Our Week in the Forest...
What a marvellous time we have had for Wandsworth ‘Stay and Play’ week! We are so lucky to have such enthusiastic parents who get stuck in! It has been wonderful to have some of you come and join us in the forest. At times, it was hard to differentiate between the adults and the children, you were all so engrossed in your games! We are only sorry you had to go back to work after playing. Thank you so much for bringing such energy and positivity into the forest. We really appreciate all the support you give us.
In Paradise one parent led a band of unruly children into a game of hide and seek, and would you believe it, this week they were actually HIDING! They’ve nailed it! It was brilliant to see the children working as a pack to establish the best hiding places to foil the visiting parents. Another group of children spent their afternoon digging up the compost and transporting it in the wheelbarrow so that they could plant some bulbs. The children were fascinated by the shape of the bulbs and loved discussing what they might grow into. We talked about the wiggly roots at the bottom and how they are a bit like straws that suck up water and food in the soil. We wondered what will grow at the top of the stems, ‘Flowers!’, ‘Daffodils!’, ‘Yellow flowers!’ The children completely absorbed themselves in turning over the soil and arranging and rearranging their bulbs as a team for the entire afternoon! It’s amazing to see how the children’s skills at identifying plants in our environment have really developed- from nettles and brambles to thistles- all the sinister plants to a child!
We had a whole band of Big Forest Folkers over at the Windmill site, all getting stuck in with a range of activities from digging for treasure to creating forest mobiles and trying out the swing. Some children took to creating beautiful crowns using their favourite fallen leaves to decorate them with. The finished results looked absolutely fabulous and the children proudly donned them and set off exploring their forest with a certain pizazz. Over in their homemade den, the children announced that today it was a bakery, specialising in cakes. Before long the crowns turned into party hats and the bakery was working overtime to produce a vast number of mud cakes for a big birthday party. As the cakes came out of the oven the children took it in turns to celebrate their birthday. They held a stick candle and we all sang ‘Happy Birthday!’ to them before they blew it out amidst cheering. The children are so quick to respond to new props in the forest to develop their games, quickly adapting their bakery to suit a new idea and extend their play. We love seeing how they all rally round and join in; what starts off as just a little game, suddenly becomes a mass team effort.
Thank you for a wonderful week! If any parent accidentally took their cape off round Sainsbury’s after their forest adventure, then just pop it back in your child’s backpack once you’ve finished playing! Have a corker of a weekend!
Have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth