Our Week in the Forest...
It’s been lovely to be able to welcome lots of new faces to the forest this week and it’s always surprising how quickly our holiday campers settle. Each morning our regular children are eager to show how well they know their forest rules and to tell the holiday campers all about the things they can do. It’s always entertaining to see a two or three-year-old talking to an older child with such confidence about the places they are or aren’t allowed to go and the different activities they can do throughout the day.
New children often bring fresh ideas with them and our forest has been introduced to a variety of new games, jokes and television programs. Some of the holiday campers decided that a better use for the crate our children love to use with the pulleys, would be a Santa sleigh. The children worked together to untie the knots then they took it in turns to sit in the crate while Dancer, Prancer, Blitzer and Rudolph (and mainly Bella) all did their best to pull it around the forest.
Tuesday was an exciting day, although maybe more so for the big Forest Folk. As it was pancake day we thought it would be nice for the children to make (decorate) their own. Children were given the option of honey, lemon juice and banana and judging by the evidence, less was most definitely not more. Some children experimented with more lemon and less honey, others stuck to just banana, but whatever the combination, for the afternoon it was a delight to see our tepee transformed into the GBBO tent. Marlon became our Paul Hollywood and all the children left with full bellies and sticky fingers.
We also made spinning tops and elder bracelets with the children – two activities that our regular children have taken part in before. They are becoming so competent at using tools and are very aware of how to do so safely; during these activities, they are such good role models to the holiday campers of how to behave around tools. Everyone wanted to take part in the sawing and drilling, and some decorated their spinning tops and bracelets as well. It’s always amusing to see how the holiday campers react when they are given options; rather than being shown an end product and told this is what they will make, which is so often the case in schools. They can choose to take part in the activity, they can decide how thick to cut their tree cookie, make it into a spinning top, medallion, or leave it as a tree cookie and it can be decorated or left blank. By having options, the children take such pride and ownership over the activity, displaying clear delight with the end product.
It’s been great having some new friends in the forest and welcoming back some old friends. For those who have been on holiday this week, we look forward to seeing you again after the weekend.
Little Forest Folk
Fulham