As the summer slowly ends and autumn begins, we are always amazed by the forest changes and love exploring our surroundings. Something we have been seeing a lot of this week has been mushrooms; we find them growing on our walk-ins, on-site and even on adventure walks. Especially with all our new little ones we make sure to remind them of the no picking and no licking rule, and about how some mushrooms can be dangerous. Then we get to exploring; the educators support the foresters in identifying the mushrooms using swatch books and apps on our phones. It is so fascinating finding out all about the fungi we find and learning the names. Children are quick to implement their amazing imagination, identifying what the mushrooms look like from ‘Gruffalo’s feet’ to ‘giraffes’.

This week we have also been enjoying sensory play. Both groups have been making gloop by mixing cornflour and water together. This makes an amazing texture that hardens when touched. Other sensory play has included using jelly, adding food colouring to water, and making magic sand!

At Wimbledon there is plenty of opportunities to test physical strength from climbing to running. This week we have set up obstacle courses for the children to engage in. There has been balancing across narrow planks, jumping between logs, and even constructing their own courses once having had a few goes on the ones already made.

What a fantastic week at Wimbledon!

Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon