Our Week in the Forest...
We have had a magnificent week in the forest, the exploration of the wilds around us has been a fantastic experience for all involved. Movement has been key in the colder weather, so apart from the ranging adventure walks we have also been introducing dancing sessions when we play fun music through a set of speakers. The children have thoroughly loved the fresh sounds in the forest and have been mighty keen to show off some of their favourite dance moves. To counteract this, we have also been having some lovely meditation type sessions within the group circles through which the children have found a lovely level of inner peace using the opportunity to recognise some of the beautiful bird song around us. This week we have been graced with the return of the woodpecker’s peck from its winter break.
Our Little Forest Folk-ers have also shown us some magnificent acrobatic skills this week. Completely child initiated, one group of children started a little acrobatic show on the slack line and the supporting guide rope. Captured in wonderful slow-motion filmography by one of the Jaybirds the children showed off rolling one handed tumbles, side flips, and complete forward and backward rolls over the rope. The activity drew in a little crowd before all of the children were having a go at expressive movement. The children’s gross physical prowess is burgeoning day by day as they get bigger and stronger.
'Stuck in the mud' – a phrase commonly used this week as the muddy puddles have become less wet and more sticky. A massive source of entertainment for all involved, the children created their own game of this – using fantastic balancing skills not to face plant in the mud the children waited in their ‘frozen’ positions shouting “stuck in the mud” before one of their allies came along to yank them out, sometimes with hilarious consequences. The children show fantastic understanding of the rules all the time, but to see the level of responsibility of the "kind and gentle" rule used genuinely, is positively heart warming. Needless to say there have been a few muddy legs and bottoms this week and a plethora of smiles to match!
The children have continued to find icy puddles on their way into the forest and also on the adventure walks. As such the children have decided that they need to make fires to warm us all up. Working together in small units, stick collectors retrieved all manners of sticks and logs returning their logs back to the ‘builders’. Fire builders, complete with fire gloves, assembled the conical structures before safely lighting the fire at a distance. Warming chilly hands and making hot chocolates over the fire has been the order of the week!
Have a lovely weekend everybody, we look forward to seeing you all again next week. I heard a lovely quote this week – “Nature breeds curiosity; it helps to grow explorers rather than robots. It reminds us that we are part of something bigger. It ground us, calms us” – Dr Ben Palmer-Fry
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth