Our Week in the Forest...
What do Michelangelo, da Vinci, Botticelli and the Little Forest Folk of Wimbledon have in common? They are all rather skilled in the alchemy of making paint. Due to children’s interest in making paint with the blackberries, this week they were invited to turn their hands to the Renaissance technique of making egg tempera paint. This also provided a fantastic opportunity for big and Little Forest Folk to talk about ratio (how many drops of colour to each egg yolk?) as well as developing the dexterity it takes to crack the egg then separate the yolk and whites. There may have been the occasional accident that resulted in Xiao and Katherine wearing egg stains but you can’t make a fine omelette without breaking eggs and practice makes perfect. They had great fun being let loose with the materials and mixing the colours and making some interesting masterpieces. This even provoked some children to return to their interest of making paint with the berries but this time experimenting and testing out new ideas such as adding water, testing the consistency, evaluating the results and problem solving with a few handfuls of mud when their berry to water ratios where not perfect.
The children have also enjoyed cooking on the fire this week and were active participants in preparing roasted peppers and as a little treat afterwards – chocolate bananas! Not only were our Little Forest Folk amazing at making these disappear but they also make sure to share the rules about keeping yourself safe around a fire with our holiday campers.
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon