Rockets at Hampton!

This week the children created their own shadow puppets, using a torch.The children began to make various animal shapes. Isla held her hands up in the shape of a crocodile, and started to chuckle and said 'Snip snap, I'm hungry for my tea!’. Douglas started to sing Incy wincy spider and proceeded to make a spider using his hands. This prompted the children to do their own story telling about frogs, fire engines and even a mouse! Inspired by our story of the month "Whatever next?’, the children made them own rocket using the wooden bricks, Molly placed an elephant on top, William excitedly said "he's too big to fit in there. Out in the garden the children used the cones as their rocket perching themselves on top. Ines laughed and said "We are falling" and proceeded to wobble, with her friends joining chanting ‘Wobble, wobble, wobble’ . They also pretended to be rockets by placing cones on top of their heads, with Zach announcing "You look funny.!You're going to blast off- 1,2,3 !’

We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow at our sparkler party at 5.15pm!

The babies have been exploring sound this week by using the musical instruments and seeing what sounds they can make. Oliver excitedly waved his hands around whist holding a shaker, the more it made a sound the more he smiled and shook his hands. The babies have also been on a animal hunt in oats and exploring foam. Using their hands to explore the textures they began to move their hands around in the oats looking for the animals. Thomas made each animal sound as they were found. Clever you!

Autumn Events at Molesey

It was lovely to see such a brilliant turn out, from parents at our Autumn event. The children were very excited for their parents to arrive, to join their 'Party'. Lily said "We can have music and do dancing!" Olivia said "I have my party dress on!" As the parents arrived, the children joined them in the garden, to receive a colourful glow stick and some delicious food. Sausage rolls, sandwiches and warm hot chocolate were available and the children were very excited to have a taste. The children had fun showing their parents around the garden. Some of the parents were invited up into their treehouse for a wonderful view of the garden - great fun!

The Preschool children have been focussing on the letter 'Y' this week. They thought about the different words that began with 'Y''. Olivia shouted "Yoghurt. I like yoghurt!" Lily said "Lily has a ‘Y’ in my name!" They used watercolour paints to draw their ideas, with some children drawing yoga after having their own session in the morning. The children have also been on a nature hunt around the garden, picking up leaves and bark and anything else they could find. They searched in the sandpit, the house and all the way round the back of the garden. The children placed their nature objects into a basket and sat on the decking with them. They were very excited to start sticking them onto their paper, spreading the glue all the way along. They used all the natural materials and held their pictures up with pride. Ayla said "I can't wait to show my mummy!" 

The toddlers have been painting bonfires this week as we approach bonfire and firework season. The toddlers used different coloured paints to make the fire. Ada named all the colours while painting her picture "red, yellow, orange". Eloise took great care using her paint brush to create her fire. Once the paintings were dry the children then got to paint cotton wall sticks brown to create the bonfire to go at the bottom of their fires. The children really enjoyed seeing what they had made and Shyla was very vocal with how proud she was with the finished result. The toddlers have been learning a new song 'little bunnies' which gets the children moving and listening to the song to know when to wake up from their sleep and hop/jump/roar like a certain animal. All the toddlers love to do this song and like to suggest different animals to be like.

This week the babies have used their senses to explore the world around them. They have played with some colour changing bubble bath and as the bubble bath was put into the water it was red. As Harry and Oscar mixed the water around with their splashes it turned blue, which made the water very bubbly and a lovely shade of blue. Leo joined in splashing and he bought some floating boats with him. The boats didn't float for long however as leo and Oscar used the boats to make big splashes, splashing the floor and the boys and making everyone giggle. As Harry observed all the bubbles he happily shouted 'bubble'. The babies also explored the park, we saw some lovely ducks and had a go at feeding them. Amelia and Zac looked at the ducks in amazement as Zac pointed and smiled and we all made duck sounds. The babies also took a ball to the outside with them and kicked it around, Fabian kicked the ball far away and Connie chased after it.

Pumpkin Soup and Muddy Pies!

This week the children have been looking at the letter "T" as their sound of the week. Douglas drew a picture of a tiger and began to chant "I am a tiger, I am a tiger!’ then let out a great big roar and laughed. Sami held his foot in the air and proceeded to giggle and shouted "I've got wiggly toes!". The children found this quite entertaining and they all began to wiggle their feet.

The children have been exploring pumpkins and potatoes in the mud kitchen. They used these to make a variety of vegetable pies. Sienna began to cut a pumpkin cleverly counting each time she cut off a piece. Molly held a potato up and said "This is in the garden" and began to bury it in the soil. The children have been making animal dens using the wooden bricks. Jonah created an enclosure for the lions. Jonah laughed and said "They can't escape!" Jonah then proceeded to roar!

The babies have enjoyed playing with bubbles and moving to music as they tried to catch them. Oliver smiled up as he watched the bubbles blow out of the machine really fast, with one even popping on his nose, which made him laugh. Oliver stared at this surprised as the other children giggled. Jasper couldn't wait to catch the bubbles and used various items in the room to pull himself up so he could be closer to the bubble machine and clapped his hands together to pop them! 

The babies also explored cloud dough in the malleable tray. Lyra was so intrigued and immediately tried to grasp at this new material but it slid out in between her fingers. Johny was eager to get involved, and ran to see what was in the tray. He crouched down next to his friend and pulled at the material and threw it in the air. 

Hamptons Nursery goes to Garsons Farm

As part of our story of the month "Pumpkin soup"  the children went to Garsons Farm. On the way there the children were excited and spoke about the various fruit and vegetables they may see. Sienna smiled and said "We are going on a tractor". Once we had arrived at our destination the children proceeded to clap and chant "We are here!" Whilst the children rode around on the tractor they pointed to various things they could see such as birds and various plants such as sweetcorn and raspberries. Once the children had arrived at the pumpkin patch they ran about deciding which pumpkin they wanted to bring home.Jonah found a large pumpkin and said "I can pick this up!" Eve found a tiny pumpkin and picked it up, she placed it in her bag and proudly said " This is mine, it's a baby" and proceeded to giggle. The children then moved on to the sweet corn field and started to hide amongst the tall plants. Isla jumped out and shouted "Boo!". which everyone laughed at and made other join in a new game!

This week the babies explored the texture of the moon sand. Lyra and Johnny picked it up and swathed it through his fingers. Johnny then began to press his fingers into the dough looking at the different marks it made. Oliver and Jasper enjoyed tummy time where they placed their hands in water and splashed smiling at each other.  Owen and Abigail had great fun sliding down the slide and clapping at each other. Ready, steady, go! 

Pumpkin Picking!

The children visited Garsons farm this week. They were very excited, talking about it all morning. During a circle time, the children discussed what we may find at the farm. Sophie said "Big pumpkins. They are orange!" Sofia replied "I want a blue pumpkin!" They found this very funny, giggling away. Olivia said "Pumpkins start as green then turn orange!" Once the minibus arrived, the children took their seats and the journey began. On the way Hector was shouting "Minibus go faster, faster!" The first thing the children did was to make their way over to the tractor and climbed aboard. It was very bumpy as they went along, with the children trying to spot the different fruit and vegetables. The children searched through the pumpkin patch, trying to find the biggest ones. They showed how strong they were, carrying them and placing them in their bag. They also picked some sweetcorn, pulling them off the branches and laughed as the whole branch tipped sideways. They were amzed at the height of these crops, and enjoyed running up and down between the rows. They brought pumpkins to explore at the nursery , and also some produce to take home.

This week the toddlers have been getting creative. The children have participated in autumn leaf painting with vegetables which all the children enjoyed especially knowing that their artwork will soon be on the wall to create a big tree. The toddlers found it amusing to paint with vegetables and some of the children preferred to try and eat them rather than paint with them. Some of the other children like Ada and Callum enjoyed naming the vegetables and asking for a particular one to paint with "Want the potato, or the carrot". The children have also be decorating fish to go up on the display board which involved using shiny materials, tissue paper and most excitingly googly eyes. The toddlers have also been singing songs in circle time every morning and it is lovely to see the children remembering some of the words and actions. Little Archie particularly likes singing twinkle twinkle little star and enjoys putting his hands up in the air to make the stars.

This week the babies have been exploring different tactile materials. They rolled, moulded and prodded the coloured playdough with their fingers and some cutters on the table, seeing what marks the different utensils made. 

We also made some tasty and healthy cheese and herb muffins. They babies were helped to place all helped put he ingredients into the big bowl and gave it a good mix with a big wooden spoon. Later during afternoon snack they tasted some and they were delicious! We also sent some home for our parents and siblings to enjoy too!