Leaves are all around us at the moment, as the trees shed their golden coats to form a wonderful blanket on the floor. The children at Wimbledon have absolutely loved using the leaves for so many different activities and seeing what fun and exciting things they can do with them. It has also been nice to take some time out to look at the leaves, feel the leaves and listen to the amazing sounds that they can make below our feet. The children have really been engaging with the nature around them this week and have loved looking at the many incredible gifts that the forest has to offer.
One of the exciting activities this week was whittling. The children went off to find the perfect stick to use which they could take the outer layers off and reveal what was underneath. The children sat and listened as the instructions were given about how to use the peelers and what safety things we needed to follow to make sure no one would get hurt. Everyone listened with such focus and made sure to follow all the instructions were given. Once they began to whittle the children noticed the different colours that were under the outer layers of bark, and they spoke about why they were different. Not only did this activity teach our children the great skill of whittling, but also about sticks and bark and what is inside a tree.
Using sticks to make magic wands was another fun activity this week at Wimbledon. The children spent some finding the perfect stick to use as their wand and then spent time using different coloured string to wrap around their wand. This really gave the children time to sit and focus on something that they would be able to use in different ways after and take home. The children used it to help enhance their imaginative play and found different spells to use with it, and some had it as a wonderful addition to their forest day. It was something for them to be proud of and share with others, yet again with the basis of it being made from something that we find around us every day.
Another activity this week that really engaged the children in the forest was bird spotting. Using a sheet with pictures and names of birds on, the children went exploring around our site to see if they could find them. They also used the time to listen for the different sounds of the birds and link them to the birds on the page. We have been lucky enough to witness 3 buzzards flying around our forest recently and the children came to the conclusion that they must have a nest nearby, so we then spoke about the size that the nest would need to be for the bird to fit in. This then led to a conversation about other birds around and the sizes of them. These activities really lead onto some big conversations for our forest explorers, and it helps them to gain more understanding of the wonderful environment we are lucky enough to spend everyday in.
It has been a week full of thoughtful activities. The children have learnt more about their magical forest. They have found time to share with their thoughts with their friends and find out new information that they may not have known before. Autumn is a great time in the forest as it gives us time to reflect on the changes that happen, but at the same time we can welcome in the new season.
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon