One more week has whizzed by with lots of weather best-suited for ducks! 

This week has seen a real difference in weather from the week before, but with our rain coats and boots back on we have had so much fun in the forest! The rain has given us opportunities to explore and discover new ways to transport the water around. Using cups and gutters, our little explorers have enjoyed finding ways of emptying one puddle into another, thinking critically and using what they already understood whilst exploring what they didn’t. Using team work and communication they solved the task and seeing the water drain down hill gave everyone a great sense of pride!

looking at our caterpillars who have now formed into chrysalis and are getting ready to become butterflies. We can’t wait to see what beautiful colours they will be and we will be sure to keep you all updated!

We created a big map on the tuff tray, adding trees and all the things we find in the forest after it was drawn. We had a great time ageing it with mud leaves and tea bags.

This week we set up an airport in the forest. The children had great fun painting a huge cardboard plane and we also spent lots of time dancing to the continents song in the airport lounge. Whilst looking at all the flags on the bunting in the forest, we talked about the places we have visited and are going to visit. One of our little explorers said they are going to visit Vietnam and we all loved finding out what that flag looked like! We even made our own passports too!

Back in the forest one of the focuses this week has been emotions and one of the activities has allowed children to make their own faces out of clay, talking through what emotions their clay face creations might show and how we are feeling ourselves

This week has also been the start of caterpillar season… they are everywhere! All different shapes, sizes and colours. Our little explorers have enjoyed seeing them so much that we have ordered some caterpillars for the indoor nursery. 

During the middle of our week it was suggested that maps should be made, so some of our little adventurers promptly went off and made treasure maps, whilst some of our other little ones wanted to make maps so we didn’t get lost on the way back from the forest!

On Tuesday, our Little Forest Folk launderette opened, using a very aesthetically pleasing washing machine that Shahana had made out of cardboard boxes! Our little explorers had a great time washing the hand towels and hanging them up on the washing line which was gently hung between two trees in the forest.

springtime bumble bees, using pinecones, strings and leaves - we then hung some of these around our camp.

Easter fun has been the theme this week! We started the week by saying goodbye to one of our families, who are relocating. They kindly gifted us some bird feeders, so we decided to go on an adventure walk on the child’s last day to find places to hang these special gifts up! Children enjoyed finding high-up places for them and we have said we will go back and check how the feeders are doing when we next go out on a walk! 

On Tuesday, Shahana got the children to line up, as it was time for our egg and spoon race!

This week the weather has thrown all the seasons at us! Cold, wet, hail and sun! Not to worry, this weather has been great for us to carry on with our growing projects!

On one of our outings we walked to the village to purchase some potatoes to plant. On the way there we took some time to enjoy a lovely snack on the bench whilst watching all the wildlife on the pond. We then took it in turns to feed the ducks, swans and geese whilst discussing the differences between them all. 

This week has seen us return to fantastic weather, the sun is shining and gloves and hats are almost a thing of the past, but we are not quite out of the woods yet (excuse the pun!) The warming weather as well as the time of year has given lots of reasons for fun and lots of different activities. 

We have been focusing a lot on independence, how we can promote it and encouraging our little people to try and manage obstacles and challenges before seeking help. We have amalgamated this into our play by hosting activities that help promote these values! 

What a week! We actually saw the sun, and revelled in it for a couple of days. We enjoyed some amazing adventure walks and even gate crashed a tractor party! 

We have also spent time educating the children about the Lunar New Year. We read the book “The Great Race” which is a children’s adaptation of the story of Chinese New Year and we also enjoyed exploring a tuff tray filled with rice, Chinese takeaway menus and little red envelopes to symbolise the start of Lunar New Year. A big happy Lunar New Year to all of our Chinese families. 

Children's Mental Health Week, looking after ourselves and our local environment 

February has arrived in the forest and has brought us a lot of rain! For us this is perfect - puddle jumping, adventure walks and mud play all make for an incredible day in the forest! 

The children have learned and learned and learned this week! At the start of the week, our lovely team were introduced to how to notice ‘the first signs of spring’, by looking for flower shoots, such as daffodils, snowdrops and bluebells. They also looked at tree and bramble branches to see if they could see any new shoots or buds growing. 

As the sun sets on a soggy week, we reminisce on all the fun we’ve had in the forest.