Christmas is coming!

This week has been very eventful indeed! The children visited St Marys House and were very excited to chat with the elderly residents about Father Christmas. They made decorations for the residents who were very very impressed!

They attended St Mary’s Church for the Christmas celebration, where they listened to the story of Jesus with puppets read by the Reverend Cara Lovell. This was followed by singing and dancing, including the Hush song which they also brilliantly performed at the Christmas concert here at the nursery this week. They made decorations, followed by tasty snacks and drinks.

The Christmas Concert was very well attended and the children performed brilliantly with marvelous singing, and acting out their version of ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’. This was followed by Carols by Candlelight outdoors. Thank you to everyone whom attended and the staff and children for all their hard work!

The babies and toddlers have been out and about, and feeding the wildlife in Bushy park. They made tasty reindeer food and had great fun spreading the oats and seeds around when they arrived! Helnehaze and Joshua shouted ‘ Weeee’ as they did so! On the way William was waving to some puppies and dogs they passed. They found a huge tree trunk from a tree which had fallen, and Zach and Ines explored it, climbing along and and finding a spider. They collected many twigs and made mini dens for animals when they returned to nursery. James hid some of the animals and Thomas laughed as he knocked the dens down!

Gingerbread!

The children received a letter from Hansel and Gretel stating they had lost the recipe for gingerbread! ‘ Lets go on an adventure to find the recipe!’ shouted Matilda. They dressed up in the nursery waterproofs and head to the Woodland gardens to search. Joshua spotted a trail of oats ‘ Look, look! A clue! We need to follow the oats!’ They explored the trees and big leaves underfoot, and then Jonah discovered a drawing of Hansel on a tree ‘ Wow! This is amazing!’ exclaimed Leo. The recipe card was found hidden close by in some leaves, and after reading the recipe Theo asked if they could make a gingerbread house, which they did upon returning to nursery. ‘I cant wait to eat this!’ Elara announced.

As a thank you to the Woodland wildlife for helping the children find the recipe, the children decorated the trees and wrote thank you notes. ‘Maybe the fairies will read these!’ said Faith

The babies and toddlers have been making delicious carrot cake! Joshua managed to transfer the most of the ingredients inrt the large bowl, but accidentally knocked the side of the bowl with the flour, which showered the table to which he announced very loudly ‘Uh-oh!’. Xanthe and Thomas tasted the carrot by running off with some and eating it! Ines was in charge of the cinnamon, and was happy to sprinkle it into the mixture, and all over the table and floor!

They have been in the nursery nature area as you can see, where Hlenhaze and James played in a den, enjoying hiding from everyone. Zach and Freddie helped to cook and found some raspberries, potatoes and garlic growing there which was used to create a meal. ‘Dinner’ Zach decided, with Freddie stirring, and others adding leaves and bark for flavour!

Camping!

The children made a shelter from the wind and rain this week in the garden ‘Wow, it’s like real camping!’ said Jasmin. They decided to use the Walkie Talkies ‘ In case we need an emergency’ Zac informed his friends. They then decided to lie down inside. ‘ If you are really tired , you can lie in our extra tired bed!’ kindly announced Elara. The camping theme continued in the Tadpoles building in the park. The children decided to cut up and cook their morning snack on the ‘campfire’. ‘To make sure its hot’ Arthur told everyone. Some of the boys made a look out tower ‘ To look for foxes, birds and doggies !’ said Theo. After an active morning , the children took part in a calming and very funny playdough disco session as you can see! The children squeeze and manipulate the dough into shapes and forms to music.

The babies and toddlers have been exploring their senses. They began by listening to music, and finding out ways to make their own, such as using blocks for a beat. Eve started this off by banging the blocks together rather than clapping and soon the other little ones followed suit. They then used drums, and shared beautifully, with Freddie attempting to bang the drum as hard as he could to make a far louder sound! Xanthe on the other hand took the gentle approach. Next was exploring the shaving foam with spices and herbs added. Zach smelt the ginger and pulled a funny face repeating the word ‘Yucky!’ Emily managed to get foam and herbs on her nose, with Ines clapping her hands full of foam all around the room! This made a lovely smell, and the others joined in calling out ‘Yay!’ and an ‘Oh no!’ from Joshua.

People who help us

The children have been discussing how to keep safe and people who help us. On their travels the children met a park ranger who kindly told the children how to be safe in Bushy Park ‘ We need to stay away from the deer’ said Leo ‘ And we do not feed any deer!’ said William. The children made nature crowns so they be easily seen in the park.

We had a special visit from our local police officer PC Robbie Claydon. When he asked how do we keep ourselves safe, Elara replied ‘ We use the green man to cross the road and the cars need to stop!’ Clara said ‘ The fire engine helps us!’ Joshua noticed the key on the officer’s belt ‘ Is that for your hand gloves? ( cuffs) Hand gloves are for robbers!’ ‘The key is for the treasure chest and the telescope ( baton) will help us find the treasure!’ announced Amelia. They all had a chance to try on the handcuffs and helmet. ‘The helmet keeps your head warm because it is cold now’ said Matilda. The children thanked the officer for his visit, and he promised to come back soon!

The babies and toddlers have went into the outdoor areas and searched for food near the growing beds and were very excited to find some tomatoes! They put them into the ‘fire pit’ to cook, and Zac repeated ‘Hot!’ and Josh added more leaves. James played peek-a-boo through the willow tunnel, giggling when he was seen. They used the water pot as a drum exploring the sounds and very much enjoying the splashing!

They searched for treasure sea shells , and Eve did very well at finding them and had a very good attempt at counting and managed up to number two! Well done!

Out and about!

The children have been out and about on a huge scale this week! They wanted to meet people in the community, and so visited Sainsburys to see where the groceries come from . ‘This is where I go shopping with my mummy and daddy’ Faith told her friends. In the chemist Jonah asked ‘Where are all the plasters? We need them to make us better!’ They met a very friendly policeman. ‘He has a very big hat on his head!’ noticed Douglas and Matilda said ‘ He has trappers to put bad people in jail!’ when she saw the handcuffs. The policeman has very kindly agreed to visit the nursery next week, which is very exciting!.

In the park, the children fed the ducks and waved to a tractor driver who went past collecting leaves. ‘Let’s help collect the leaves! ‘ shouted Clara, and they gathered lots of leaves, but decided it was more fun throwing them into the air and even lay down making leaf angels.

The babies made pancakes this week, measuring the ingredients together. Eve helped to pour the water, and when it spilt all over the table said ‘ Uh-oh!’. Emily spread the flour out onto the table, pushing it everywhere, and laughed when it fell onto Sabina’s leg, and even managed to produce a shocked face !

The little ones have also visited the park, and love to feed the ducks , sometimes with help as you can see. Josh tried to throw the feed, but it blew back into his hair, causing him to have a good shake of his head and laugh. ‘Bye ducks!’ said Zac as it was time to leave, and on their return the toddlers made a den with William playing Peek-a-boo!