Our Week in the Forest...
The beauty of a child led style of education is that so many different things determine the direction of the learning – it may be a particular book the children are interested in, a picture of someone on their holidays, a TV programme or the weather. This week we had a wonderfully windy week which provided a theme and our Little Forest Folk-ers carried out lots of activities to investigate the direction and strength of the wind.
Bubbles are always a favourite in the forest and this week these have been used to show the children the direction of the wind. This led to lots of discussions about how the wind can change direction quickly, swirl, blow strongly and then die down. Not only was it fun to watch the bubbles dance in the wind but it was even more fun to try and catch them!
We have also experimented with the children by hanging different things from trees. We used feathers, leaves, stones and sticks and watched whether they blew lots in the wind or only a little. The children then set off on a scavenger hunt to collect their own resources and we made tally charts to count the number of feathers, sticks, leaves and stones that had been collected. It didn’t take the children long to realise that the sticks and stones didn’t blow in the wind as much as the leaves and feathers.
The children have also been fascinated by the clouds. We enjoyed a peaceful, reflective moment on Wednesday when we placed a rug on the ground for all the children to lie on. We then watched the clouds and observed just how quickly they were moving, discussing how high they were and what they might feel like.
We have continued to create and decorate our own kites (with varying degrees of success) before running around camp. One of the skills we try to develop is an ability to assess and evaluate. The children chose whatever sticks they want for their kites, but it was only after a few tries they began to realise bigger sticks didn’t necessarily mean better kites.
On weeks like this we are reminded of how fortunate we are to be outside, experiencing the elements first hand. It provides such a tangible, real learning experience that will not only be memorable for the day, but for a significant period after.
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth