With some temporary change to our typical weekly location on account of the safety of the Forest after Storm Eunice, we have enjoyed welcoming new little visitors to our Bowling Field location. The days for some started with excitement and sheer delight as they experienced their first ever minibus trip. The journeys were filled with the cheery chatter of animated adventurers letting educators know all the details they could see as we moved along; there really are some tremendous little tour guides amongst us! We talked of our days at Forest School and the days when we weren’t at forest school, linking days of the week to experiences that help to define self and sense of place in the world.
We have recently been welcomed onto the field by glorious bright yellow daffodils, bravely holding fast in the random gusts! These were planted mid-November, only a few weeks after some of our newest cohort started. Much like we have seen all the children grow and develop over these past few months, it’s been great to see their first planting achievements come to fruition. This week, educators implemented another planting activity. Here, children filled potting trays with soil, found suitably sized prodding sticks to make deep holes, then dropped in dried sugar snap peas and covered them over. The children have been very excited about watching these grow, and a story of Jack and the beanstalk read by Sam in the evening, followed by some green Duplo stacking to replicate a tall stalk, helped us all reflect on the planting fun earlier.
As well as a traditional story about magic beans, we’ve enjoyed a brand new book called “If I had an Octopus” which tells the imaginative tale of a little girl who thinks about the fun she would have with such an unusual pet. We chose this book to help us solidify the thinking and learning from the marvellous cardboard octopus creations last week. As Matt read, the colourful illustrations helped to spark conversation with awesome children’s questions like “What is a tentacle?”, “Why is the octopus invisible?” and “What’s all that black paint everywhere?” as the octopus used its ink to join in at the art class! This way of helping children develop is synonymous with the Little Forest Folk ways of child led learning, where we collate what children enjoy the most during the week and expand on these ideas soon after.
We’ll close this newsletter with a big jolly well done to all the children this week, managing the logistical changes to daily life, and the unpredictable weather changes too! We hope the weather behaves for you this weekend, and you’re able to stay safe and wrapped up well in anything inclement. See you all soon!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth