St Marys Church visit
The children visited the church this week for a lovely Easter activity service. They were very excited to join in, chatting away on the walk there. As they arrived, they were lead into the chapel where they were told the story of Easter. The children joined in with songs, dancing away and showing their amazing moves! They participated in a cross hunt, searching high and low to be the first to find one. Sienna spotted one in the mini chapel and said "There's one!" Showing the vicar, who was very impressed. "There's a golden one. It's very beautiful!" Amelia said proudly. Once the game had finished, they sat down for a tasty hot cross bun and a refreshing glass of orange juice. "Found another one!" Shouted Matilda, pointing to the cross on her bun. The children also decorated their own stain glass window, using bright colours to make them stand out.
This week the babies have explored and manipulated playdough. They began by making the playdough in the sensory tray combining a variety of materials both wet and dry for a sensory experience. James poured the flour into the tray and spilled a little on the floor, "Uh-oh" Emily says and laughs. Freddie then began squeezing the flour and oil mixture together between his fingers and watched it ooze out, "Yuck" Ines says. The activity continued in the garden as you can see although the Millie preferred to throw the flour up in the air "Wheeeeee" she giggled. Rowan and Jack also had a go feeling and poking at the playdough with Jack trying to eat some thinking it was snack time. Joshua decided to get some leaves from the tree and combine them with his playdough to which Ines joined in and tried to use a stick as her rolling pin.
We have also begun some festive Easter activities with the babies trying to find our toy bunnies around the room. Xanthe cleverly ducked down and giggled as she found the bunny hiding under the slide! Emily found lots of bunnies and collected them all in her hands with James helpfully picking them up as she dropped them.
Mother's Day Tea Party
Our Mother's Day tea party was very successful, with a brilliant turn out. The children were very helpful, helping set up the tables. The children were very excited when their Mummies arrived, taking their hands and leading them inside. It was lovely to see everyone chatting away and enjoying the lovely sandwiches and cakes that were provided. The children could hardly wait to give their special cards and gifts they had made. They had painted a ceramic cup and saucer, and planted a flower inside, and we re so proud to present these to all the mummies and all you could see were bright big smiles all around the room. Matilda asked "Will the mummies be wearing special hats? " Maybe a good idea for next year ?!
This week the babies have been exploring water. They played with some water toys and other objects to see what floats and what will sink. They discovered that sometimes the boats would squeeze out water if squeezed, and enjoyed squirting the water, around giggling, as well as making the other children laugh while getting a lot of uh-oh's and shocked faces when it went on the staff or floor. Ines and Emily pushed the boats along the water alongside each other and every now and then would push them under the water to see them pop back up, learning that they float and with some giggles learning it was funny to watch the boats pop back up. The smaller babies also got involved in the fun. They had some smaller bowls and tried to make the animals float in the water, however this didn't last to long before the water spilt onto their trays to make some lovely splashes! We later added some lovely herbs to water gradually by sprinkling, the room smelt lovely with the aroma of thyme and the children liked to add the ingredients and give the water a swish around, James also enjoyed pouring the whole bowl of Weetabix into the water and then squashing it in his hands to explore the texture.
Let's hide!
The children have been involved in many Forest school activities this week. They visited Carlisle park and had a race from one end of the park to the other! They were instructed to race from tree to tree, cheering loudly as they went. Matilda said "I can't run anymore I might need the toilet !" As they reached the loggery, they chose sticks of various sizes and decided to poke around the open spaces in the logs. Joshua held his stick and said "I found a small bug, he’s grey. You can't see him very well" They continued to explore through the trees, moving branches to find out what was inside. They have also been building their own Tipi in the outdoor nature garden. They held pieces of bamboo together, while it was tied together with string. Once finished, the children took sticks under with them and started rubbing to make a campfire. Some of the children turned over a bit of tree bark and found woodlice crawling around. Alexander said "Look they are very fast!" Robyn replied "Yes they are running away!" Together they observed where the woodlice went at high speed heading for cover.
The babies and toddlers have been exploring the world of animals . This began with a puppet show using different animals and the children making the sounds to match. Joshua had a great time roaring with the lion and barking with the dog, and others were squealing in delight, waiting for the next animal to appear! This was followed by a walk in the park, and the little ones sang and acted out our Walking through the Jungle song.Emily barked when she saw a dog, and the others joined in. Back at nursery they made lions using glue and various coloured tissue papers. Thomas preferred to simply spread the glue, whilst Ines tore the paper into strips ready for collage. James decided to throw the paper up in the air which started a big game and all the children followed suit, laughing away. Great fun!
