With the Autumn arriving and the weather changing, the children have been looking at the different ways that the forest around us is changing and how we can use it day-to-day. The leaves are falling, which make for so many fun games and activities for the children, as well as the wind making it fun to watch as they fly through the air. We have also spent time making homes to keep the bugs nice as cosy as the weather changes. Talking about the change in seasons is of such importance for our children because they gain an understanding of the way that the world works and how each it changes as time passes. This is then something that will influence the activities that the children choose each day in the forest.
This week we have been taking advantage of the hundreds of leaves that have falling, finding new and exciting ways that we can use them in our play. Some of the children noticed that some of the leaves were long enough to look like people and said they could draw faces on them. They took turns to draw faces on the leaves, and some added extra body parts on. We made whole families on the leaves, and the children chose different sized leaves for the different people in their family. This was also a great link to our months theme of “All About Me” as the children have been discussing the formation of their family and telling their friends about their sibling, grandparents, and cousins. This is such a simple, but effective and enjoyable way for our children to find out more about each other.
We have also been talking a lot about numbers and the children wanted to use leaves to write on. We wrote numbers from one to ten and the children had to work out which order they went in. They spoke to each other about which order they should go in and then had to recognise the written numbers on each leaf. They then took it in turns to mix the numbers up and their friends would have to put the back in the right order. Doing this is a great way to get the children involved in numbers and it is a fun way for them to enjoy learning about number sequences and written numbers.
As the colder weather draws in, we have also been talking about the bugs in our forest and what they have to do in the autumn and winter. The children asked where bugs go to keep warm, what they eat and where they live when the temperature drops. This led to discussions about what we could all do to help the bugs. The children came up with the idea of making a bug hotel! It started by using a cardboard box as the main structure and adding forest features inside. This meant they had to collect sticks, leaves and mud to make a creation which would be the perfect place for bugs to nestle down and get comfy in. They had to think about the size of the hotel and which bugs could get in there, as well as thinking about what items from around the forest would be the best to make the hotel with. They collected different sized sticks, some big and some small, to help make it a structure that would stand the test of the weather. It had to be strong enough to stay up, but still comfortable for the bugs. Having conversations like this with our children is always something we want to make important as they need to know how we can care for the forest around us, along with the things that call the forest floor their home.
As well as recognising numbers, we have also spent some time this week looking at letters in the forest. One of our amazing educators set out an activity that involved looking for wooden letters in rice. They had to find letters that their names started with, or other words that they knew. Doing this was a great way for the children to think about how words are spelt at the same time as familiarising themselves with the way that the letters look. Finding them when they are buried in rice also makes it more fun and gives them a bit more of a challenge. This activity led to our children spelling out longer words and then they could share this with their friends. It was something that suited all of our children, no matter what their age, because everyone had a letter that was of importance to them.
It has been a busy and exciting week at Wimbledon with lots of fun games and activities taking place each day. Being able to watch the forest change around us on a daily basis is so exciting for our children and provides them with an understanding of how the world works and what we can do with the things we see every day. It has been so wonderful to see them so engaged in the change of seasons and looking at how the forest transforms depending on the weather. This is a good sign of things to come over the next couple of months!
Little Forest Folk
Wimbledon