it’s too small!”. Little had they realised that they had spent four hours making a den big enough for one child. So the next day, we started again. From the fun of knocking down the mini den, to finding a new spot and creating a new den. This time with enough room for 5, held secure with bungee cord and a lovely window space to boot! We learnt this week that ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again.’
The fantastic weather we have been having this week has been a delight for children and educators. Away the winter waterproofs have gone and out have come our summer proofs and high vis vests!
At Paradise we introduced the children to some Spring gardening by planting seeds ready to observe over the coming warm weather months. We had conversations about how to care for the plants as they grow and what plants need to thrive. We will monitor the growth with our cameras and create our very own book!
Have a lovely weekend all and see you next week!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth