Slides and mud-the best combination
You will always hear the sound of children’s laughter in our forest, no matter what the weather is like. There have been days this week that have been rainy, some windy, and we even had the luck of some blue sky and sunshine, but it doesn’t matter to our Little Forest Folk-ers because they make the best out of whatever the weather throws at them. The rain adds to their fun as they can do more water play; the sun means they can have some fun activities set out for the day, and the wind is just always fun to watch as it whistles through the trees.
This week, because of the rain, we have been able to use the puddles to our advantage and take part in some water experiments. The children were asked to each find an object that they wanted to put in the puddle. Before placing their item in the water, they were asked if they thought it would sink or float. Each child gave their guesses and began dropping in their items. We had large logs, small twigs, leaves and stones going in the puddles, all with different outcomes of where they would go. When the children saw what their objects had done, they had chats with everyone to see why they thought it would sink or float. It was interesting to see the children work out why each object had a different outcome and see their reactions each time something happened.
We have also been enjoying reading and writing stories this week. Not only have the children been reading stories, but they have also taken inspiration from their own play to write stories. The helicopter stories that have been created are made by the children telling their stories to an educator and the educator writing their story down word for word. This means it captures exactly what the child wants their story to say. Then we have a chance to act the stories out with the children choosing who they want each character to be. This activity is such a good way of getting the children to write their stories and have a record of it, but without having to physically write it themselves.
Another one of our favourite activities this week had been building a slide. The children found a flat pallet and we moved it against the tree, in a space where they could climb on the tree to get to the top of the slide. Each child found different ways of going down the slide, testing the best way for them to get down as fast as they could. Everyone then realised they were landing in mud, so thought of a way to ease the drop at the end. We found some dead reeds that were long and strong to make a mat at the bottom. The children then tested once the mat was down and found that it was a soft place to land, making it even more exciting to speed down!
It’s been a busy week, full of fun and adventure. There is no end to the fun we can have with the resources around us in the forest, and it’s always exciting to see what new ideas our children come up with. There is always a new idea that can be tested, or a fun game to play. The weather doesn’t impact how much fun we have!
We hope you all have lovely weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon