Our Week in the Forest
Following our look at the lifecycles of butterflies and frogs, we have been investigating birds this week. The binoculars and our avid birdwatchers scanned the treetops for the source of the sweet singing we hear daily in the forest. Our efforts paid off and we spotted a song thrush speeding across the path and lots of blue tits and robins! The usual visitors of magpie, parakeets, and crows were also loudly making themselves known, with our "resident" woodpigeons Mo and Flo poking around the snack circle to tidy up any fallen crumbs. 🦋🐛
In our ditch camp there has been a particularly chirpy robin lately and some of us were curious as to why they were so brave and hopped so close. We stayed very still and watched for a short while, and were rewarded with another robin flying down and feeding it some food! This brought on a big discussion about why one might be feeding the other. We decided on two possibilities; it could be a baby robin (though an older one due to its red feathers,) or it's a mummy who is getting extra food from the daddy while she is getting her eggs ready. What a cool mystery! 🪺
All our talk about birds led to looking at bird nests and how they are made. We investigated an old nest that is no longer being used and looked at how the inside is stuffed with soft feathers and fluff. What a comfy bed! We collected bendy twigs and grass from around camp and tried to weave our own. It was quite tricky and we all agreed the birds are very talented to do this with no hands! 🪺
We've also had other incredible wildlife spottings, including a bright red cardinal beetle, a minor stag beetle, and various dancing butterflies. The collection pots and magnifiers have been out every day, ready to investigate any new finds. What else can we find?!? 🐞🪲🕷️
Throughout our bird investigations our week has been filled with incredible mud kitchen creations, varying from cookies and cupcakes flavoured with pine cones and magic mud. We've been loving working out how much water creates a smooth consistency for pancakes and how just a touch can make it squishy for kneading. We've also been bouncing on the slack line, exploring how having more friends can make it bounce wobbly instead of straight up and down, leading to a lot of giggles and wiggles. 🧁🌳
Finally, we've had an incredible week of storytelling and songs from our master Little Forest Folk storytellers Xiao, Mari, and Chloe. We were whisked off to magical lands, riding roaring dragons and looking for treasures, sneaking through haunted forests to find groaning zombies (who turned out to be slightly grumpy rainbow leopards!) and collecting lightning from thunderstorms in a magical electricity wand. The adventures never end! 🐉🧟♀️⚡️
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick