We hope you are all enjoying the lighter mornings since the clocks have changed. Our children are adjusting to the new routine of coming in as it gets dark in the afternoon. We have organised the indoor space and freshened it up to provide a fun environment for them to play in. This will be temporary until we return to longer days. This week has been all about encouraging the children to remember to put toys and resources back before getting any others out. We are trying to teach the children to respect the space and keep it tidy so that they can maximise the benefit from it. This may be of some use for you all at home!
One thing that is special about this time of year is the wonderful low light that occasionally illuminates the early mornings. Our Little Forest Folk-ers joined one of our educators one morning and stood in wonder at our magnificent plane tree (the second largest tree in London) as the sun caught its branches and lit it up. They have also enjoyed collecting and observing the large leaves from the tree and the surprising variety of colours they contain.
This week marks the remarkably coincidental celebrations involving fireworks, both for Diwali (the festival of light) and for people within the UK, the marking of Fireworks Night on November 5th. We have been learning about both in the forest this week. This has allowed lots of conversations about colour and talk about light and dark. Making good use of all the paper rolls we accumulate, the children got to practice cutting, making incisions on one end and then bending them to make it look like a firework before dipping it in paint. Once dried these were hung around the forest ready to go whoosh! We also used paint in a different way, using brushes to flick it onto paper giving a burst of colour and some interesting patterns. One brave member of staff even allowed the children to decorate her t-shirt with paint to turn her into a firework.
We have done lots of real and imaginary cooking activities this week. The children are still enjoying exploring the pumpkins and squashes in the mud kitchen. Much of the baking was done in order to make cakes for Halloween, but there was still time to make one for a particular Mummy’s birthday. For our forest cookouts we made some special ‘firework cookies’ using cardamom and lime to create an unusual taste for the children to sample. After adding the spice to the biscuit mixture they took turns to grate the lime and then stir it all together in a big bowl. Once out the oven they decorated these with coloured icing and got to try them after dinner. They zoomed off very quickly into lots of hungry tummies.
The clay is always a popular resource and this week it was used to make some diwa lamps for Diwali. Whilst making the lamps we talked about Diwali and the fact that it is called ‘the festival of light.’ Once they had manipulated the clay into the right shape the children decorated the lamps with coloured sequins. They were offered the chance to take them home and to ask for a candle to go inside. Happy Diwali to you all!
This week our forest was lucky enough to have a top artisan cafe on site run by our Little Forest Folk-ers. On the menu this week we had warm pastries with hot chocolate. The most popular pastry proved to be a pain au chocolate. How very South-West London! The mud kitchen also became a fireworks factory for a brief period, with the children stirring mud and sticks together. This led to lots of conversations about who had seen fireworks before, what sound they made and the importance of firework safety.
We have also been out and about exploring our local area by walking along the river path next to the Crane. On one occasion the children observed a very big coy fish which seemed to have become injured. They showed lots of concern for this fish and requested to go back the next day to check up on it. We are lucky enough to have such a wonderful natural environment on our doorstep. We are also planning to make regular visits to Twickenham library during the cold months for story time.
Have a lovely weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham