Our Week in the Forest
This week has definitely been an adventurous one, with lots of rain and thunderstorms. Despite the change in weather, the children have adapted fantastically well. It has been quite a contrast to last week, when the weather was warm and muggy. Throughout the week, we have been exploring emotions and feelings through a variety of exciting activities.
We explored emotions and feelings through the theme of witches and magical creatures. The children loved creating their own spells and stories while making magical wands using pipe cleaners and wool. They cast spells on teachers and friends as they journeyed through the mystical magic forest. They also enjoyed matching the pipe cleaners to the colourful Emotion Monsters, helping them make connections between colours and feelings. The children truly immersed themselves in imaginative play through witches, fairies, and magical adventures.
The mud kitchen has been a favourite as always, providing endless opportunities for creative play. This week, we introduced a fairy potion-making station using pastel-coloured water and a variety of beautiful flowers. The children also explored sensory play with lemon balm leaves, which created a lovely sense of calm and provided a space for reflection. They thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with ice blocks in the mud kitchen, using mini plastic ice cream cones to create their own imaginative ice cream treats. Many of them pretended they were relaxing on a warm, sunny beach somewhere far away.
The children have also enjoyed exploring magnetic tiles and magnetic wands. They investigated whether they could attach the tiles to the wands and experimented with how high they could lift them. Their exploration was both creative and imaginative. They then used the coloured magnetic tiles to view the forest through shades of red, blue, and green. This linked beautifully to our work on emotional regulation, as these colours correspond to the Emotion Monsters and help us understand our feelings more clearly.
The children also enjoyed spending time in the forest on adventure walks, collecting a variety of beautiful natural resources along the way. They explored the beauty of the forest and searched for natural materials that could be used in camp. We discovered many exciting treasures that the children can continue to investigate and use in their play.
We have also been incredibly proud of the children's progress in sharing, taking turns, and playing cooperatively with one another. There has been lots of wonderful communication as they work together, explain ideas, and support each other during play. It has been lovely to witness these positive interactions and friendships developing.
We hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and we look forward to seeing everyone back next week for another exciting week filled with adventure, discovery, and wonder!
Little Forest Folk
Putney Heath