A visit from the Mad Scientist, sawing tree cookies and going on adventure walks…these are just some of the incredible activities that we have had in the forest this week!
Our children are so excited every week when they know that the Mad Scientist is coming to visit. This week there was even more anticipation because the children had been told the week before that they were going to be making “elephant toothpaste”! They had been chatting about what the toothpaste would look like, how big it would be and that colour it would be all week, so when the day came to finally make it everyone was so thrilled! Everyone sat down and listened to the instructions given by the Mad Scientist and waited in anticipation as each ingredient was added. As the final part of the experiment was added, the children stepped back so that it was safe for everyone. Then with a countdown from 5, the magic happened! The colourful foam poured out of the water bottle, creating a giant tube of colour which was the toothpaste! Watching as children learn about and get involved with incredible science experiments is so much fun to watch. They were all really engaged and thrilled to be watching this amazing moment happen!
When we are not creating incredible science experiments, our children love getting back to their favourite thing - forest school activities! This week we have done sawing, whittling and had a colour changing fire. With every opportunity to use tools, our children thrive and learn more incredible skills. There aren’t many three-year-olds that can use a saw, but at Little Forest Folk we love being able to teach these kinds of skills early! Our children know how to hold the tools, what to do with them and especially how to respect them and the space we are using them in to keep safe. With the saw we cut pieces off an already broken branch and made some tree cookies. The children then used them as something to draw on. It was great to see how much control the children had over the saw and how much they focused on the task at hand.
The children also experienced a colour changing fire this week. Everyone helped to build the fire as usual, picking up the best sticks on the walk in. We then got the fire going, but this time Christie added a special packet which made the flames change into different colours! Everyone was amazed to see blue, green, and red flames and it prompted a lot of questions. Adding extra things to our normal fire was so much fun for our little explorers and made their already very special fires, even more spectacular!
We have had another fun and thrilling week at Wimbledon, and we can’t wait to see what next week brings!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon