Igniting the imagination in the natural world
Every Tuesday and Thursday, a group of childrenfrom each of the three 1st Place nurseries venture to Forest School to investigatethe many possibilities that the natural world has to offer.
This is a wonderful opportunity for the childrento spark ideas and theories from their explorations, as they explore usingtheir senses during a hands-on experience. The children build confidence andindependence as they problem-solve and take risks, and they form and feel empathyfor others and nature.
The children have enjoyed building tents,habitats, fishing in the pond, running free in the wind, collecting snailshells, transforming sticks into magic wands, finding sticks that resembleletters, climbing trees, watching worms wiggle and using tools such asbinoculars and magnifying glasses to support their curiosity.
We have observed rich conversations betweenfriends as new relationships form across the nurseries. Here, the children arekeen to build a campfire to share our snacks around:
Pablo: How do we make a campfire?
Monica: We need some straw.
Alice: Leaves!
Ingrid: We need fire.
Hanna: We need to rub some sticks.
Pablo: We could rub some rocks together. But itdidn't work!
Hanna: We didn’t say the magic words!
Nicola: What could the magic words be?
Hanna: Please.
Pablo: How can we make a campfire?
Nicola: Maybe we're missing something?
Alice: We need sticks and straw and light and welight it up!
Our time with the natural world has provided further invitations of play, igniting our imagination and creativity once back at nursery, when we reflect on our time in the forest.
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