Yellow buzzing bees and giant green trees…
Although it’s been a shorter week in the forest, we have still managed to fit as much in as we possibly can. There is always something interesting to look for when we go into the forest and whether it be something brand new or something we have seen before, it is always so exciting!
This week, whilst sitting on our buttercup filled meadow, some of our children spotted a little black and yellow creature buzzing through the flowers. They slowly ventured towards what was flying around and noticed a little bee. As we have children of different ages together in the forest, it was such a lovely moment when one of our older children told those younger than him everything he knew about bees. They sat and listened as he told them about bees making honey, and about why they sit on the flowers for so long. They all looked at the markings on the bee and talked about which colour they could see more. The conversations that began simply from seeing the bee fly around were so enjoyable. It also made a great moment for the child who was able to share his knowledge with his friends and shows how important it can be for children to be around different ages.
Now that the sun has become a visitor this week, our forest is in full bloom! The grass is so green and lush, the buttercups are a glowing yellow blanket that cover the meadow, and the trees have become so big and green that they look like giants covering our forest. These changes in our environment are so vital to our children’s learning as they always notice what is happening around them. When we walk into the forest, we also talk about new things that we notice, or something that our children find particularly interesting, and this week we saw a flock of buzzards soaring around us. At first one of our Little Forest Folk-ers saw one of the giant birds flying around, then another and then as a group we noticed that there were four flying around together. We sat quietly as they soared around in circles, catching up with each other whilst in flight. This led to us having a conversation about buzzards, talking about what they eat and where they build their nests. We listened to a clip of their call and then compared it to the sounds that we were hearing from them. This was such a magical moment as the children watched this magnificent animal use our forest as their nesting ground, giving us such a wonderful experience and chance to learn.
This warmer weather has also inspired some of our children’s imaginative play. As we use different areas in the forest for different times of the day, some of our children decided that playing on our meadow as it is, just wasn’t quite what they wanted for a lovely sunny day and so made the decision to turn it into a beach. They played together as they used one area as the sandy beach, then thought about which bit could be their ocean. They added different items to their beach, such as chairs and toys and when it was ready, they took time to relax and enjoy the sunshine. They pretended to be swimming in the sea, they looked at the different creatures that were joining them in the water, and they spoke about what games they could play in the sand. This game led to the children talking about what lives in the sea and which of these animals was their favourite. They spoke about sharks and dolphins, jellyfish and seals and all enjoyed pretending to be these creatures. This game was entirely created by the children, all from their link to the weather and where people go when it’s nice outside. They spoke about when they had been to the beach and shared stories with their friends. It was such a joyful game for a sunny day.
Watching our children enjoying everything that the forest has to offer them is such an amazing experience. They notice the little things around them, which can become such a big learning moment for them. They really think about why things happen, and question times throughout the day which not only makes them think, but also the educators in the forest think. We discuss everything from the weather, the environment and the creatures around us to the imaginary world of pirates and robots. There is no end to where a child’s imagination can take them, and at Little Forest Folk we try to make those dream worlds as real as possible.
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination!”- Albert Einstein
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon