OUR WEEK IN THE FOREST...
Who Goes There?
Knights, trains, superheroes, mud-ball makers, singers, writers, bear hunters, potion mixers, mummies, daddies, babies, bees, butterflies, cookers and bakers. And children. These are some, not all, of the things the children have imagined themselves to be this week in the forest. Mixtures of wonderful ideas and props have triggered all of this magnificent play and the children have had a spectacular week in whatever they wished to do.
With the rain and the warming of the earth, mud has been a very abundant material in the forest. This hasn’t gone unnoticed by the children and great groups of them have begun manufacturing (almost daily now) their own mud-balls! These were initially thrown willy-nilly around the site but once the makers realised that not everyone was interested in playing with the mud, they channelled their efforts into distance throwing competitions over the nursery fence! Thankfully this was only into the nettles and brambles.
Often for our children, the forest appears to melt away and become something altogether different. With trains in mind, the meadow become the vast network of railway stations and trains that criss-cross London! The children had fantastic discussions about the different stations they know and placed themselves all over the meadow once they’d decided whether they were Waterloo, Paddington or even the local station, Wimbledon! Other children then transformed themselves into trains to run around between all of the various stations, stopping at red lights, going at green, and making sure that there aren’t any crashes!
Getting out the saucepans, bowls, cups and colanders has turned the extra water in the forest into splendid excuses for some cookery role-play. Using the different pans gave the children a chance to experiment with quantities of liquid and observe some of its properties such as it’s flow and ability to fit into so many different containers. The colanders were quite impressive for the children to observe the water coming through the many holes and it allowed the children to realise that the colander was not an ideal container for the transporting of water! Using the potion bottles allowed the children to make their cooking a little more magical and seeing the reactions of adults and children when they’ve swallowed the concoctions brought many a big smile and giggle to those around.
A lovely addition to this week has been the children’s noticing of the animals. They have spotted birds using an RSPB guide (children with clipboards is a brilliant sight) and our first frog of the year! The children were mystified with the frog and then pretended that they had all caught their own, releasing them into the stream nearby.
Food in the forest:
We have some new additions for our February menu, which can be found on our website HERE
New dinner:
Moroccan Roast Chicken with Lemon, Olives and Cous Cous
Whole chickens, roasted with fresh herbs, lemon, olive oil, salt & pepper. Roasted slowly until the meat falls off the bone. The cous cous is cooked with the marigold vegetable stock and sliced olives. We also add all the lemony, savoury cooking juices from roasting the chickens. Next, we mix the chicken through the cous cous with fresh coriander and add a little more lemon and seasoning if needed.
We hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon
