Nature the best teacher!
Our week in the forest
Water, water everywhere, and plenty of drops to taste! And leaves, leaves everywhere, with plenty to make a house! Whatever the forest (and weather!) has thrown at us this week, the children have responded with resilience and incredible imagination. We’ve had wild winds, drenching downpours and soggy swamps but nothing has deterred the children from their play and learning amongst the trees.
Adventure walks have taken different focuses this week with ducks and dragons being key. On walking to the pond, we saw ripples made by raindrops and the circles were wonderful for the children to watch. Although there weren’t any ducks at the pond, it allowed the children to develop new thoughts and ideas around ponds and bring these into their play. Despite the absence of ducks, there were dragons a-plenty through the forest in the form of trees and branches. Some of the children were even bold enough to sit on one of the dragons:
“I did go on the dragon. I ran away from the dragon. There was lots of dragons and gruffalos!”
“Going on the swings” has always been a favourite pastime for the children but this week has seen a real surge in interest around all of our swings. Some of our newer children have challenged themselves in trying to independently get onto the round, wooden swing as it is trickier. With this came some delightful teachers from the other children, to teach the finer points of getting going with this swing. Soon the staff will be unnecessary! Those waiting for the swings were very patient and are developing cooperative play with the others waiting – at one point two children were sat simply laughing along with each other because they just loved to laugh.
Fun in the forest
Building dens is a fantastic way to explore and use the resources of the forest. With some initial structures being put in place, our children have become master craftsmen in constructing houses and dens that provided endless opportunities for almost every child in the forest: families lived in them, police used them as stations and some children used it simply as a tree house to invite others in.
News
Christmas Party
Monday 19th December
LAST CHANCE to RSVP for our Christmas Forest Party... if you've missed our invite or would like any more information get in touch with Carly: carly@littleforestfolk.com or call on: 07707 545913
Stir it up fundraising
The children had lots of fun helping to mix up our huge batches of mincemeat last week, we will be selling our delicious jars of mincemeat to raise money for Crisis homeless charity this Christmas, to support us or find out where to collect your jar.
Each jar will be filled with delicious handmade mincemeat, complete with wishes from all the children...That’s what makes it so magical! Read more about Stir it up - Fundraising for Crisis.
Reminders
Little Forest Folk will be closed for Christmas between 26th December and 3rd January.
If you missed Leanna's latest blog post you can read it here: Why we're not sending Jack to school yet - One last hurrah!
Here is the link to our Justgiving page to buy a jar or two of our magical mincemeat made with teeny tiny hands.
When dropping off at Barham road car park please try not to allow your children into the very deep puddles in the forest car park in the mornings. We know this can be difficult but it would really help with the number of clothing changes we have to do first thing.
What to wear
The weather next week is going to get colder as we head for December. Children should be dressed in lots of layer with plenty of spare clothing.
Check out our recommended winter kit list HERE
Team Update
Stephanie will be away on annual leave next week, please contact our Deputy Manager Phil with any queries.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon