After some truly British up-and-down weather, we’ve been grateful to have a bit of consistent sun this week! It’s been glorious to be running around with our shorts and sun hats, smelling the beautiful blossoming flowers from the Walled Garden. A little pocket of heaven.. We’ve kept ourselves shaded with not 2..but 3 big tarps! We’ve successfully created nice shady patches to relax under whilst we eat our soup, veggies and pitta.. whilst Katie narrates a classic Pip and Posy tale or Dan has a jam-session on the guitar. It felt like one big forest family!
Our days have been jam-packed with fun, exploration and rich learning opportunities. As we are nearing the end of term we have also been focusing on school readiness and transition preparation as soon we have another round of Little Forest Folk-ers flying the nest.. taking everything they have learnt into their next adventure.
This week we have followed the natural lead of children and educators, as we noticed and observed the changing elements of the natural environment around us through the seasons. We spotted a grassy patch of land near our camp which was usually tones of greens and browns.. This has become alive with wildflowers! We took inspiration from the vibrant colours and textures and set up a small group activity, “Observational Drawing”. Children sat with a variety of materials to make marks on their paper. They mastered up their own interpretation of the world they saw in front of them. We were particularly impressed with the intentionality behind their marks. What masterpieces!
Educator Vasiliki has begun her training for her Forest School Leader Qualification, which means we have had some fantastic adult-led activities as she builds her portfolio. We started off by alternating the morning song. Children could choose an animal or plant name instead of their actual name - they loved it. Then, we tried to awaken our hearing senses, staying quiet and listening to the sounds of our environment. Birds were heard from all directions. We then introduced a bird call for gathering. The “ka-ka” of the crow sound meant that children had to respond in a “ou-ou” owl sound and gather around. We used prompt questions “It’s so warm, I wonder how do birds find water?” And then, “I wonder how we could help them find some?”. Our little adventurers’ eyes sparked with excitement and a flow of ideas ran through like a waterfall. Some chose to make puddles on the ground, some wanted to hang bottles on the trees, whereas some found a container filled with water and natural resources. Imagination once again took us far away under the climbing tree, where some of our little explorers were making a kingdom of bird paradise.
But hang on a minute… birds are not the only ones who need water. Bugs need it too! We decided to go for an adventure walk where we spotted lots of spiders and we further explored them using magnified glasses. All whilst thinking about caring for them and observing their natural habitats.
We closed our days by playing an animal game. The task was for our little ones to sit in the circle and close their eyes. Then an educator would secretly ask one of the children to come in the circle and cover them under the parachute. The purpose was to work out who was missing! Children were giggling and screaming out of laughter asking for more turns! What a great game to engage mixed ages children, developing our memory lines and learning to observe!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham