Music, Lights & Families!

During the last couple of weeks the pre-school children have been busy exploring many different musical instruments, beats and rhythms for our Music Week. Whilst exploring the different sized triangles, maracas, bells and rain makers all together, Ada told her friends “Musical instruments make lots of noise, don’t they?”. Each of the children loved listening to the different sounds the instruments made as they took it in turns to play each instrument and they all had the opportunity to make their very own musical instruments. They used recycled materials such as cereal boxes, cardboard cylinders, bottles and paper plates to make their chosen instruments. The children used pasta, rice and other natural materials to put inside their instruments that they could use to shake and tilt their instruments and see what different sounds and music they could make. They loved decorating their drums with different coloured paints. Zachary was very proud of his instrument and was eager to show his friends his creation, saying “Let’s make a band and play lots of music!” 

Outside in the garden, the children have enjoyed lots of construction play activities. Riley encouraged her friend Jack to build a big train with the wooden blocks. Riley told Jack, “Let’s make super train to North Pole!”. Together the children stacked, joined and balanced the blocks one on top of the other until they were happy with their train shape. Jack said to Riley “We might see some reindeer, might we?”. The children enjoyed constructing a road in the builders tray using some masking tape. Tomas said to Jasper “We need a parking garage for our cars to have a rest.” “We need a roundabout too.” Jasper added. All the children had lots of fun driving their cars around the tracks on the road they had made together. 

Over the past two weeks the toddlers have been learning about families and the people who help us. The toddlers enjoyed looking at pictures of their families that had been sent into nursery from home. Tommy pointed out all his family members by name and kept his photographs with him all day! Reegan smiled when he found his family photos in the sand tray and proudly showed his friends the photo. Rafferty and James particularly enjoyed looking into a mirror and trying to draw a self portrait. Rafferty pointed out “Raffy has eyes, head, nose” while drawing what he could see. 

Outside, the toddler firefighters put on their brave boots and hardy helmets and bravely tackled the mighty growing spaghetti fire! The firefighters grabbed their water sprayers and sprayed the burning fire as quickly as they could! Alastair said “Fire hot! Fire hot! Pour on water!”, while Max believed stomping on the fire would be more effective. Out of nowhere, two robbers known as Sadie and Emily, ran across the playground carrying a stolen bag of food.  Not far behind were three police officers, Isaac, Rowan and Florence shouting “Going to get you!”. Sadly, their police hats were a few sizes too big, so kept covering their eyes sending them all in different directions. 

Back inside the doctors Zack and Lana were working long hours trying to keep their patients healthy. Zack used the stethoscope to monitor their heart rates by putting it on his friends heads, while Lana took the dolls temperatures. Thankfully all the dolls were healthy apart from a few broken legs, arms and one poorly head! Thankfully, Olivia came to the rescue with tissue paper and quickly bandaged them all up. 

The children in the under two’s room have been painting using different types of objects. Youcef, Kitty and Amélie really got stuck in, dipping mega blocks into red paint and got very messy! For Remembrance Day, the children used the bottom of drink bottles to create poppies, stamping the bottles onto the paper leaving a floral pattern. Margot held the bottle with both hands and Ada concentrated carefully placing the bottle on the paper plate. During a car rolling activity, Otto and Freddie were very enthusiastic, rolling the cars on paper once they’d been through the paint, and using their hands to spin the paint-covered wheels around. 

Outside, Amélie stacked the big wooden blocks to make a huge tower, then clapped and laughed as she knocked it down. Esmé and Margot investigated the treasure basket, using their hands and mouths to feel the different objects, including smooth pebbles and special wooden sticks. During a walk to feed the ducks, the children also saw the big police horses and Freddie and Sebastian waved as they passed by.

During sensory time, the children were mesmerized by the projector shining on the walls and ceiling of the dark sleep room. When it was turned off, Otto was looking for it, holding his hands out in a confused gesture. When put back on, he smiled and waved his arms. Kitty liked using the small shakers, learning that when shaken, the beads inside light up and she held them close to her face. In the messy tray the children used the cooking utensils to mix up instant mashed potato. Otto scooped up spoonfuls and put them in a frying pan while Margot was trying to eat it! Esmé and Youcef liked exploring the playdough, using their fingers to press into the dough and tried to push down hard on the cutters to make the shapes.