As the mud begins to clear in the Wimbledon forest lots of exciting things begin to happen. Daffodils blooms, little bunnies come out to explore and trees regrow their leaves. But perhaps the most exciting thing of all is we get to play in spaces we have not been able to use all winter, and wow is there so many new play opportunities. A favourite has been the imagination tree which we can play in again. Here children can climb, balance and swing down. As it is named there is also fantastic opportunities for imagination play here from pirates to builders, to families of cats. It is amazing how quickly children adapt back to old spaces they recognise and how they can play anywhere.
Further with the mud clearing we have been on adventure walks to see how the forest is changing. It is amazing seeing areas that just a few weeks ago we could not walk through filled with greenery. On one walk we found ducks in a small area of wetland, it was fascinating looking at their different feathers and seeing them paddle around. We have also taken a trip to the beech tree forest and piggy train, firm favourites among our little ones.
There has been a very exciting visitor to the forest this week- a tree surgeon. Children watched in awe as he climbed high and began cutting dead wood down from the trees. We were also very lucky that some of the fallen trees were cut up in to logs. Working together the children collected some of these logs and delivered them around site in our wagons. We have new logs for snack circle and for play. Some logs have become tables for the house while others have made the perfect base for seesaws. We continue to be amazed by how much creativity our children have using such little resources.
With some warmer weather we have been engaging in more sensory play including cornflour, play dough, rice, and chia seeds. This is a great opportunity for children to explore different textures and colours, as well as engage in construction.
The forest week has been full of adventure and teamwork, what an incredible time we have had at Wimbledon!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon