What an exciting week we’ve had in the forest! This week, we were exploring what makes an amazing community. We learned that being a part of a community means that everyone has a special role in a group using our own special skills and talents. When we work together, everyone can help each other to make our community better.
We were so excited to meet two members of our community who have special skills and knowledge in taking care of our teeth. They introduced themselves as Dental Hygienists and their role is to help everyone to keep their teeth clean and healthy. They talked about how people come to the dentist’s office when people need to have their teeth looked at if it’s sore or hurting or when people want to get their teeth cleaned to keep them healthy. The dental hygienists also help the community by teaching others how to take care of their teeth by brushing and flossing regularly and avoiding food that isn't good for our teeth. We had a go at practising brushing teeth properly in a way that isn’t too hard or too soft, by using gigantic toothbrushes to brush one of the model mouths the dental hygienists brought. We also had a go at flossing between the teeth in a gentle way, so we get bits of food without hurting our gums.
The dental hygienists were very impressed at how we take care of our teeth by eating healthy food. We told them how much we like eating our vegetables and drinking milk at mealtimes in the forest and at home. We learned that it’s ok to drink a little bit of juice but not too much because it has lots of sugar which isn’t good for the enamel on our teeth. We were so grateful we have dentists and dental hygienists to help everyone learn how to take care of our teeth.
We also talked about other roles that people play in the community. We explored what it was like to be builders who work very hard carrying heavy materials such as timber and bricks to make our homes. We also learned they are very good at measuring and counting to make sure our houses are not topsy turvy! We tried to make our own houses by building dens made of planks and branches. We worked together to find a way to keep the den upright.
We explored other occupations and thought about what we can do to help our community. We talked about what we are good at and activities we enjoy doing that could help others. Someone decided they would like to become bakers because they love to bake muffins and cakes. Someone else said they wanted to become a lawyer because lawyers help police officers find people who make bad choices. Someone said they’d like to be a tree surgeon to take care of trees that are sick and to cut the ones that are rotten, so they don’t fall on people.
We’ve had so much fun learning about the people who make up our communities and thinking about how we can help others. We’ll be back next time with more stories of our adventures in the forest!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham