Dragon dance!

The children celebrated Chinese New year and used brightly coloured streamers and lanterns to decorate the nursery inside and also out in the garden. They also made their own lanterns ‘ Let’s put them in the trees’ said Faith ‘ Yes to make it pretty’ replied Clara. ‘The birds will love this’ said Darcey as they hung them up outside.

They glued and painted a large boat ‘It’s a dragon boat!’ announced Damon. Let’s make dragons!’ suggested Zac, and so the children selected various resources including large boxes to make beautiful dragon masks as you can see. They danced the Dragon dance to Chinese music ‘ Move the dragons up and down!’ shouted Elara as she danced.

They children were able to taste and sample delicious Chinese foods. They decorated tables and pretended it was a Chinese restaurant, and ate home made stir fry, spring rolls and egg fried rice. Kung Hei Fat Choi! 恭喜发财 (Congratulations and be prosperous) to you all!

The babies and toddlers also celebrated the Year of The Pig. The little ones began by mark making with pens paints and hands onto paper and formed them into lovely lanterns, and also made pigs. They decided to tear the different paper and card into different sizes to use a decoration, and stuck these onto various shaped and sized materials.Joshua said ‘Oh dear!’ and covered his mouth with his hand during the tearing activity and James just laughed.

They also had the opportunity to taste and snack on Chinese food and Xanthe ate all her vegetables and noodles and wanted more! However Ines said ‘Yuk!’ after sampling the spring rolls. Emily loved the Chinese music which was playing over the meal and swayed in time to it, later dancing to it after the meal.

The new baby gym has proved very successful and popular. Thomas loved the slide in particular saying ‘Wheee!’ as he came down, and Hlenhaze was very interested in the ship’s wheel up on the platform.

Icy science!

The children have been observing the weather and exploring ice. Outside in the garden they noticed ice on plants and structures, and that as the morning progressed the sun melted some of it. Matilda noticed ‘The ice is still here. That’s because the sun didn’t melt it!’ Douglas said ‘ You get ice in orange juice and water!’ They had a game of finding and recording where the ice was - on buckets, fences and even the pond. Afterwards they made beautiful ice eggs and put dinosaurs inside , and the following day placed them in a special dinosaur nest of straw ‘ To keep them warm!’ said Darcey.

They took part in a science experiment and gave various suggestions on how the ice could be melted. ‘ We could put a hat on it!’ said Joshua . Elara observed the ice was begging to crack and said ‘It snaps like a bread stick!

The children have planted some garlic and Iris bulbs into pots inside, as they realized the ground was far too icy and hard at this time of year. Some of the flowers are already begging to appear!

The babies and toddlers have had an exciting week full of dance, movement and being creative. They love to explore the Hideaway tunnel. Ines smiled as she hurried in and out, saying ‘Boo!’ to James as she passed. Emily and Freddie gazed and waved the floaty materials all around the room. They laughed as they hid under their fabric; Hlenhaze laughed as Xanthe hid under hers and suddenly pulled it off to surprise him.

The little ones explored each of the ingredients before mixing them all together to make playdough. Eddie particularly liked the soft texture of the flour, spreading it all over the table , then poured more into the bowl. Meanwhile Freddie was more interested in adding the flour and salt to his hair! Once the dough was ready, the children spent a long time feeling the texture, and enjoying the warmth !

Team games!

The children have been paying lots of large group and team games this week. Hopscotch at the Forest school building was very popular; the children were laughing as they threw conkers onto the numbers, with a good deal of success! William cleverly counted his hops 1-5; well done! Sleeping Lions is another favourite, with the boys really immersed in the role of lions, leading to very enthusiastic roars! ‘ Very scary!’ said Isla.

They balanced bean bags on the heads to walk through and over hoops. ‘I know’ said Zac ‘We can balance them on our necks’ ‘And our shoulders’ shouted Joshua. By far the most popular game was Limbo, wit the children ( mostly) going under the rope held out, with up to three children at a time! ‘We love playing games’ exclaimed Theo, ‘But now i am hungry, like a hungry Lion!’

The babies and toddlers have explored the daffodils this week, smelling the flowers and feeling the soil before adding water. They also felt some slimy mixture we made , allowing it to fall between their fingers. Millie did not like the texture, and shook it off her fingers, and James on the other hand could not get enough ! Joshua and Hlenhaze explored the sensory baskets which contain a huge range of textures such as carpet samples and bashing various metal objects to hear the different sounds. ‘Oohh’ said Emily in time with the beat. Eloise and Ines played with the musical instruments, discovering ways to make different sounds, with Ines looking shocked as Eloise made a loud rattle with the shaker, which lead to them both laughing.

Snow dance!

The children have been observing the weather, and decided they really wanted to see some snow. ‘ Let’s do a snow dance!’ shouted Robyn ‘ And we can dress up!’ added Zac. They wore brightly coloured wristbands and weather warrior headgear, and set off to the park. They shook bells and danced and stamped their feet to the beat, shouting loudly together ‘Snow!’ They also made a special rainbow den using the parachute ‘ In case it really does snow!’ said Sami . They also made rainbow sticks made from twigs and small branches they found in the grass, and added lengths of fabric and crepe paper strips, and waved them around ‘ So we do get some snow!’ said Matilda. ‘! really hope it works’ Amelia added.

What is interesting is that we had a flurry of sleet this week - I wonder if the dance worked?

The toddlers have welcomed their new friends playing ball games together. One game was to post the balls through the gaps in the activity wall. Freddie was very keen for his new friend Millie to have a turn ‘ Ta’ he said as he held out the ball for her; how kind!

The Messy Spaghetti was indeed very well received, as different textures were included, including play foam. William loved to squish it in his hands whilst Joshua picked it up and dropped it form a height, watching very closely as it fell and landed on the floor. Meanwhile Hlenhaze and Thomas giggled as they explored the sensory experience.

Campfires!

Happy New Year to Everyone !

The children wanted to make a campfire this week. They worked extremely hard to gather firewood ‘ To make the perfect fire!’ said Elara. Joshua said ’We need food to cook on our fire!’, which prompted the others to look for anything suitable in the vegetable patch. ‘ I’ve found some!’ declared Sienna as she held up some tomatoes then gently placed them into the pan to cook. The children also hunted for bugs, and made dens. They love our indoor Forest School Classroom in Carlisle Park where the woodwork was very popular , with kind displays of older children assisting the younger ones as you can see. ‘ We are getting very good at building fires!’ announced Jasmin.

The babies and toddlers have been exploring the new wooden musical instruments. The large rainmaker was very poplar; Zach and Emily watched in amazement as the wooden balls fell through the various levels making a loud pitter-patter sound. Hlenhaze roared and smiled, and Eve couldn’t wait to have a turn; and so excited when she did! Xanthe and James have been painting this week, with Xanthe deciding it was more fun to paint all around the easel rather than the paper supplied, and James preferring his hands!