With the colder days arriving in the forest the children have been taking inspiration from the changing season. We have been looking at the different festivities that happen around this time of year, and this has inspired so many of our activities this week. We have looked at fireworks night, harvest, and autumn animals. It’s been a week full of fun!
When we asked the children if they knew what was happening at the end of this week, they all said “Fireworks!”. This led to so much discussion about what fireworks look like, what they sound like and most importantly our children spoke about how to be safe around them. They used our ‘walk around the edge’ rule because they said there will be fire and we cannot walk near a fire. They also said that adults must do the fireworks because that’s safer. This then led to children to taking part in an activity where they could paint their own fireworks. We used the inside of a kitchen roll and cut parts at the end to give it ‘spikes’. We then dipped this in paint and printed it on the paper. Using different colours gave the amazing effect of it looking like a firework. The children loved creating their own bonfire night sky and then we hung them up in the forest to show everyone. It was like bonfire night in the forest!
As the seasons change, the food we eat can also change. We have made a big point recently of where our food comes from and how we get it. One of our activities was having pictures of different food laid out and then we had to stick it on where we thought it came from - the ground, a tree, or a plant/bush. We went through food such as carrots, potatoes, and strawberries as well as some different vegetables like asparagus, radishes, and plums. We believe it’s important for our children to understand where their food comes from and how we grow it as they have more awareness of what goes into their everyday meals. It’s lovely to see the children’s thoughts on where their food grows and their interest in seeing how it becomes the final product.
When the colder weather arrives it really inspires our children to move around even more than usual. This week some of the children noticed a fallen down branch which they wanted to explore. On investigating it they decided it could be a fire station and then a jail. The children jumped between the roles of firefighters and police officers. It’s so interesting to see how they view these roles as the children all view them as heroes, which shows what a great understanding they have of the jobs they do. They know that their main job is to help people, and in the forest, we always talk about the need for helping people and using our ‘kind and gentle’ rule. Just another way that the forest and real life can have such a wonderful crossover.
This time of year, is always interesting in the forest as there is so much to see and do. It’s an incredible oasis of golden falling leaves and autumnal sunshine. The perfect place to be!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon