Earth Day & New Garden Space!

Over the last couple of weeks, the toddlers have been super busy dedicating a whole week to celebrating Earth Day. This has involved lots of exploratory walks where the toddlers have had the chance to look at their surroundings and gain an appreciation for nature and the environment. This includes appreciating the world in all weathers... even the pouring rain! The toddlers absolutely loved splashing in puddles on a rainy walk on Friday; they were all dressed up in wellies and waterproofs so held nothing back when they saw puddles approaching. Luco dived straight in with a massive jump, splashing all staff and children in the vicinity! All that could be heard from Cleo was her constant giggles as she ran up and down the length of the giant puddle, laughing even more when she fell down. Iris took a more reserved approach and decided to admire the grass and flowers while gently tapping her feet into the water. Jasper went for a little paddle but found the ducks far more exciting, exclaiming “Look it’s ducks!” before following them around the grass, calling out “Ducks! Ducks!”.

Another exciting aspect of celebrating Earth Day was the toddlers making some earth themed cupcakes! Basti was very excited for this and was focused on mixing his ingredients together, although when it was time to cook the cupcakes he was a little concerned they’d been lost and kept asking “Where’s cupcakes?”. Once reassured they were in the oven, he confirmed “Decorate them later”. Jack and kitty seemed to have the same idea to try and taste as much of the mixture as they could. Jack was not sly at all and went for his spoon confidently however Kitty put more thought into it. She dipped her finger in her bowl and acting as if it was an accident said “Oh no! Made a mess” with her only solution being to eat it! Oops, what a shame this accident happened many...many times! When it was time to decorate the cupcakes Isabelle sprinkled on her soil (crushed up biscuits) and added her strawberry lace worm, when the lace kept falling off Isabelle adjusted it and said “It’s a wiggly worm”.

Over the last few weeks the under two’s have enjoyed being outdoors having fun in the new garden area. They’ve been making big towers using the mega blocks at the wooden table, with Rose and Blair having fun scooping the bricks and making big piles, while India was concentrating making a tall tower. Harry found a few bricks on the floor “Oh no icks (bricks)”. Isla was enjoying using the bucket in the sandpit, she was filling it with her hands. When offered a spade, she replied “ Isla pade” (spade).

They’ve had fun using yellow paint to make sunshine faces, Amelie used her hand and placed it in he centre of her plate, giving a big smile of achievement. India was watching intently and copied what Amelie was doing and also held a paintbrush towards one of the paint pots suggesting she wanted more paint.

On one of the walks they were really interested to watch the police horses being taken into the field, and as they walked past, some of children waved. Gabriel started pointing and roaring at them while Amelie made clicking noises to mimic the sound of the horses walking along.