Our week in the forest

Chiswick - Santa ready!

Chiswick - Santa ready!

The build up to Christmas has had us all super excited. Two more days to be good so that we can get all the special presents we’ve asked for from Santa. We told the children we’d forgotten to write up our lists for Santa and asked them if they could help us think of things to put on it. There were lots of creative suggestions...

Fulham - Stick people

Fulham - Stick people

But not having the time to build everything this week the children opted for stick people, and what incredible creations the children produced. This week was their first introduction to using some traditional hand tools and their intense concentration, patience, persistence and creativity resulting in the most amazing stick people.

Wimbledon - Busy little chicks

Wimbledon - Busy little chicks

It’s been a very busy week in Fishpond Woods this week with preparations for Monday’s party in full swing. Forest school activities have been at the forefront of the children’s ambitions: we’ve had the string and secateurs out to cut long twigs and tie them in to star shapes; the saw out to cut wood blocks and the palm drills out to make holes for the construction of reindeer; and any sticks lying around were turned into amazing stick men that the children drew faces on and which became new friends in the forest!

Wimbledon - Enchanted

Wimbledon - Enchanted

As the mist clears over the meadow, enchanted children can be seen playing hither and thither amongst the brambles and willows of Fishpond Woods. These rare little forest folk thrive and laugh as they wade through streams, clamber through the trees and sit watching the flickering flames of a warming fire. Our week has been one of constant exploration and entering of new territory, without even leaving our site!

Chiswick - Christmas is coming

Chiswick - Christmas is coming

We introduced some musical instruments at the beginning of the week and used them while we sang along to Navedad Navedad, When Santa Got Stuck Up The Chimney and Jingle Bells. Our Little Forest Folk favourite has been Naveda Naveda. It’s amazing how quickly our children have picked up songs in different languages...

Wimbledon - Learning amongst the trees

Wimbledon - Learning amongst the trees

Water, water everywhere, and plenty of drops to taste! And leaves, leaves everywhere, with plenty to make a house! Whatever the forest (and weather!) has thrown at us this week, the children have responded with resilience and incredible imagination. We’ve had wild winds, drenching downpours and soggy swamps but nothing has deterred the children from their play and learning amongst the trees...

Wimbledon - Full of imagination

Wimbledon - Full of imagination

Autumn is giving way to winter before our very eyes and before we know it there won’t be a single leaf left in Fishponds Woods! Between the onset of winter and the fires, we will have a very bare area to play. Thank goodness our children have the amazing imaginations they do to turn twigs into screwdrivers, trees into cat perches and ladders into trains.