Following the announcement of our Queen’s award in April, we are delighted to share an article written about Little Forest Folk by a journalist who visited us in May.
We’ve been bursting with excitement and now that it’s the Queen’s birthday and the official announcement day, we are absolutely delighted to finally share with you the news that Little Forest Folk has been given the royal seal of approval.
Following our being selected by Tatler as being one of the finest nurseries in the nation last month, we are now delighted to share with you an article written about Little Forest Folk by a journalist who visited us in our Wimbledon setting a few weeks ago.
Well, this weekend was the long awaited Nursery World Awards! It was a fabulous event and we were delighted to be recognised in such a large industry such as the early years to be one of the industry leaders.
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...
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.
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!
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!
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...
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...
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.
It’s rapidly approaching the time of year that we all love and look forward to. It’s so exciting in the approach to Christmas to see the twinkling lights in the streets and to be tucking into hot chocolates, mulled wine and other treats with our loved ones. It’s also a time when we start to think of those who aren’t fortunate enough to be experiencing the joy we experience at Christmas. Some people don’t have any family to share this special time with, or even a home in which to rest their head...
