“Spring has sprung and the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is..?” this is a very old poem indeed, but it has certainly been true for this week, although our birds at Little Forest Folk Twickenham are certainly not shy or elusive as robins congregate at the edges of the snack circle and parakeets, woodpeckers, coal tits and doves all sing loudly about the glorious weather, worms and nest building materials.
As our tadpoles start to hatch in our fish tank the children have expressed a desire to build a pond. We can’t of course build a permanent structure in our space, but we did successfully create a temporary pond, and this in-turn led to conversations of what needs to be in a pond? What would you find in a pond? Our little explorers suggested weeds, sticks, stones, lilies, goldfish, frogs, ducks etc and we found items around the forest to place into our temporary structure. With all this excitement around water-based life, as the seasons turn, and the weather warms up we are all really looking forward to getting back into our river walks.
One of our most exciting activities this week has been our gardening projects. We have all been busy planting bulbs and making flower seed bombs (which are flower seeds mixed into mud and shaped into a ball and then buried around the site). It’s always a huge surprise when the flowers bloom in spots we had forgotten we had planted in! Small hands felt the soil between their fingers and created small holes for the bulbs as well as smushing the mud and seeds into ball shapes.
Our toys are looking a little muddy after our wet winter and so our staff set up a car wash for the children with scrubbing brushes, sponges, a little detergent and some lukewarm water. Our car wash professionals were very attentive to their jobs as the trucks, trains, cars and… ducks?? were scrubbed clean, polished and dried and washed again. The car wash was not short of employees as they worked long hours on their vehicle detailing tasks.
Another fabulous week, have a great weekend all!
Little Forest Folk
Twickenham