When you walk into our forest site at Wimbledon you are overwhelmed by the yellow buttercups that cover the meadow, the fresh grass that is growing everywhere and the bees buzzing from flower to flower. It is a hive of activity at this time of year and watching our children enjoy it every day is such a joy!
This week we have been so busy! There have been different activities every day for all of our children to take part in, ranging from hammering nails to making big crowns. We also had another visit from the Mad Scientist this week and he showed us how to make rockets! It’s been such a fun week!
Whenever the children are told that the Mad Scientist is making a visit everyone gets so excited. This time he was showing us how to make rockets that blast off into the sky. The children all made their own rockets using old plastic bottles, decorated with paint and rocket wings. When it came to blast off time the children all gathered together to listen to the Scientists instructions about how this experiment would work. They added some baking soda into the bottles and then poured in some vinegar. Then they put a cork into the top of the bottle and turned it upside down. The pressure then made the rockets explode into the sky as everyone watched in awe! The children spoke about why some of the rockets flew higher than others and what we could do next time to make them go even higher. It was a great way for the children to really think about what was happening and to get them asking questions about science! We always love it when the Mad Scientist makes a visit to the forest!
When the weather is this amazing it’s the perfect time to practice some of our forest skills, and this week we did some hammering. The children sat and listened as some of the educators explained exactly how the children were going to use the hammers and nails, talking through all the safety points. We made sure that everyone wore goggles and safety gloves and explained why we had to wear these when using tools. The children discussed the importance of wearing the goggles and gloves, telling us it was so we didn’t get hurt. Then when they had the chance to hit the nails, they all focused so hard, making sure they were getting the nail to go into the wood as much as possible. Some children got it straight away, and others took a bit more time, but no one gave up. Everyone who had a turn persisted until they got the outcome they wanted, and this comes from the way we encourage the children at Little Forest Folk to not give up. They know that they can try for as long or as short amount of time as they want, just as long as they have enjoyed what they are doing.
We had a new delivery in the forest this week and the children were so excited by the cardboard that the delivery came in. They asked what the cardboard could be used for and chose different uses for it. One of the ideas that came out of the discussions was to make a forest shop. The children found a place to put the giant piece of cardboard and then decorated the front exactly how they wanted to. Once the front of the shop was ready, we also made a list of items that the shop sold. Everything was on their list from chocolate bars to plates. The children also decided on a price for every item which meant there was a lot of discussion about numbers. This activity covered so many different areas from mark making to number language, and it gave the children so many different things to think about. It was lovely to watch everyone have an input into this game and share their time with each other, but most importantly having so much fun!
There is always so much for our explorers to get involved in whilst at the forest, with something for all of the children to enjoy. We have so many personalities in the forest but there is something to suit everyone. It is incredible to watch as the children adapt their play to their surroundings that day. They use the trees for so many different activities or will find something to do with planks of wood or large logs. The meadow is used as a place to run or to find lots of different bugs. The mud makes the best cakes, or even a lovely writing surface. There is no end to how much their imagination can come up with, and the forest is the best place to let your imagination run wild!
“Imagination is your mind’s playground.” ~ Vince Gowmon
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon