Little Big People

With Summer beginning we hav

e added some new challenges to our Butterflies group sessions. With the final half term of learning before they depart for Reception, we have shrunk our groups and unpacked our toolbox. Over the coming weeks the children will learn to use a range of bushcraft tools safely. This kicked off this week when the children were introduced to peelers and challenged to remove the bark from a piece of green wood so that it could be coloured in as a beautiful caterpillar. This involved a lot of big thinking - how could we keep ourselves safe with a sharp tool? How much space did we need to give each other? How should we move our hands to make a smooth caterpillar? The children were delighted to try our a new skill and definitely sat an inch taller as they began their whittling.

We have also been looking at life cycles recently to tie in with our Spring learning, and, as Summer gets going, the Forest School creatures are giving us lots to think about! This began with our nursery tadpoles who are getting bigger by the day, we have looked at how they develop - egg, tadpole, back legs, front legs, tail absorbed - and even released some into our Forest School pond. We have also watched the birds, with our resident crows teaching their fluffy-headed youngster how to find its own food. The children are fascinated to learn about the different faces of nature and draw similarities and differences between their own family and the wild families living around us.