Our Week in the Forest
What better way to finish this wonderful winter month than with magical adventures and a great outdoor expedition? 🥾🌿
Our little explorers were on a mission this week. From intrepid adventures "overseas" to an immersive journey into the deep, dark woods and an enchanted kingdom at camp, they have shared and collected the most beautiful memories in the forest. With most days sunny and crisp, it has been a lovely end to January!
We started our busy week celebrating Australia Day. We were so lucky to have Dan, our fun educator from the Antipodes, who brought summer sunshine on a chill winter day. As usual, Dan also brought his ukulele and the children joined in singing and playing Australian classics, such as Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree and Waltzing Matilda. The best way to learn all about this fabulous faraway land was through our book of the week, Possum Magic. Inspired by all the cities named in this lovely story, we couldn't help but go on a road trip! 🚐🗺️🧭
Our little explorers collaborated to refurbish the campervan we had at camp. They built a cosy, chill area with a sofa and a fully equipped mini kitchen at the back, using crates, blankets, and mud kitchen equipment. They took turns pretending to be the driver and passengers. After a long journey, an adorable koala soft toy gave us the warmest welcome on the other side of the world! The children loved taking turns to hide and seek our fluffy host in the trees! They also enjoyed painting pictures of the most iconic animals in Australia, like crocodiles, kangaroos and koalas using sticks instead of paintbrushes! 🦘🐨🐊
Another mission of the week was the big great expedition. We've been revisiting previous knowledge about winter facts, including hibernating animals and local wildlife. Our Little Forest Folk-ers loved colouring pictures of huddled-up dormice, bears, hedgehogs and wild foxes. With these in mind, we set out on an expedition led by our little explorers to collect natural resources. The plan was to create the cosiest nests and dens for these low-energy creatures! We brought our three wheelbarrows, and the children did a great job sharing and waiting for their turns. While three of them were in charge of steering the wheelbarrow, the rest paid close attention to dry sticks, giant leaves, soft feathers and scented petals that would make a great nest! 🍂🍁🌺
Before the week ended, we turned camp into a magical kingdom and had another fantastic, exciting adventure full of fun and entertainment! We set up a castle made of pallets, with battlements at the top, a ramp to access the fortress and a throne for the queen and king! Some educators pretended to be sneaky and attentive crocodiles in the moat, watching from the murky water. Most children loved being chased and finding a safe place in the castle. We also had the royal carriage, just in case our little kings and queens needed a lift to the castle to avoid the crocodiles. Some of them enjoyed making and decorating crowns using hard paper and paint, as well as shields and swords using cardboard and markers. Particularly, the little ones enjoyed the How to Train Your Dragon story time and playing with the wooden castle and its small world figures. 👑🏰🗡️
And this was the story of a wonderful group of intrepid adventurers, curious explorers, nature lovers, eco-leaders, little queens, kings and brave knights! We are more than ready for our next adventure in the forest and beyond next week!🌿🌟🌳
Little Forest Folk
Fulham