The melting ice revealed magnificent mud this week and rolling competitions were orchestrated by older children who showed younger ones the best spots with enough slope and space to have the best fun. A mark of success here is the amount of mud our outerwear gets covered in, and there were certainly top marks all round!
The week was filled with several adventure walks and some groups enjoyed going on “rainbow space worm” hunts. The adventure began with an exciting story about spaceships and aliens losing their pet worms in the forest and that it was our job to find 20 of them. Wool lengths had earlier been draped on flora on a trail leading to the lake and children excitedly discovered them all. The last group of the day enjoyed collecting the space worms, to support the understanding that we should always leave the forest as we found it. These treasure hunts will continue, so as many children as possible get to experience the fun we had!
Wool was also central to a woodland craft activity where several children were introduced to ‘God’s Eye’ making. These creations are rooted in a variety of South American cultures where each colour represents a year. Matt converted this to represent things that might be important to children or in ways that help children think about identifying feelings with colour. After two sticks are lashed into an x, the wool can be weaved in a pattern which children try very hard to master. These one-on-one or small group extended moments are full of meaningful conversation and the type of great bonding that enriches learning.
The weekend looks set to be a bit colder again so wrap up well for more adventures outdoors but do also relax and rest as much as possible too. See you all next week.
Little Forest Folk
Wandsworth