December has set in and the weather has turned colder, but there is nothing more fun than running around in the winter sunshine in our forest!
We have kept ourselves busy and warm this week with so many fun activities and games for everyone to join in with. There have been craft activities and building games for everyone to keep busy with.
Our children have shown a real interest in letters and words this week. We have had the laminated letters out and the children in bunny group have loved spending time making words. The children would take it in turns to choose a letter and we would say words that started with that letter. It was lovely to watch them work together to figure out which words everyone knew.
Our foxes love reading stories all the time, and this week was no different. They have spent time reading different stories with each other remembering different lines and parts of the story that they knew. Our children love to discuss the stories that they know and remember, taking time to talk through them with their friends.
We have also been very creative and have enjoyed using the different materials around them to make different things. One of the big things we have enjoyed making this week is flying creatures. Imogen worked with the children to draw and cut out birds and butterflies and then each child coloured them in as they wanted. Once they were ready, then had a stick attached and they were able to move the stick up and down to move the wings. The children found it amazing working out how to move the wings and creating different patterns and movements with what they had made.
Everyone’s physical abilities came out this week too. The fox group spent a lot of time moving the logs and tyres around the meadow. They used all of their strength to move the items around, testing the best ways to do so. We had lifting, pushing and carrying to find the most efficient way to transport everything. The children realised that if they worked together then it would get done faster and so discussed it between themselves to see what was the best thing to do. They showed how teamwork made things easier and they helped everyone.
Some of our children have also been on some very exciting adventure walks this week, one which was very Christmassy. Our children found a tree that had fallen down and the base of it looked like a star! Everyone was very excited to look at all the different Christmassy things they could find, and eventually found a Christmas tree hidden in the depths of the forest. It’s built up everyone excitement for the forthcoming weeks and it then leads on to the children talking about other holidays and celebrations in their house. Sharing their experiences with each other is something that helps the children build strong relationships and makes them even closer.
It’s been a lovely winters week and everyone has found fun and creative ways to keep warm. We can’t wait to see what the rest of this season brings for us, but we always know that no day in the Forest is the same.
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon