This week has been all about counting, sorting and linking numerals to quantities, with mathematical thinking naturally woven through our play and adventures in the forest.
One of our favourite activities was a wonderful baby role-play. The little ones transformed a wheelbarrow into a cosy cot, taking turns to be the baby while practising their negotiating skills and requesting a timer to support fair turn-taking. They searched for blankets and pillows, cooked mud kitchen meals, sang lullabies and used our feelings puppets to check in on how their babies were feeling when they woke up. Thankfully, everyone was happy and ready for some magical parachute fun!
A group of children enjoyed a sunny trip to the meadow with an educator, where counting quickly became the focus. After rolling a giant bobbin down the hill and timing how quickly it reached the bottom, attention turned to carefully snipping buttercups. The children lined up their flowers and proudly counted them one by one. They also built a small shelter, enjoyed stories together and soaked up the sunshine.
Throughout the week, mathematical thinking appeared everywhere. In the mud kitchen, the children opened a pie shop and used different-sized pots to sort and organise ingredients. Apple pie, plum pie, ice cream pie and chocolate pie all featured on the menu, although the plum pie proved so popular that it quickly sold out! Elsewhere, chopped vegetables and rigatoni pasta inspired counting games, sorting activities and imaginative chef role-play.
Fine motor skills were strengthened through a variety of activities. The children carefully followed lines with scissors, practised threading leaves onto yarn using plastic needles and sorted colourful pasta by colour and quantity. There were four colours and twenty-three pieces of pasta to count and categorise, providing lots of opportunities to match numbers to amounts.
Exploration and problem-solving continued outdoors. Some children worked with an educator to cut and sort vegetables, discovering that a plastic knife could be used much like a saw and learning how different foods required different amounts of force to cut. Others helped build a tyre swing, transporting the tyre across the site, selecting the strongest tree and patiently queuing for their turn once it was complete.
Imaginative play flourished this week too. The children designed a maze-like mansion from pallets, complete with secret corridors and hideaways for trolls, princes, princesses and other characters. Pirate adventures also continued as treasure maps were expanded, flags were hoisted and pallet ships were constructed to escape crocodiles. Before long, the pirate ship transformed into a kitten and puppy rescue centre, complete with feeding stations, litter trays and a trip to the vets. Happily, all animals were declared safe and healthy after their "ultrascan"!
Messy play was another highlight. The children loved exploring muddy vehicle trays filled with brown paint and shaving foam, creating tracks and roads before carefully washing the vehicles clean. We also spent time improving our bug hotel, collecting sticks, trimming pathways with child-safe scissors and helping an educator use loppers to make larger cuts. The materials we gathered were then used to enrich both the bug habitat and mud kitchen play.
As always, it has been wonderful to watch the children collaborate, negotiate, count, create and problem-solve together throughout their forest adventures.
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend and look forward to another week of learning and adventure together!
