'Tanabata' at Molesey

This week the children have been focusing on the festival of ‘Tanabata’. They have been making Japanese drums using paper bowls with string and beads which they enjoyed using whilst singing nursery rhymes. Lily said, "It is very loud making big bangs!". The children have also been making dream catchers using paper circles with holes cut out to thread cotton through. The children showed great hand eye co-ordination whilst taking part in this.

They have all had great fun whilst playing outside in the sunshine racing the diggers up and down the decking listening to the sound it makes Henry said "It's a big noise" whilst pushing the digger up and down, they have also enjoyed going for a walk around Imber Court where they took part in making a camp fire placing the twigs and leaves on top of each other. Thomas said "let’s make dinner". 

The sound of the week is D and the children have been sounding out the letter during carpet time and writing the letter in the air using their fingers to show great control. They have also been singing '5 little ducks' where the children have been singing the song lining up together to be a duck. They found different textured letter D’s in cornflakes and had fun crunching them together while they searched. 

Babies have had great fun exploring in the baby room self selecting the different resources available to them whilst also having lots of fun using the rolling pins with different sounds and Oscar enjoyed rolling backwards and forwards. Archie showed great control and confidence whilst he played with the shape tower placing the correct objects on top. They have been exploring within the sandpit and mud area whilst playing outside in the baby area as you can see!

Buzz buzz............

This week the children have been exploring a bee / wasp nest that was found at the back of the nursery. When asked what it may be, Jonah shouted "A hive!" While Avy said "They live in the garden!" They were amazed at what they could see, discussing what happens at the hive. Elara said, "They make honey for us to enjoy!" Douglas got very excited and said, "They get the honey from cauliflowers and put it in the tiny holes to make honey!" They drew their own bees, some collecting nectar from the flowers while others were flying around above their hive. The children looked at bee pictures on the ipads, talking about the features of the bee and the colours they have on their bodies. They then got to try some real honey, each having a tasty spoonful and deciding whether they liked it or not. Some of the children wanted to make their own bees using card, tissue paper and finished with a lolly stick, so their bees could fly around the garden. They even had a race with their bees, going from one end of the garden to the other! 

This week the babies have taken advantage of the warm weather playing in the water. They explored how the water felt, as well as adding some foam to feel the differences between the two textures. James kept pushing the foam into the water and then swirled it around. Ines however decided she preferred to splash and mix the foam colours together. They also explored what the balls did in the water, and as they floated Thomas kept pushing them under, Matilda came over to help and offered the babies new objects and they observed what floated and sank with Elara offering the right answers. They also explored the sand pit; Rowan ran her fingers through the sand and tried to pick it up in her fists. Emily and Xanthe used two blocks and a long plank to make a small bridge in the sand and they climbed over laughing at one another with Emily saying “Oooowww”. The older children also sat with the babies and read the babies a story as a lovely way to cool down.

Molesey Dinosaurs Adventures

This week the toddler and pre-school children have been learning about dinosaurs. Albie knew the names of the dinosaurs Triceratops and Diplodocus and Lily knew T-Rex. Amelie found an Elephant and when asked whether an elephant could be a dinosaur she replied “No- its an animal!”

The dinosaurs hid from the children, who had great fun exploring the undergrowth trying to find them, and the shreiking with delight when they discovered one. They then decided to have a dinosaur race down the grassy slope ‘The T Rex wins!’ announced Ezra. At one point teh dinosaurs were racing along in vehicles! They looked at dinosaur books, and listened to stories, made dinosaur pictures out of shapes and played with dinosaurs in the mud. Millie stomped the dinosaur and said “Here comes the dinosaur! Raaaar”.

This week the sound of the week is ‘S’ , and the children used the dinosaurs to follow a big letter ‘S’ trail on the ground.

The babies have enjoyed playing ‘peep-po’ in their house crawling round it and hiding!. They have also enjoyed the stacking towers and puzzles. They have been using the home corner to stand up and have had great fun putting the fruit in the basket and cupboard and pushing the buttons on the noisy car keys.

Garsons Farm!

The children had a fantastic trip to Garsons Farm this week to pick fruit and vegetables. The minibus went over many, many speed bumps and the children laughed each time, making a game of it. Molly hoped to get bananas, and we explained why she would need to get them from a shop. Leo and Avy were very excited to see the tractor, and Matilda went straight over to the blackcurrants and the children were interested to notice the unripe ones were in fact red. Leo pointed to a marrow that had seen better days ‘ The rabbits have eaten some it!’ he said. The huge cabbages were a challenge. Jasmin tried very hard to lift one particularly large one. ‘It’s stuck’ she said, which prompted all the other children to have a turn. With a little adult help, it finally budged , with Ray and Jonah falling to the ground as it moved! William spotted a dandelion nearby ‘ I’m blowing the feathers away ‘ he announced.

The babies have had great outdoor fun this week. They experimented with chalk and Mark making, drawing various marks on the ground and pointing out the colours. "Red" Xanthe attempts to say using the pink chalk. James was very excited to see Freddie and Ines and ran to join in with them. Thomas wanted to colour the bench rather then the floor with Ines telling him "No Thomas!", whilst Rowan was more interested in climbing the bench and sitting down for a rest.

Later they decided to make a racing track. Freddie and James crashed their cars into one another making a loud bang. The pair giggled and repeated this again and again, before racing along the track. Thomas ran into the track causing it to break,  "Ooooh" shouted Freddie eagerly running over to fix it. Xanthe pushed her car into the pipe tunnel "Uh oh" she said lifting her hands up as she could no longer see the car. Meanwhile Rowan was lifting up and putting the blocks down in a different place smiling at her friends.

"The Teddy Bears have their picnic" at Molesey

The children all really enjoyed celebrating Father's Day at our Tea Party last week, where they gave their Daddies the cards and place mats they had made. The Daddies all enjoyed the bacon and sausage rolls, and sharing the with the children. Joshua said "Mine Daddy" and Albie said "Mmmm, I like bacon rolls". 

The children have been focusing on Teddy Bear week and have brought their much loved teddies from home to have teddy bears picnics. They all enjoyed sitting with their teddies whilst self selecting and self serving Henry said "My teddy have some ". The children have been making teddy bear masks, and Amelie said "I'm going to make my Mummy and Daddy jump later with my mask". The children also had great fun making teddy bear faces using forks to print the paint, Ezra said "They look like spikes!". 

This week our sound of the week is 'A'. The children have taken part in recognising the letter using the mirrored letters and forming the letter 'A' showing great finger control in the flour.  The have been discussing the sound of the week, 'A' Amelie said "Amelie" Albie said "Albie" Ezra said "Apple" when Oliver came over with an acorn he said "Acorn for A". Well done!

They have been colour sorting the dinosaurs placing them into the correct coloured bowls. Mateo showed great confidence placing them into the correct bowls recognising red, blue, yellow, green and orange. 

The babies have also had great fun taking part in painting teddy bear masks showing great control whilst holding the paint brushes. Eloise liked to explore with the paint placing it all onto her hands spreading it around on the table.

The babies enjoyed playing with the Duplo bricks moving them around in the tuff tray and banging them onto the floor. They have also been exploring the musical instruments and the different sounds they make.