It’s been a week full of exciting adventures in the forest! We have been spending lots of time looking at and picking the blackberries in the forest, finding different ways to use them. We have also been building things out of recycling, making all manner of things from boats to lion masks. It’s been so great to watch the children think about what they can do with all the different items around them.
One of the exciting activities that the children had a go at this week was recycling construction. As we walked onto the meadow, we noticed that there had been a tarp set up full of different pieces of recycling. There were boxes, tubes, and tins, along with string and scissors. Some of the children had an idea to make a tin can telephone which they said they had seen in a book. So, one of our educators used a hammer to make a whole in each can, and then working together our children tied some string in the cans. They then spread out and one child put the can to their ear while the other child spoke into the other one. It was such a fun experiment for them, and everyone took turns to have a conversation with their friends.
Some of the other children have been super arty this week. One activity we have loved is rock painting, on the walk-ins we looked for good rocks using description words such as round, smooth and shiny. Then once on site we got to paint them, experimenting with mixing colours to create new colours. Once all painted, we left the rocks to dry in the sun. This week we have also been engaging in lots of drawing inspired by all the beauty in the forest. One child drew many trees while others painted strawberries.
We have also been using some of the over ripened blackberries as paint. The children have been squashing the blackberries and then using different objects as paintbrushes. They have been making patterns using sticks and stones to press onto paper, which has led to a lot of talk about shapes. We have used words such as; long, circle shape and wiggly lines. It’s so great to see the children uses words and phrases like this when describing the things they do in the forest.
It’s been such a great week, full of incredible activities. Our children have loved sharing their forest with some holiday campers, showing them through the routine of our day and what we do every day in our forest. It’s so lovely to see how excited they are to share what they do and what they enjoy!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon