Walking in a Wimbledon Wonderland!
No matter how long we are away from the forest there is always something new to notice when we arrive back in, and after our Christmas break, we had lots to look at! Our week has been full of exploring the meadow, looking at the new mole hills that have been made whilst we were away, and looking at the frozen puddles now that the days are a little bit colder. The children have loved chatting with their friends who they haven’t seen for a little while and planning new and exciting games to play in the forest. It has been such a busy week!
This week the weather has thrown so many different things our way this week; hail, frost, sun. It has been time for the children to look at the different ways that the weather can change during winter and finding ways to adapt to the changes. Our explorers have thoroughly enjoyed the mornings that we have had ice on the floor. Crunching our way through the forest, looking for frozen puddles to break or frosty leaves to crack has been such a highlight. We have been discussing why we think the puddles freeze in the night when we are not there, and our older children have loved explaining to everyone that “It gets so cold at night so the water will turn to ice!”. Listening to our children explain their understanding, not only to the educators but also to their friends, is such a wonderful thing to witness. The ability to share their knowledge with their friends at this young age is such a great quality that they will be able to take on to their future lives.
The children really wanted to investigate the ice and so with thick gloves on we all got hold of a piece each. Everyone examined their piece to see if anything was stuck inside it with some children noticing they had leaves inside theirs. Other children wanted to see if they could clearly see through their piece and look at each other. They also compared the thickness of each piece and then couldn’t wait to drop it on the floor and watch it smash. Some pieces only broke in half, whilst others went into hundreds of tiny little parts. Everyone listened to the noise that was made when it was dropped, and they all said it sounded like glass. This was such a fun moment for our Little Forest Folk-ers and they loved exploring the exciting things that winter has to offer.
We have also spent a lot of time this week talking about the animals in the forest and what they did while we were all away over Christmas. The children spoke about where they would have got their food from and even put our bird feeders that were made for them before Christmas. We have watched as the robins and magpies have come along to have a bite of the food, enjoying the little treat that was left for them. We think it is so important for the children at Little Forest Folk to understand the need for looking after others that live in the forest, and anything we can do to help is always a kind gesture.
It has been a great start to our new year in the forest and we can’t wait to spend the rest of 2022 exploring and learning so many new and amazing things!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon