Our Week in the Forest...
We were back to our normal routine with almost everyone back in the forest this week. It was lovely for the educators and exciting for our younger members to see all of our friends, with smiles, a number of new haircuts and bubbling over with news from the break.
From recounting their experiences, it was a short leap to storytelling. The children have been keen to create and share their own tales, combining a fascinating collection of their own adventures and those of their favourite fairy tale characters. The larger Forest Folk-ers have helped the children to share these as ‘helicopter stories’, where their friends bring their tales to life by acting them out.
The children have also been showing off their balancing skills over the last few days. They have shown perseverance and resilience whilst challenging themselves and one another to walk atop long stretches of fallen trees. They then leaped off the end with minimal support from the educators, which was great fun! We have been so impressed that our Little Forest Folk-ers are not only keen to take risks and support each other in managing those, but also not to be discouraged when challenges are not as easy to conquer as they expected.
The winter forest has added its own interest to the children’s play and learning towards the end of the week; with the colder weather bringing Jack Frost to coat the grass and fallen leaves in glitter. This precipitated conversations among the children as to who Jack Frost is, where he lives and with whom. Fairies and Goblins were both offered as suggestions. The children went hunting to see what else was living in the hidden corners of the wood, and were rewarded with the discovery of six baby frogs sheltering under a fallen log. Our Little Forest Folk-ers were captivated by their cold, wet skin and were anxious that they should remain hidden from passing hungry birds.
We cannot wait to see what next week brings!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon