Our Week in the Forest...
We have had another fabulous week in the forest, enjoying the lovely sunshine and warmer weather. Most of our mornings have been spent on adventure walks into the forest, often visiting the lake where we have regularly spied the terrapins sunning themselves on the lakeside. We have kept a watchful eye on the coot’s nest but there is no sign of babies hatching just yet. We did spy another group of coots further up the lake who have already got four baby coots and they are growing up very fast! We also spotted more herons, a swan and lots of ducks and geese.
On our morning walk ins to the forest as we stop in the tunnel to count the children, we have started to challenge them by asking them to count how many legs our caterpillar has! This helps to improve counting to twenty and our understanding of doubling. Some of our children have even challenged themselves by counting the legs in twos!
We have been extending our tool skills this week, using the palm drill to drill a series of holes in some tree cookies which we use to practice our threading skills. Otis instructed the children on how to hold the drill and turn the handle clockwise in order to drill into the wood. Tool work activities are always a great way to talk about being safe and how to use equipment safely. The children were able to explain why they needed to sit back while their peers took turns and what could happen if they put their hands where their peers are working. It was lovely to see the children’s excitement when the drill punctured the tree cookie and came through the other side. Otis also gave the children more practice of cutting their own tree cookies using the bow saw. They have really enjoyed these focused activities in the forest and are always eager to take part.
We also had another zip-line in the forest this week and the children really enjoyed zipping through the trees, returning again and again for another turn. It is lovely to see their skills and confidence growing as they master the task of holding tightly to the stick and lifting their legs, stepping off the large log. With a big smile on their face they would happily walk the handlebars back to their waiting friend before joining the end of the line ready to have another go!
What a fabulous week of sunshine! We are definitely looking forward to summer now! Time to get the summer waterproofs out and put sun cream and hats on!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick