Our Week in the Forest...
With each week that passes, the sun is becoming a more frequent visitor for all of us in the forest. The temperatures continue to rise, with the children soaking up the rays and loading up on vitamin D. After proudly showing their parents what they are all made of last week, our forest folk seem more confident and self aware than ever! This week the children have turned their faces to the sun and let their shadows fall behind them, knowing exactly what they want and how they plan to get there.
With their heads in the sky, the children have also spent a lot of time with their feet off the ground this week. We have introduced a slackline to the children and they have received it with wide eyes and jubilant smiles. They charged across the meadow to work out how to tackle this new challenge. Some children were quick to navigate their way across the slackline, while others took great pleasure in bouncing on it like a tightrope trampoline. With the climbing itch not quite scratched, the children have also enjoyed attempting to climb everything and anything that gets them one step closer to the clouds. Logs, fallen tree stumps, trees and shelters have all posed challenges this week, with our children conquering each respective summit with the ease of a seasoned mountaineer.
We were graciously gifted a mound of fallen flowers and petals by the forest, so inevitably the children received this opportunity to create with open arms and open minds. After a group brainstorm, the children started to thread, weave, wrap and tie their creations together. The range of props and resources that came out of the group was impressively diverse. Magic wands cast spells across the meadow, while kings and queens roamed regally in their finest jewellery. Some children worked with the adults to make baskets to carry their forest finds home to their mums and dads. It only took one innovative child however to flip the basket and notice that it doubled up perfectly as a bike helmet. Within seconds, the discovery spread like wildfire and the children were taking each others lead, rejigging their designs and decorating their headwear with their own unique touches.
Shelter building has now well and truly found itself becoming a daily ritual in the forest. After problem solving their way through the previous weeks, the children are now pushing the limits of innovation and creativity when it comes to putting a roof over their heads. It has been marvellous to watch the children move through the design phases, starting with making model villages, right up to pulling together to lift logs that would ordinarily be far too large for one builder alone. We’ve seen every variation of shelter from one man tipis to sun shelters decorated with wind chimes and feather laden mobiles. Once the building was finished, the children dropped tools and lapped up the luxury of basking in the spring time sunshine. Complete with a hammock, what better way to spend an afternoon than gazing up through the forest canopy, watching the birds glide overhead.
Food in the forest:
Our new Spring menu will be starting next week!
The full menu can be found on our website HERE
This is one of our new yummy lunch dishes;
Slow cooked haricot beans in homemade tomato sauce with cheddar cheese, served with bread rolls.
The sauce is given acidity with cider vinegar and a little depth and sweetness with dark muscovado sugar.
Enjoy that warm Spring sunshine!
Little Forest Folk
Chiswick
