Our Week in the Forest...
Big sticks are brilliant! Our children have really been using their muscles this week as they have shown great interest in big sticks and branches. They were used for all manner of different things: large tent poles making cosy spaces for children to play in and out of; barriers preventing people going across pathways, for fun as well as for safety; paper weights (although the branches were big enough to hold down several reams of paper!) to prevent a few sheets blowing away; walking sticks; and, when piled together, hotels for visiting insects!
Making use of the natural environment as much as possible is something that we’re very passionate about at Little Forest Folk. With that in mind, the children learned some new bush craft skills this week when they made their own cord from nettles! Following a multi-step process, the children stripped the nettles of their leaves, removed unwanted parts of the plant and left the remaining sections to dry. This they then twisted together and voila! Nettle cord! The children worked brilliantly together, teaching each other the techniques needed to get the parts of the nettles that were useful and ensuring that all of the stinging parts were thoroughly removed.
With full plates and bowls, the children really got involved in forest cooking this week, using tried and tested ingredients as well as few new ones. On Thursday, ‘pretty’ mud cakes were being baked by our little chefs using petals from different flowers (the buttercups are thriving all over the meadow currently) and the addition of the petals also drew in some wonderful, spontaneous mathematics from the children, counting each petal as they were placed lovingly into pots and pans!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon