Our Week in the Forest
This week at Little Forest Folk Winkworth we’ve been continuing to focus on supporting the children to build independently with a wide range of resources to make and enjoy imaginative and complex ‘small worlds’.
Down at the station, the children laid train tracks outside in the garden and used our mini figures to role-play imagined emergencies such as a “tree on the line” or an “earthquake.” This rich, imaginative play had the children sharing ideas, negotiating roles, and using new vocabulary, while also strengthening personal, social and emotional skills through cooperation and problem-solving. As they built, broke, and remade their tracks, the children explored early engineering concepts, resilience, and creativity - revelling in the drama of coming to each other’s rescue and the ultimate childhood joy of learning through play.
An absolute favourite in the forest this week was Dinoland. We had a fabulous small world set up with sand, rocks, ferns, grasses, branches and leaves for the children to play around with and adjust depending on what their dinosaurs might need. It stimulated wonderful chatter about the size and qualities of the various dinosaur toys we have, what they like to eat and how that might influence the environment in which they live.
A volcano was another highlight on Dino day, built from an upside down bowl covered in mud and leaves. The children were thrilled when they added spoons of bicarbonate of soda and vinegar together in a cupcake liner on top to make the volcano erupt with bubbly, fizzing lava! As our Little Forest Folk-ers watched the “eruption,” they were unknowingly exploring early scientific ideas such as cause and effect, making predictions, and observing changes - key parts of the EYFS Understanding the World area of learning. This activity also encourages language development as children describe what they see, ask questions, and share their excitement, all while building confidence through playful exploration. Why not try it yourself at home?!
Another day was a dream come true for all our digger fans! Not only did we have a giant pallet digger to play on but also digger track painting, a digger building site (which evolved into an obstacle course) and a small world tuff tray full of mud and bricks, signs and of course all manner of vehicles to play in it with. This simple theme had it all, plenty of imaginative play, climbing, balancing and digging, new vocabulary and art, but also mark making in the mud to create ‘M’ for mummy, ‘D’ for daddy and the children’s own initials. We also counted all the diggers and transported lots of mud around the garden in wheelbarrows. As usual, our little explorers also created their own worlds and fun, with a popular game today being ‘aeroplanes’ including then running around with their arms out then flopping theatrically onto the ground with big smiles and laughter!
Last but not least, we had underwater land complete with a pallet boat with telescope, lots of water play with fish, ‘seaweed’ and rocks and plenty of sea and water themed books. We also talked about Valentine’s Day, thinking about who we love and learning how to sign it to each other without using any words. I wonder if any of our little ones will remember it and show you how to do it at home?!
Little Forest Folk
Winkworth