The week may have started a bit wet and windy, but that didn’t stop us from having fun. The changes in weather always bring an array of different opportunities for play and exploration. The rain is a fantastic tool that creates endless opportunities to make mud pies and mud baths (filling every possible hole with water) and covering our hands with oozy mud. Some children can spend the whole day just pouring, squishing, patting and creating with different types of mud consistency. We have been taking an adventure walk every day. These walks fill the children with awe and curiosity - asking questions about the world we see. Coming across a big bench that is on the meadow just outside our site sparked a conversation about giants and how that bench was a giant’s bench and the big hole on the ground right next to it couldn’t have been made by anyone but a ‘giant’. Children were curious to see what was inside the holes and because the holes where really big, what else could you possibly do but sit in them.
We have started noticing the changes in our blackberry brambles and how the blackberries are turning and changing in colours. This lead to a conversation about how the blackberries ripen and change from green, through red to black. Children ensured that they carried a container from their lunch box when going on the walk so they could fill it with nice juicy blackberries, taking them home for their whole family to see and enjoy.
We also encouraged children to take the lead in our walks. One of the walks led us to the Beverly Brook where children looked for pooh sticks and pebbles to make splashes in the beautiful clear water. Children also led us to the frog pond where we noticed that there’s no water. We talked about why the water isn’t there and we observed different plants that started growing there.
Lots of wildlife has been discovered this week including a mole, rabbits, frogs and various types of butterflies. This inspired the children to learn about the different types of homes and food these animals need and how we can look after the forest to help the animals live their best and happy life without interference from us humans.
We also found a toad inside a hole in the imagination tree. We had to use a little torch to be able to see it. Children put some juicy blackberries inside the hole and when we checked the next day, the blackberries were gone and the toad was still inside - happy as ever.
We also used our creativity to create drawings using new pencils and children practised lots of cutting. A day doesn’t go by without children getting involved in an imaginary play where they escape into the world of their own. The world they know and love and imagine to be their own. The world of dinosaurs and pirates and families having fun. We made a treasure map and hid the treasure (chocolate coins in the jar). With the help of our holiday campers that can read, children excitedly looked around for it in basecamp and the joy of finding it filled their eyes with sparkles of joy and excitement.
The nature is beautifully presenting itself to us with its vibrant smells of summer and we cannot wait for our next adventures.
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon