Our Week in the Forest...
Feed the Birds....Tuppence a Bag!
At the end of last week, our Little Forest Folk-ers had become pretty fascinated with a bird of prey that had perched in a high branch of a tree near their snack circle. They have also been equally as interested in the Robins and small birds that are bravely stepping closer and closer to the snack circle waiting for a fruity morsel to hit the floor. With that in mind, we gave children the opportunity to follow this interest this week and make bird food.
The "bird food kitchen' opened on Monday and children placed lard in mixing bowls, adding in spoons of bird seed and juicy raisins and could choose to mix and mash the mixture with a spoon or get their hands into the bowl to squeeze the mixture all together. One child, while handling the lard said, "It looks like clouds". The mixture was rolled into balls and placed inside bird feeders but the children also got the chance to make their own feeders using recycled yogurt pots and string, as well as pine cones. This is a great chance to get them involved in caring for living things that share their forest, conservation of species as well as igniting a passion for bird watching. However, while the birds decided to wait for twilight to visit the food, the children did spot a family of hungry squirrels who devoured handfuls of their feathery friend’s snack!
Holiday camp saw a lot of familiar faces returning as older siblings joined in with the fun of splashing in mud and joining in with adventure walks. We also had one older sibling become the resident face paint artist and after helping turn many children into cheetahs, tigers and lions, they turned their attentions to educators and Brandon was finally initiated into the Forest Folk Community by offering his face as a fresh canvas that children could pile paint and glitter glue onto!
A group of children and educators packed a backpack with lunch and headed out for an extended adventure walk to spot signs of Spring. They came across a patch of land that was carpeted with milky white snowdrop flowers, trees that have embellished their winter branches with catkins and a solitary bumblebee who was sat on a log bathing in the beautiful sunshine. The group found a nice sunny area to sit and enjoy their lunch. The walk had consolidated the children's understanding that the forest if full of emerging life at this time of year and we all have to do our part to help protect and nurture this life. The children returned on-site and helped put boundaries around the daffodil shoots and a smaller gathering of snowdrops that had popped up near the bramble.
We hope our families have enjoyed the February half term and we look forward to more fun and adventures next week!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon