Slugs, snails and caterpillar trails
“Slugs and snails are really slow, but a cheetah is super-fast!”
“I have put a TV in the bug hotel so they can watch it when we have lunch.”
“Did you know that if we are not kind and gentle to the trees, we won’t have any oxygen left to play anymore!”
These are just some of the amazing things that our children say on a daily basis in the forest, showing us that they are capable of understanding so much and thinking about every little thing around them.
When you sit and listen to what children are saying, you get an insight into how their brains work and how they think about the things that happen around them. They notice the things that many adults would fail to see, and they think about things so differently to an adult. They learn from everyone and everything around them, making the forest the perfect place to spend their days.
This week at Wimbledon we have had so much fun! The rain at the start of the week meant that our water play was even better than usual. The big puddles on our walk ins were the perfect place to splash. We counted how many puddles we could find on the walk in, which is one of our fun ways we talk about numbers with our children. They love to see how many puddles they can find and compare the ones on the walk in to the ones on our forest site. We spoke about how wide the puddles were, how deep the puddles were and what we could use to measure the depth of them. The children found sticks which they put in the water and noticed that where the water mark was, was how deep the puddle was.
Our puddles have also been the main source for our water play. The children have loved collecting the water in different containers and transporting it around the forest. We have also continued working on our water system using different plastic pipes and finding ways to connect them together to make the best water slide. The children have taken it upon themselves to find sticks and logs to balance the pipes on, and then test out their work by pouring the water down the pipes. This activity is so good for communication and problem-solving skills, and our Little Forest Folk-ers are not afraid to work on something for a while until they get the desired result!
Our forest is full of different sized sticks and logs, all of which can be used to build a wide variety of things. This week we have made stick houses, bug hotels and dens in the forest. We have also noticed some dens on our adventure walks and walk ins which have led to playing out the ‘Three Little Pigs’ story. The children have taken it in turns pretending to be the Big Bad Wolf and creeping up on the pigs in the dens. This shows how our explorers can be inspired by so many different things in the forest to create some very exciting games. Sticks can also lead to building smaller structures and this week that is what happened when some of our children wanted a home for the bugs they found.
Working as a big team, our children found some sticks to make a bug hotel with. They all brought the sticks to one of our educators, Poppy, and then they were hammered into the mud to create a wall which became the outside of our hotel. Once the children had decided the wall was big enough, they then went to find other items to put inside the hotel. We had grass and leaves for the food, as well as some small bowls of water for the creatures to drink from. There were smaller sticks added for the bugs to crawl over, a little piece of bark which became the ‘television’ for the bugs to watch, and then there were some comfy leaves and mud made into the bed. Every section of this hotel was thought about and made by our children, even down to how big it needed to be to fit the bugs in. They each thought about their reasoning behind each action and then explained this to their friends to make sure it was okay with everyone.
These kinds of activities bring so much joy to our children, but they also help them to learn new information and skills. They have to work with each other and talk about what they want to do next to make sure it’s okay with their friends. It is an important part of their forest experience and is something that they will take on further in life.
The sound of popcorn popping away on the fire was heard this week in the forest. The children were lucky enough to not only have a fire, which is always a highlight, but to also cook some popcorn on there. They listened to our educator, Katarina who led the fire, as she explained exactly what was going to happen. The children were asked about the three things that were needed to start a fire, answering “Oxygen, heat and fuel” and discussing what was around them to use for these features. Once the fire was ignited, we were able to enjoy the smell of smoke as well as that of the popcorn cooking away. These times at the fire circle are so enjoyable for our children, and not only can they enjoy the food at the end but also learn about how to cook different foods. They could watch each popcorn kernel change shape and listen to the sounds they each made, at the same time as spending time with their friends and amazing educators in a wonderful environment.
“The mud will wash away, but the memories will last a lifetime.” - Anonymous
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon