Counting, creating and climbing- all in a day’s work in the forest!
We have had another fun filled week here at Wimbledon, with an abundance of activities taking place every day. Yet again the weather has not been our best friend with grey skies and some quick showers, but this doesn’t deter from any of the exciting things that we have going on!
Building obstacle courses has been a big focus in each of our groups this week. Whether it be using logs, pallets or ropes, the children have found new and creative ways to make things that they can climb and jump over. These new obstacles meant that the children could test out their balancing skills and show how confident they have become in their abilities. The obstacle courses also meant that there was a lot of teamwork happening. We had to take it in turns on the climbing ropes and jumping off of the logs, and everyone was cheering their friends on to reach that little bit higher or add that one extra log to their jumping stack. These little challenges showed so many amazing skills from our children and the resilience they have to keep on trying.
Another activity that the children have enjoyed doing this week is painting and drawing. One of our groups spent some time making nature pictures by painting leaves that we found on the floor and stamping them onto paper. We looked at the different patterns on each leaf, which led to conversations about other patterns that we see around us in nature. We looked at the patterns on the tree bark, the different patterns and colours on stones, and even some of the patterns we saw on creatures around us. We have also been experimenting with colours and looking at how mixing colours creates new shades or colours entirely. The children have then noticed how the forest around us has so many different colours and we have looked at the different coloured flowers on our walk in, or the different shades of grass throughout the entire meadow.
The children have also been very interested in numbers this week. Through picking stones on walk ins, we have been able to use them as counting props and tools to look at shapes. Using logs for snack circles has also been a way of the children showing their counting skills and working out how many logs we need for the amount of children in our group. One of the groups has also been taking part in bug hunts where we have a list of different creatures and we check off how many we can find on our list. Our Little Forest Folkers have shown a real interest in learning new numbers and have shown that maths comes in many different forms.
As we are coming towards the end of some of our children’s time in the forest, the discussions about school have been happening and everyone has been excited to share their next chapter with their friends. There have been chats on different colour uniforms, what things you need to take to school and how their school might be a bit different to the forest. It’s wonderful to see how much being in the forest has impacted the children’s lives and how they have grown so much in the time they have been here. Whatever their next chapters bring, I’m sure they will always have a bit of the forest with them!
“Everything you can imagine is real”
Pablo Picasso
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon