It’s been wonderful to see the sun push through on occasion this week, shining and saying hello to our newest Little Forest Folk-ers, whilst cheerily waving off our brave and awesome grown-up leavers going on to their new adventures in reception.
In this time, we have been so proud of the way that older children have been able to support Educators introduce our Forest School Rules to the little ones in a concise, clear, and comforting style. Alongside heart-warmingly enthusiastic rounds of hello and goodbye songs to help us all to get to know each other’s names, we have already seen some confident tapping, clapping, listening, and talking in these log circle moments.
Educators have supported intrepid new adventurers find their way around our sites and to recognise our rainbow ribboned borders, where we have seen early great interest in the art area and reading area, as well as messy play in the various mud kitchens creating miles of smiles! In identifying where most enjoyment is had, we are able to refine and focus our sites every morning to make certain areas that are even more fun as per the wants and needs of all of our children. The fairer weather often means that the art area is flowing with fabulous creativity, and this week children have been asking to make puppets. Pia (a most excellent and enthusiastic playworker) and Jemima helped the children with their designs of creatures, whilst offering safe and sound advice on the best way to hold scissors, pull Sellotape, and to make those satisfying snips for all that critical sticking down pleasure! With puppets supported on straws, several children took part in performing behind a theatre coloured in by some of our very youngest new starters. Children and Educators alike have had so much fun seeing such super shows unfold before them, and it’s been great to see so many children play some part in this activity. These will certainly be the first of many shows!
Afternoons back at the bowling field have been just as great, with imaginations still in full flow. Here, in roleplaying games, children became a friendly family of cheetahs looking for food and a place to live, who could also switch on realistic fierceness as quickly as they could run! We love listening to the language detail in this play, especially when Educators complimented their huge feline jumps from great heights, we were confidently reminded “cheetahs don’t jump, they pounce”! From Cheetahs, we then all became mice, as Vanessa drew a squeaky rodent on a block of wood that children built a “mouse house” for, around a tunnel structure. Here, we were next able to scaffold in plenty of talk around the importance of good nutrition, as we decided on what fruit and vegetables to draw on small blackboards to feed our little mouse friend. Several chalkboards later and we can confirm the mouse now has enough food to last her until Christmas!
May your bank holiday weekend be as fulfilling as our little wooden mouse friend is about to have, enjoy the sun that’s trying to sneak around the clouds, and get ready for another brilliant week here at Little Forest Folk Wandsworth. See you all soon!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth