Our Week in the Forest...
This week has been another gloriously hot and sunny one, most unusual once Wimbledon tennis has started!! The children have also been chatting about the World Cup, telling us which countries they are supporting, recognising the countries flags at the tennis pavilion and of course showing us their best football cheers.
At the beginning of the week on our way to base camp we came upon some artists on the lawn of Fulham Palace. One of the children asked if we could stop and watch for a while. One artist showed the children her paints and brushes and they asked her lots of questions about what she was painting. She then explained she was trying to paint the flowers but it was a bit tricky and asked them what colour paint she should use. The children suggested pink would be the right colour and the artist agreed.
We reminded the children we had water colour paints at base camp and suggested that they might like to paint after their snack. After thanking her and wishing her a lovely ‘flower day’ the children eagerly headed to our base camp where they created their own artistic masterpieces, painting flowers, trees and of course their hands! It is so wonderful to see how confident our children are, asking questions and showing their appreciation when other people spend time explaining something to them.
The children further expressed their creativity on Wednesday, when they used shaped blocks from logs that they split together with Marlon, to print on fabric and later used a makeshift stage to entertain their friends with singing and dancing. The musical instruments are very popular and the children love experimenting with sound and rhythm, drumming and dancing to their own beat.
Not put off by the heat, the children have been practicing their acrobatic skills this week on the slack line and our new ‘gymnastic blanket’. They demonstrated their skills, teaching their friends how to do new moves. It is great watching children as young as three teach their peers, demonstrating how they are able to break down parts of movements, sequence them and explain this to others.
We finished the week with some science experiments using ice and food colouring. The children were fascinated to see the colouring spread across the ice and even go inside! After trying out all the different colours and observing how they mixed together the children then decided to use the wooden mallets to smash the ice, covering the forest floor with a coloured frosty carpet…
We hope you have a great weekend!
Little Forest Folk
Fulham