We have all been loving the excitement that the forest can bring at this time of year. With the weather constantly changing, each day shows us something new. The different coloured leaves have been glowing in the autumn sunshine, with the odd shower adding a few droplets on top of them.
Our children have been fascinated with numbers and counting this week. We used our large wooden number board to find the different amounts of items. We then used the “Counting in the Countryside” book to also look at the different things that we can count outside. We have been counting leaves, sticks and the muddy puddles that we see on our walk in. The children have been interested to look at the numbers in written form as well as with the objects that they count. It’s a great way for our children to gain an understanding of numbers and figures and how they are a part of our everyday life.
Everyone has been getting very creative this week too. Children in our bunny group have been making crowns using card as the base and adding on bits they find in the forest. There have been leaves added, twigs and anything else that the children thought would be fit for a member of forest royalty.
Our fox group have also been busy this week spending some time making some paper aeroplanes to fly around the forest. Once they were formed, the children then took time to add colour on them and add decoration. It wasn’t just looking at how creative we could be, but this also taught our children about heights, speed and construction so they could build something that would fly through the air. It was amazing to watch how intently they focused on this to make sure their plane flew as far and as fast as it could.
Both of our groups have enjoyed putting their physical skills to the test and making different obstacle courses this week. We have been using logs and planks to make balance beams and then having logs at the other end to jump on to. Some of our children have also enjoyed making see-saws, taking it in turns to push each other up and down and seeing how high they could get. These activities within the forest help our children to work together as a team and share their ideas with each other, not only creating friendships but also helping our children gain confidence in themselves.
Recently we have had two new arrivals in the forest. They are slightly smaller than our children but have made a very big impact, and I want you to all know a little more about them. Introducing Mr “Rusty” Foxy and Bertie Bunny, our team mascots. Each of our groups has a mascot and our children have been very welcoming to them. They have chosen their names and taken it in turns to spend some time with the animals. We have brought these in to help our children with rules, activities and snack times. They sit with us whilst eating our food and we talk through the importance of eating. We also talk about what each of our animal friends favourite foods is. Mr Foxy loves our slow cooked beans with a wholemeal roll, and Bertie Bunny’s favourite is, of course, the carrot and coconut soup!
Our new friends also help us go through our forest rules and show our rule tree cookies to the children. This gives them an understanding of how we keep safe in the forest, but in more of a fun way.
Our children have loved using different areas of the forest for exploring and spending time with their forest friends this week. They have taken time to be creative, to think and to share their ideas with their friends. It’s been amazing to watch as each child grows in confidence as each week passes.
“There’s nothing more contagious than the laughter of young children; it doesn’t even have to matter what they’re laughing about.”-Anon
We hope you all have lovely weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon