Our Week in the Forest...
We have had a fantastic wet week in the forest here at Wandsworth. Our Little Forest Folk-ers have continued their creative thinking, linking experiences from their home life and incorporating it into their play in the forest. We have used the mass of water that we have been exposed to, to create our own little water slides and active volcanoes as once again the children have shown their versatility to be able to adapt to the conditions and thrive.
As always there has been a lot of group based role play within the forest. One particular favourite at the moment is the inspiration of PJ masks. This particular group of children working in a small group work together to protect the other children in the forest. For example one of our youngest children was interested in the holly berries, recognising the dangers they formed a barrier to protect the child and explain to him the dangers of the berries. An interesting point is that some of the children have been able to join in and learn, through their peers, about the main characters and themes of the game without even seeing the TV show that inspired them.
As a large group, the children worked together to paint and design their very own postbox. The children took a great interest in making it perfect. Mixing paints to create the perfect colour, they rigorously painted the whole box up to the last detail making sure that it was all covered. We hope to write letters to Father Christmas over the next few weeks - the children can choose to write anything that they want, from wishing him a merry Christmas to talking about what they like to do in the forest. In time the aim of this activity is to encourage and support the children to make their own letters, looking at lettering and sounds. Furthermore, they will also have to think about how they would structure their own writing. It is the kind of ongoing project that we want to try and instigate more of here at Wandsworth, that will offer massive benefits to the children as they move forward.
Adapting to and using the conditions has been a constant theme through our newsletters ever since we have hit the autumn period. The different weather and conditions that we experience through the year affects the kind of activities and free play the children embark on. Even from the simplest changes like moving into winter waterproofs and wearing gloves, the children show their ability to adapt both mentally and physically and approach the day in a different way. All of our children have loved the rain, and so we created a pulley system connected to the tarpaulin (or rain catcher), so that they could access the water for their own needs, like catching the water in buckets then adding to their cooking or potion mixtures for added effect. Sustainable and natural play!
Have a lovely evening everybody, see you next week!
Have a lovely weekend everybody, and see you next week!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth