This week of sensory exploration was just what we all needed as we tried to make sense of the changing seasons. All week, our Little Forest Folk-ers have been activating and talking about their five senses, to broaden their understanding of the world around them, using their growing vocabulary to describe what they see, hear, touch, smell and taste. Sticky fingers plunged, pulled, pushed and rolled salt dough into shapes; slimy fingers prodded, “smooshed” and squished clay, finding out what happens when you add water to the mix, and to make matters (and matter) all the more confusing, little hands were let loose on some cornflour and water “oobleck” mixture, which was surprising in its reaction to touch and movement, switching between gloopy and tough in an instant! All this sensory experimentation also helped our little explorers to regulate their emotions, providing opportunities for focus, mindfulness and calm as much as excitement, wonder and playfulness.

As the children tuned into all their senses, they also became very aware of the flora and fauna around the site, commenting on similarities and differences between snails, slugs and spiders. We took some time at circle times to stop, ‘catch a bubble’ (breathe in deeply and hold for a few seconds) and tune our listening ears into the sounds of the birdsong. Children followed the sound and found a ‘pandemonium’ of parakeets in a nearby tree! We looked at a book of British Wildlife together to see if the picture matched the appearance of the birds and we talked about different reasons that birds might sing. We also listened to the call of a magpie who visits our camp towards the end of every day, noticing how different the song is to that of the parakeet. We may have to think of a name for the magpie soon… we will be taking suggestions from the children next week so that we can vote on it!

We wish you a fantastic weekend and can’t wait to explore more next week.

Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon Village