Our Week in the Forest...
The warmer weather has seen an increase in the number of interesting animals coming out from hiding! The children have been very keen to go on mini-beast hunts this week and they were certainly rewarded! In addition to spiders, millipedes and worms we found not only a frog, but also a newt! Sam was lucky enough to catch the frog so that the children could take a closer look. We discussed how to handle it appropriately and Sam informed the children of the signs that may show the frog wanted to hop away, which we respected. We foresee this interest continuing in the weeks to come.
On Wednesday, Spike stretched his forest school muscles and built a fantastic fire with help from the children. Their interest in fires has not waned and we are building on this interest by cooking different foods on the fire, but also by incorporating more learning areas into what we are doing. The children have enjoyed writing lists and labels as they discuss what types of wood they will need to collect, which elements the fire needs to ignite, as well as whose turn it will be to join the fire circle next. We roasted bananas on the fire, which was a huge hit with the children - we’ll undoubtedly be doing this again!
Leia introduced a wonderful creative activity to the forest earlier in the week - bubble making and blowing. The children delighted in blowing through a device created using a small water bottle with the base cut off, with a sock wrapped around it secured with elastic bands. They simply dipped the end into the bubble mixture before blowing through to form long tubes of bubbles, or “Bubble snakes” as they were naming them! So, simple but endless fun!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon