Fireworks, adventure walks and bird calls
All Monday morning children were sharing the exciting things they did on the weekend, mostly including going to see fireworks. The children commented on the sounds, colours, and even smells that they experienced while watching fireworks. This encouraged educators to introduce activities around fireworks, we have been drawing them on chalk boards and painting onto card. We have also been exploring different sounds, and how we can recreate the sounds such as banging pot lids together.
This week one of the favourite activities has been adventure walks. There is so much to explore in the forest and there is an endless opportunity to learn. We have been very lucky to see so many mushrooms, so groups of children headed out into the forest with fungi swatch books. The children led the way searching for the mushrooms calling out to friends when they found them. Then they described them to one another using colours, sizes, and shapes. They could then work together with an educator to find the mushroom and find facts out about the fungi. Some children also described what they thought the mushroom looked like such as “cake”, “umbrella” and even “giraffe”! Adventure walks this week have also included a Womble hunt as well as hill climbing and troll finding.
Something the little foresters love is any forest skills. This week we have been lucky enough to try our hand at fire lighting using flint and steel. It is quite a hard skill to master, and it takes quite a lot of force, we are always amazed by how resilient and hardworking our children are. We have been practicing this a few times recently and some of the older children are now able to independently create sparks and light cotton balls, how amazing!
Mud kitchen play has continued to be a fantastic source of fun, imagination, and teamwork. Inspired by some new small spades we were introduced to a group of children who were potato farmers. They had to dig up all the potatoes then peel and cut them up to add to the stew. We also had children set up a restaurant as well as some using the equipment to turn into to drums. Good play continues off site while on our walk ins. The ice cream tree has now been turned in to a hot chocolate shop to accommodate the colder weather, but don’t worry if you ask there are still some ice creams available!
Something all the children have notice more of is bird calls. Often on our walk in we take moments to be silent and listen to the forest around us. We can hear small tweets to large calls, and together we are learning how to identify all the different sounds. What a great learning opportunity for children and educators alike.
To end the week, we have celebrated Remembrance Sunday. Using red and black paint we printed poppies on paper together making a large field of poppies.
Another fantastic week in Wimbledon!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon