Our forest is always the hub of excitement and fun, and this week has been no different. We have had so many amazing activities for our children to take part in and they have loved sharing these with their friends.
One of our amazing activities this week has been making stick rafts. With the help of one of our amazing educators, Imogen, we collected small sticks together and laid them flat next to each other. Once they were next to each other we used some thin rope to tie the ends together. The children made sure the raft was secure and then looked for places to test out how well they could float. We found some large puddles, all thanks to the rain from the night before, and put our rafts on the top. To the delight of all of us the rafts floated, and our children were so excited to watch them sail around the puddles. To extend this activity our children then wanted to find other ways for our rafts to move around and spotted a large black tube. They put this at the edge of the puddle, with their rafts at the top, and poured water down. The rafts flew down the tube and splashed into the puddle. It was such a great way for our children to test out their predictions and work on problem solving.
Linking with tying the knots on our rafts, the children have also shown a keen interest in trying out different knots from our new knot book. They sat and looked at each knot and the picture instructions that were given, and then tried themselves. Watching as they figured out how to put the pictures into reality was such an interesting thing to observe. They were all so independent and wanted to have a go by themselves to see if they could do it. Sometimes it happened straight away, but with the trickier knots it took a few more attempts. That is one of the amazing things about our Little Forest Folk-ers, they are so willing to try everything as many times as possible until they achieve their desired outcome.
Yet again the fire was a huge hit with our children this week. One of the best things is how involved our children are with the forest school activities that take place. We tell the children in the morning which activities are going to happen, and they are then aware throughout the day of what is to come. On the walk in our children collect the firewood needed and they carry it all the way to the forest site. Then when the afternoon comes, it’s time for the fire. This week we were lucky enough to make s’mores! Each child toasted their own marshmallow, following the rules of the fire, and checked to see if it was cooked enough. Then we put the toasted marshmallows between two biscuits for an amazing treat!
These activities are such an incredible way for our children to learn new and important skills, which they will take on to later life.
The forest constantly offers new opportunities to learn and to develop already existing skills. Every day is a day to learn when you’re in the forest!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon