What an incredible week we've had at Little Forest Folk Putney Heath! While the summer sunshine certainly turned up the heat, our woodland canopy provided the perfect shady retreat, allowing the children to enjoy every adventure while staying cool, comfortable and ready to explore. With plenty of water, laughter and curiosity, this week has been packed with memorable moments.
Our focus this week has been on the fascinating world of bees and butterflies, and the children have embraced every opportunity to learn. We explored why bees are such important pollinators, how they help flowers and plants flourish and even discovered the purpose of bee cafés. Through stories, songs and hands-on activities, the children developed a growing appreciation for the tiny insects that play such a big role in our environment.
The children's creativity has truly shone this week. Pinecones became colourful bees wrapped in vibrant wool, fluffy bee pom poms buzzed into life with googly eyes and leafy wings and delicate tissue paper butterflies took flight with brightly coloured antennae. One particularly lovely moment came when some children realised their painted bees needed wings before they could fly, demonstrating fantastic problem-solving skills as they thoughtfully completed their artwork.
Keeping cool became part of the adventure too. The children loved exploring splashy tuff trays, cooling off with refreshing water play and taking part in our exciting pollination challenge. Armed with sprinkler balls filled with yellow "pollen," they worked hard to splash the flowers on our giant sheet, filling the forest with laughter as they practised their aim and coordination. Many also enjoyed making fruit-infused water by adding fresh fruit to their bottles, helping everyone stay hydrated throughout the day while learning about healthy habits and sun safety.
Imaginative play flourished across the woodland. Our ever-popular mud kitchen was busy serving magical recipes and woodland feasts, while the hive den inspired teamwork and storytelling. The children also enjoyed creating baths for toys and imaginary friends, sailing boats across the water and exploring our icy lily pad pond, where sensory play encouraged curiosity and conversation. Ice painting added another creative twist, allowing the children to experiment as colours melted and blended in unexpected ways.
Physical development remained an important part of our week, with climbing ropes encouraging children to challenge themselves, build confidence and strengthen their balance, coordination and perseverance. Alongside this, counting games, number activities and action songs helped develop early mathematical understanding, listening skills and language through play.
It has been a wonderful week filled with discovery, creativity and joyful learning in the great outdoors. Thank you for your continued support. As the warm weather looks set to continue, please remember to send your child with a named water bottle, sun hat, sun cream and a spare set of summer clothes, including socks, so they can enjoy every splash, climb and woodland adventure in comfort.
We hope you have a fantastic weekend and look forward to another exciting week of Forest fun!
Little Forest Folk
Putney Heath