We started off the week exploring the magic of shapes in the forest. The children spotted shapes in the natural environment and discussed which they liked the best. We kept warm exploring the different shapes of our obstacle course and then spent a cosy early evening making some lovely circle and star shaped Christmas tree ornaments for our nursery Christmas tree.

Learning all about Aurora Borealis and welcoming winter

The magic of winter has well and truly arrived at Little Forest Folk Wimbledon and this week we had our first snow of the season! The excitement on the children's faces as the huge white flakes cascaded down was amazing! They tried to catch them on their tongues and see who had the biggest flake. We also looked at the different patterns of each flake, trying to see if we could spot any that were similar. 

With a sharp dip in the temperature this week we have bundled up with more layers, including hats, gloves and snoods. We enjoyed running games and dancing in the first snowfall of winter. My goodness they were huge snow flakes!

On Monday, the children began the day making clay imprints using shells. They carefully flattened and smoothed their clay before choosing objects to press into it, noticing the unique patterns and textures each shell created.

It’s been another wonderful week here in Morden. We’ve all been adjusting to the colder temperatures and our little adventurers have shown that you can have just as much fun bundled up as you can in the sunshine!

The clock is ticking and we have started to count the days to welcome the most wonderful season of the year in the forest! Indeed, everything is beginning to look a lot like winter – a silent forest greets every morning, creating a peaceful, calm atmosphere. We walk, run & hop with our warm layers and waterproofs on and... let it snow!

Despite the chilly air settling around us today, the children embraced the outdoors with enthusiasm and warmth, filling the forest with creativity, laughter and energetic play.

What glorious autumn weather we have had this week. We have loved our potion and medicine creation in the mud kitchen, the reading corners with books about numbers, weights and measures have been really popular and our role playing has been rich.

We had a fruity start to the week by exploring some of our favourite or least favourite fruits. We had a polling station where the children could talk about their favourite fruits

The current education system is too focussed on qualifications at the expense of broader aims. 94% of respondents favour urgent complete or partial reform of GCSEs. (HMC report)

This week our management team at Little Forest Folk attended a lecture by Simon Sinek called ‘The Infinite Game’. Simon Sinek is an organisational consultant who gives inspiring and motivational talks on a subject dear to our hearts – leadership. 

It’s a challenging thing in today’s society to trust your children to develop when they are ready. Amidst NCT groups there is always much talk about when a baby starts walking, when they are potty trained, with some families feeling the pressure to achieve a goal by a certain age or time, rather than when the child is developmentally ready.

Today is my son’s last day at Little Forest Folk. He will be returning for holiday camps but today is his last official day as a daily member of the nursery community. 

You may have seen that Little Forest Folk Chiswick recently had an Ofsted inspection, grading us as Outstanding, in which the inspector commented ‘Children thrive in this nursery. They gain a superb understanding of early literacy and mathematical skills’.

We are so fortunate in our forest nurseries to have a high adult to child ratio that allows us to fully embrace ‘in the moment’ planning.

Today is a bitter sweet day for me. It’s my last baby’s first day in the forest. It’s a good reminder of how difficult settling in can be. Not for the children but for the parents.

There’s a saying that a goldfish will only grow to the size of the bowl it is confined to, whereas a fish in the ocean surrounded by space, freedom and the wonders of the natural world can grow to its full capacity.

As part of a recent parent survey, we asked parents if they could change one thing about Little Forest Folk, what would it be? The vast majority responded ‘nothing’, which is always lovely to hear.

There were however a small group of parents who responded with ‘do some learning’.

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.

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.

‘Wouldn’t we all secretly like to be Little Forest Folk?' We are incredibly excited and proud to be included once again in the prestigious annual Tatler Nurseries Guide.

We have some exciting news to share with you. It’s been difficult to keep quiet about this achievement as we were inspected just over 10 days ago at Little Forest Folk Fulham…

We are delighted to have won the Nursery World Awards 2016 award for Online and Social Media. We see our website and social media as more than an opportunity to tell parents about our setting...

We are delighted to announce details of our third Little Forest Folk site....

From October our fantastic team will be bringing our magical experience to Fulham. Our children will spend all day playing in the beauty and wonder that is Fulham Palace Gardens. 

We are delighted to have been recognised by Tatler as one of the 'finest nurseries in the nation' in 'The Tatler Nurseries Guide 2016'