This week at Little Forest Folk Winkworth, we have been focusing on our fine motor skills! In particular, we’ve been supporting our little ones to develop their skills with independent eating and using a variety of tools and utensils. The forest is an amazing place to develop little fingers - there’s so much to collect with our tweezers and wheelbarrows and dig up and transport with our trowels, rakes and scoops.
On Monday, the mud kitchen was transformed into the Pinecone Pizzeria, complete with our own woodfire oven! The little ones practiced slicing their pizzas into halves and quarters, and making marks in the clay spread on wood cookie bases with their wooden knives. Then it was time to place some delicious natural toppings, working hard to squeeze the tongs together to grip the pinecones and horse chestnuts.
We also enjoyed a fantastic activity with Ceri, rolling out clay using a branch and then carefully cutting round the edge of a big leaf with our wooden knife before pressing the leaf down on the clay and pinching and pulling to peel the leaf off. The children loved studying the imprint of the leaf left in the clay and experimenting with different kinds of leaves!
Forks have also taken centre stage with some lovely painting activities. First our little adventurers used the fork to print shapes that were perfect to decorate their spiky hedgehogs. On another day forks were the perfect tool to use for our string painting. The children held the fork and dragged the attached string through yellow and blue paint before trailing and flicking it over the paper, while watching the colours merge.
And of course, we have been keenly following the children's interests as they watch the exciting comings and goings of the diggers through the arboretum on various construction projects. We’ve loved all the conversations this has sparked and the play opportunities with our own little diggers as we explore textures, weights and measurements.
We ended the week with an exciting discovery while adventuring through the forest-a stream. The children didn’t waste time wading through the shallow water and eventually spotting a waterfall! We can’t wait to see what we’ll discover next time!
Little Forest Folk
Winkworth