Our week in the forest

As the mist clears over the meadow, enchanted children can be seen playing hither and thither amongst the brambles and willows of Fishpond Woods. These rare little forest folk thrive and laugh as they wade through streams, clamber through the trees and sit watching the flickering flames of a warming fire. Our week has been one of constant exploration and entering of new territory, without even leaving our site!

Twice this week we’ve had new folk enter our forest to do some filming for our website and as expected, they left in awe of the children and their magnificent imaginations and inventive play. We had butterflies and cats flying and prowling through the forest thanks to an array of beautiful face paintings and splendid animal hats (thank you parents for these as they really give the children marvellous role playing ideas!). An adventure walk went off in hunt of trolls and thankfully all the children came back …and were smiling.

Taking home a piece of the forest is always a fantastic treat for some children, above and beyond the usual treasure they find of sticks, stones and leaves – pockets full sometimes! With the added need of keeping warm, the children have really relished doing some sawing, both for the purpose of presents for others as well as cutting chunks of branches for themselves. The desire to saw was so strong that it didn’t worry the children that they weren’t able to keep the pieces they cut, and this is wonderful to see that the children can enjoy an activity for the activity, not just because they get something out of it.

More and more the swamp is drawing children into it to explore, investigate and just have fun in. It offers the children the opportunity to break new terrain and see into something that was so inaccessible in the summer time. There has been lots to discover for the children: huge prickled plants (bull thistle) which are far bigger than those commonly found on the meadow; deep boggy puddles which the children have bridged with spare wood to make them passable; and new trees ideal for climbing over, under and around. Winter is so often seen as the season where everything is taken away (leaves, warmth, dry paths) but for the children in the forest, it’s a season that gives so much as well.

News

Stir it up fundraising

There's still time to reserve your jars of mincemeat via our Justgiving page!

Reserve yours now

All proceeds will go to Crisis to help the homeless at Christmas.

Reminders

We have been busy planning for our Christmas Forest Party on Monday 19th December and look forward to seeing you there!

Reminders will be sent out next week, any quesions do contact Carly: carly@littleforestfolk.com

Please do all note that Little Forest Folk will be closed on Friday 6th January for an inset day which is a time for planning and essential staff training.

What to wear

Keep those ears and little fingers toasty in hats and gloves.

Check out our recommended winter kit list.

Team Update

We are excited to announce that from January we will be launching after school clubs in Hollymount Primary School, run by Nikki. Those of you with Hollymount siblings will be able to book them into our forest school fun via the usual after school booking system at Hollymount.
Nikki will therefore be reducing her days in the forest from January but hopefully you will all have a chance to still catch her cheery face often!

We hope you have a great weekend.

Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon