Conkers. I’m collecting conkers!
Autumn has said it’s big hello this week with chilly mornings and showers dropping in some days. It brings with it new opportunities to learn and explore, and to see what extra exciting things the forest has to offer us!
The conkers have all been falling recently and have given the children plenty of fun this week. We have spent time using them as treasure, buried deep in the mud for the forest pirates to find. They have been used for counting and making them up to the chosen number, and they have been used to make different shapes. The children have enjoyed looking at the conkers in every form. We have looked at their big spikey shells, then their shiny brown outside, and last but not least their paleness inside. The children have looked at the different patterns on the conkers and the different colours on each part. Conkers are something that we take for granted as adults, walking past them in the autumn, but they can bring so much joy and fun to children!
Climbing has been a big part of our week in the forest and using ropes to help us. The children in Fox group spent time working out the best way to attach the ropes to trees so they could be used as climbing ropes. Working with the educators, the children had to figure out the best branch to attach them to as well as using the strongest knot so that they didn’t fall down. Using their strength, the children then were able to pull themselves up the rope to the highest point they could reach. This task showed off our Little Forest Folk-ers super strength, teamwork and determination - all skills which can be best shown in the forest!
Our children spent some time this week in the sunshine creating paint masterpieces. They started by mixing our bright powder paints with water to make it the perfect consistency for what they wanted, and then the artistic streak took over and created wonderful pieces of art! We had bright colours, shapes and patterns all over the paper which the children loved showing to their friends and educators around them. They practiced with different painting techniques and mixing different colours. The children moved onto printing with paints later and used objects around them to create different patterns on the page. We used leaves and sticks and looked at the shapes that these items could make. When it was all over, it was a lovely sight to see our pictures drying in the sunshine of the meadow and everyone liked pointing theirs out to their friends.
Autumn may be kicking in, but it just adds that extra bit of excitement in our day, watching the forest change depending on the weather and seeing the ways that our children find to entertain themselves and learn new things.
“Autumn leaves don't fall, they fly.”- Delia Owens
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon