Thunder and Mirrors!

Over the last few weeks the toddlers have been exploring the theme of the five senses which has involved lots of music and movement, exploring textures and looking into mirrors and reflective shapes. Phoebe leaned over to look in a large mirror placed on the floor, sticking her tongue out and getting as close as she possibly could. Jenson saw Phoebe doing this and bent down to look in the mirror too, quickly cackling at his reflection, leaning away and back in again, playing peek-a-boo with himself. Charlotte laid down next to the mirror and watched as Jenson interacted with his reflection. She then began poking the mirror, at Jensons features, with “Ah” as she poked where his nose was, then his eyes, and then his hair. As they both moved their gaze away from the mirror and looked at each other Charlotte poked him on his nose and they erupted into giggles.

The children were a little sad to not be able to play in the rain, as they usually do, due to the thunder and lightening, but quickly cheered up watching and listening to it through the patio doors. Finley was the first to notice rain on the sky light and became mesmerised watching the big droplets splashing down, before pointing and signalling to his friends by saying “Look, there”. Evelyn looked up immediately and stood leaning her body on the unit as she watched the rain for a good five minutes, “Raining”. After a large clap of thunder Finley and Evelyn looked at each other with a gasp, followed by an “Oooo” and a giggle. 

Over the last couple of weeks in the under twos room, the children have been investigating bugs whilst focusing on our book of the month, The Very Busy Spider. They have also been really enjoying sensory play adventures exploring chia seed slime, made using chia seeds soaked in water. Skandar, with no hesitation, went in with his hands to explore and began pulling very funny faces in response to how the chia seeds felt. Maddie on the other hand went for a completely different approach and went straight for the taste test saying “Mmmm” as she smiled. Continuing on their sensory journey, they explored our textured tiles by crawling and walking on them or simply feeling them with their hands. Zachary walked over to one mat which had a bumpy texture to it and stepped onto it with his feet. He looked up with a shocked expression and laughed as he wiggled his toes and looked around for his friends. 

In the garden,  the children became explorers and searched within the sand pit for buried hidden bugs. Henry and Lowen chose to use spades to dig down, whilst Theo used his hands. As the children began to find the hidden bugs, the excitement began. Jack approached the sand pit and after seeing what his friends had discovered, started to dig to find some bugs. Once he’d found one, Henry clapped his hands as if to celebrate Jack’s find.