Ladybirds, butterflies and toasty fires... a busy week at Wimbledon!
It has been another busy and exciting week at Wimbledon this week! The sun has been shining, the birds have been singing and the baby bunnies have been hopping around on the meadow. Our children have really noticed the new things that have started to pop up, even the change in the sizes of the leaves and the blossoms that are growing on the trees. With a constant urge to want to discover new beginnings in the forest, our explorers are always on the hunt for something that they haven’t seen before.
This week the discovery of some ladybirds that have found their home on the stinging nettles took the interest of our children. Every day on our walk in they stop to see how many ladybirds they can count, and how many spots there are on each bug. This starts a whole conversation about numbers and different amounts of things around us. Some of our children have taken to challenging themselves to see how many of each different creature that they can see, such as finding two ladybirds and then trying to find two butterflies. Conversations like this also led to talking about colours and the patterns on the bugs. We talk about the shapes and the marks that we can see, and this is such a great way for our children to enhance their shape language.
Some of our children have shown a real interest in different jobs this week. There have been discussions about what different people do for work, and one of the big interests was doctors. Our Little Forest Folk-ers have a real awareness of the variety of jobs that adults can have and which ones they think they would like. Doctors are talked about a lot in the children’s play, with a lot of imaginary play based around that occupation. The children have been taking it in turns to be the patients and doctors, helping each other to get better. Whilst playing their games the children have been asking about all the different things that doctors have to do to help people, and then incorporate this into their games. Our children have really taken on board the information they hear, and it’s lovely to watch them use it in their play.
Having a fire is always such an exciting time for our children, and this week we were lucky enough to have Katarina make a fire. The children all asked for us to have toast on the fire, and so that’s what we did! Before the fire is even made our children help to collect the sticks that we will need on the walk into the forest. They carry them all the way in making sure they are nice and dry so they fire will work well. When it gets to the time of the fire nothing happens until we go through our fire circle rules… We talk about the importance of listening to the instructions given by educators at the fire circle and making sure we always walk around the edge of the circle to not get hurt.
Finally, it’s time for everyone to take their seat. The fire slowly starts to burn, and everyone watches with excitement. Katarina placed bread on the fire and the children watched to see when it was ready, and then one by one they were called up to collect their toast. Watching the excitement on their faces and seeing how much the children learn from having these fires is so amazing. They retain so much information about how fires are made and the three elements that they need to make a fire, and then love to share their knowledge with those around them.
Yet again we have had another week full of excitement and fun. Our children are constantly learning new skills and information which they can take home with them and share with others. The happiness and excitement on their faces when they find something that they love and enjoy is such a great thing to see and is just one of the many reasons why the forest is such an incredible place for us all to be!
We hope you all have wonderful bank holiday weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon