Our Week in the Forest...
A golden blanket of autumnal leaves has covered the ground in base camp this week and has provided a sensory rich experience for the children as they have listened to their crisp rustling sound as they danced over them and smelled them as they made ‘wedding bouquets’ with them. They have also pointed in wonder at new leaves falling from the trees and said “look, it’s snowing leaves!”
The colder and wetter weather also visited the forest this week and this has provided opportunities for children to enjoy cooking activities around the fire and lots of adventure walks. Not only have the adventure walks kept toes warm, but have also provided lots of learning opportunities for the children to enjoy spontaneously.
On one walk they observed a poster for a missing dog named Rosie. The children helped dial the telephone number to call the owner and left a voice message asking if Rosie had been found. A few moments later the owner messaged back to thank the children for their sweet message and that Rosie had not been found…yet! The children returned, eager to share stories of Rosie with their friends and educators over afternoon snack. The Big Forest Folk-ers are so impressed with the empathy that the children have developed, not only for their new friends in the forest but for all the living things that share their beautiful space.
Another adventure walk provided lots of imaginative play too – children are becoming fascinated with the many different species of mushrooms that are popping up around many of the trees in the environment and have been making up stories about the magical creatures that may live amongst them and even initiated a hunt for fairy folk and dinosaurs!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon