The forest offers a whole variety of possibilities - sometimes we are in search of something particular - like acorns or autumn leaves - other times it is the scene for imaginative play. It offers children the possibility to play all together, in small groups or to find a quiet spot and have a little think.
Today was all about sticks and stones - about working together to move BIG branches and logs and trying to move a stone. In small groups collecting sticks and building dens or sliding down the rocks. For other children to go look for the witch from "Room on the Broom" - there is ALWAYS something to do and something to discover or rediscover...
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| we went into the forest to collect sticks - as we are going tinto the forest next week to light a fire and cook lunch - as we have discovered the children just did not understand that fire was dangerous... so we are going to get up close with fire to learn more - to give them the opportunity to make their own risk assessments and not rely on adults protecting them... but I will write about that next week! Instead of collecting lots of sticks - it became a morning of moving and co-operation - and this was something we did not want to disturb. |
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| rock-sliding was a popular activity - slide down. climb up, slide down, climb up. |
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| today the children were mostly together (often they break off in smaller groups) and after a while one of the children seemed to need a break, wandered off a short distance and sat herself down. I watched and observed as she sat there deep in her own thoughts looking at the sky and the tree-tops. |
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| After a while she got up and went back to play with the others. When I asked her about what she was looking at - she said she was watching the clouds... small wispy clouds were floating by in the wind in the bright blue sky - yes it WAS worth pausing a moment and just looking. Sometimes we need a 2 year old to remind us of the importance of just being. |
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