Spring has sprung!
The blossom is out, the butterflies have arrived, and everyone has been enjoying the sunshine in the forest. It’s been a week full of adventures and exploring, and the lovely weather has just added on to how amazing the week has been!
We had a visit from the Mad Scientist, and he made some awesome rockets with us! The children sat in awe as he explained every single detail of what was needed to make this rocket explode. He asked some of our children if they would like to help with finding the ingredients, which was so much fun. Everyone sat patiently as each ingredient was added. First the vinegar and then the bicarbonate of soda, finally placing the lid on top waiting for the explosion. Everyone began to count down until there was a big bang and the rocket flew into the sky! It went so high and the children were so focused on the rocket as it went all the way up to the top of the tree.
These experiments are so enriching for our children. They learn something new each time, picking up new knowledge about science with every experiment. These then progress as we do more experiments, and as they share their information and knowledge with their friends.
We also had Earth Day this week in the forest. We spent time with our children explaining the importance of protecting our planet and what we can do to help look after it. We spent some time drawing the things we love most about our planet, including mountains, rain and sunshine. We also wrote down some of the lovely things that our children had to say about our planet. One of our children said, “I love our planet!”, whilst another said, “We have to look after it.” The awareness that was shown and how much understanding our children have about the world around us was so incredible to see, and just shows us how much information our children retain.
Our trees in the forest also provide constant enjoyment. We have one of our trees as a ‘pirate ship’, another is now ‘a rocket’ and they continue to change as each child’s interests change. The way that each child can find something new and enjoyable out of something that has been around them since joining the forest, is something that will never not be enjoyable to watch. They work with their friends to choose different things for their trees to become, sharing stories and narratives between each other.
No matter what the weather, we have so many chances for adventure. The children in our forest have the most incredible imaginations, constantly creating new stories and characters all the time. They have so many exciting opportunities from the educators to excite and challenge them. It’s such an amazing place to be!
We hope you all have wonderful sunny weekends!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon