Here at LFF Wandsworth, we like to think we are eco conscious here and whilst we remind children of the importance of looking after the planet regularly, this week’s World Recycling Day was as good a time as any to continue the message. The Ecobrick bottles continue to be a success and so far, we have captured almost half a kilo of plastic! This has been made up of our own plastic waste as well as some of the pieces we have found littering the forest and we are excited about continuing this activity. The tangible results make it all worthwhile and the deeper understanding that we are helping all the little creatures we share the world with is great to see in the children. Over the past few weeks, we have introduced a new book to the setting called “Clean Up” by Nathan Byron and Dapo Adeola, which everyone has loved. This book follows their award winning first book and they have a third on the way that we are all looking forward to; we’d certainly recommend them!
Looking after nature is important, but working with it is a must too, and this week Green Team were able to see the effects of controlled scrub burning on a colossal 2-hour adventure walk. Inquisitive minds pondered why everything had been burnt and educators helped to answer all the excellent questions. Jamie found a ginormous burnt log which prompted a science lesson about how charcoal is formed. Jamie then carried this weighty piece all the way back, which Sam then sawed into perfect sizes for charcoal drawing. The children have since had a wonderfully messy opportunity to use these pieces on cardboard, alongside chalk and loved the process of mixing the shades into each other with fingers, thumbs and hands.
The charcoal has also been used to decorate parts of Green Teams brand new Mud Kitchen house/shop/cafe which was made by Simon and Sam on Monday using pallets and planks. This now means that both Red and Green team have a place they can turn into anything their minds want, and these areas have been a great hit with the children. The flat wooden surfaces have provided the perfect spaces for using chalk and charcoal. This gives younger children the room to move the drawing tools in all directions to their delight, has given other children the space to practice those more controlled movements that are the precursor to letters and number forming, and finally has helped the eldest discover ways to form their favourite letters and numbers.
All in all, another great week here at Little Forest Folk Wandsworth, and with Spring officially starting on Saturday 20th March, there’s lots more to look forward to. Have a great weekend everyone!
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth