Feed the birds!

The preschool children have been making bird feeders this week. They were full of questions as to what birds eat and where they get their food. Peter said "Birds need food to be strong and fly!" Ezra said "They eat worms from the ground and gobble them up!" They mixed the seeds into a bowl of melted lard, observing them as they stuck together. They found it interesting to touch with their fingers, feeling the texture of the lard. Ella said "Its all sticky on my hand!". They placed the mixture into cupcakes cases. Once they had set, the children made their way around the garden to deliver the bird feeders. Elodie said "I can't wait to see the birds eat them!" Olivia replied "The mummy birds will take some to their babies!" 

The children have also been looking at the letter A. They made the sound brilliantly and thought of their own words with the letter 'A'. The children also discussed the letter 'M' which they learnt last week. They had very good memories shouting out 'Mmmm!"

This week toddlers have loved being involved in lots of messy and sensory activities! They used dinosaurs to make marks with paint, stomping their feet through the different colours and looking at the footprints left behind! While doing this Jack said “Raaahhh”, Ada said “Dinosaur messy” and Bertie said “Dinosaurs in the paint”. Some children enjoyed mixing all of the colours together whereas others chose to use their fingers to swirl the paint across the paper. Another activity the toddlers loved this week was splashing in the water tray! They used colour changing bubbles bath to make the water go from red to blue. This children loved splashing around and seeing what they could find hidden in the water, such as counting dinosaurs and bears hidden below, and some used crocodile pincers to help fish them in the water. Mostly the children enjoyed splashing around in the bubbles like Millie and Oscar. They have been singing and using musical instruments, shaking rattles and maracas and other percussion instruments. Rowan, Elena, and Jasper particularly enjoyed this and laughed excitedly as they made music.

This week in babies they have enjoyed dancing to the Beatles, spinning in circles, bouncing on staff knees and holding hands, moving our body's freely. Oliver enjoyed opening and closing his hands as he span around laughing. They took a trip to the playground on the site, and were gently pushed on the swings laughing as they swung into the sky. The little ones have been making some winter pictures, using glue and different materials to make jumpers, gloves, ice skates and hats. They explored the different textures, feeling the glue on their fingers squeezing their hands into fists to feel the glue drip between their fingers. The new paint rollers were also a popular mark making activity.

Glorious Mud at Bushy Park!

This week the children have been talking about nature as they explored the environment in the garden and Bush Park. Several muddy areas and large puddles were very popular indeed! they loved to splash and ‘fish’ in them. The children made their own campfire using sticks and bark. Douglas picked up 2 sticks and said "Did you know, if you rub them together like this it creates a fire?". The children then changed the campfire to a animal nest using large sticks to mix it altogether. Molly looked around as she heard a bird and said excitedly "The bird might catch it!" , to which all the children looked up to see where the bird had gone. Looking up at the sky prompted the children to talk about the weather. Scarlett pointed up at the sky and said "It's moving, it's moving! The cloud is moving!". The children also went on a big hunt to see what bugs they could find. Eve began to jump up and down with excitement as she noticed a spider and noted on her clipboard chart around chatting "I have one, I have one". 

Using the white boards the children have been writing their sound of the week "m". Damon proudly held his picture up and said "Mummy". Sami laughed and said "M is for milk, I have a ’M’ in my name!

The babies have been for a winter walk in Bushy park as you can see, wearing the nursery winter waterproofs to keep them warm and dry. They have also played with some different textures this week, using beans, tomato, custard and flour, mixing them all together range for some fun messy play. Xanthe joined the babies in playing, and when she felt the mixture after Lyra squashed it all up said, 'Ew, that's yucky'. Oliver and jasper used their hands to move the food all out of the way making lovely splashes and causing each other to giggle. Abigail and Owen played with the parachute; they shook it all around and when they caught a glimpse of each other under the parachute began to play peek-a-boo. Both children babbled throughout and made each other giggle when they said ‘Boo’ and hid away again.

Party Time at Molesey!

Merry Christmas to you all from the Nursery. Have a wonderful break, and a happy and healthy 2020!

The preschool children have had a fantastic week celebrating Christmas. At the beginning of the week, they went on a walk to the postbox, to send off some letters they had written for their mummies and daddies. On the way to the postbox, the children listened attentively, stopping at the crossing to wait for cars to pass. Noah said "We must look both ways!" which started a conversation as to why. Elodie said "To look for cars that are coming!" Some of the children were able to spot the postbox, shouting "Its over there, I see it!" A postman pulled up to the postbox in his van, which the children got very excited about. 

They have also had their Christmas party this week. A game of musical bumps got them dancing and singing along. Maya jumped excitedly and laughed every time she sat down. They then sat beautifully in a circle, with some tasty food, such as sandwiches, salad and gingerbread men. They chatted away about what they were getting for Christmas from Santa. After lunch, the children went outside to see the snow! They giggled and tried to catch the snow as it fell to the floor. Ida said "I love the snow and pretending to be a snowman!" They spent a long time watching the snow. Once it had gone, Olivia said "It was winter when the snow was there and then it wasn't winter when the snow was gone!" 

This week the toddlers took part in a lovely Christmas lunch with all the children in the nursery. They enjoyed pulling the crackers which made a big "Bang!" remarked Alice. The toddlers were so surprised that a present flew out, they took no notice of the joke and were curious what the hat was. Some of the toddlers like Bertie, Ada and Shyla enjoyed keeping their hats on, whilst the other toddlers enjoyed taking them off! The toddlers have also felt very festive coming into nursery in their Christmas jumpers. There was a visit from one of Santa's elves the night before the Christmas party who gave them all a present and left a sprinkling of snow for all the children to enjoy! George for the first time shouted "Snow!" as he pointed to the sky and saw it all falling down on their heads!

This week the babies have been using their gross motor skills in different ways. They went for a walk to the playground at Imber Court and had lots of fun walking and crawling around in their waterproof trousers. They loved being sat in the baby swings at the park, giggling, waving and smiling as they were being pushed. Back at nursery some of the children got out the cushions and were jumping on to them, spreading out their arms and legs, cuddling into the cushions and laughing together. The babies had lots of fun mixing with the older children for their Christmas dinner and the party. They danced to the party music and loved exploring the 'snow' in the big garden.

Party Time at Hampton!

Merry Christmas to you all from the Nursery. Have a wonderful break, and a happy and healthy 2020!

This week the children had their Christmas party. They enjoyed tasty food together to start with. They then got into the festive spirit by taking part in various party games. During musical chairs the children began to move around getting faster and faster as they moved around to sit on a chair, with lots of laughter. This was followed by pass the parcel and Thomas shouted out "Bubbles, bubbles!" as he discovered the contents. The children each had an early present from Father Christmas and were so excited to tear the paper off to reveal their very own book, showing each of their friends the book they had received. William began to point at the various pictures in his saying "It has my name!" as he noticed his name in the title of the book. The highlight of the party was the snow! Douglas had so much fun playing in the snow he used both hands to try and catch it, then proceeded to lie on the floor and say "I'm a snow angel" and began to wave his arms and feet and started to laugh. Ines was so excited to see the snow she started to sing "Snow,snow,snow!" and began to dance around. Damon and Sami noticed different sized foot prints on the floor and started to identify the different sizes . Hlenhaze used his hands to make various patterns in the snow. Great fun!

The babies got involved in the Christmas party as Lyra jumped up to catch the snow as it was falling whilst clapping her hands and smiling. They were fascinated by this. Oliver enjoyed pass the parcel as he tore the paper up and helped to unwrap some presents. The babies have also been exploring textures with different colours. Abigail played with some green and red pasta, she squashed it between her fingers and palms before lifting it up and dropping it back causing jasper to laugh. The babies also used jugs and spoons to fill and empty with the pasta. Jasper and Owen played with some Christmas coloured floaty materials whilst listening to music. Jasper hid under his before saying ‘Boo’ making Owen laugh before he copied.

Church visit and Christmas Concert at Hampton!

This week was very exciting indeed with our Christmas Concert. The children looked amazing as you can see, dressed either as reindeers, swans, snowmen, dogs and Santas - all characters from the Stick Man story. Before the concert Damon and Scarlett cuddled and Scarlett said "I'm Santa and you're snowman ! We're best friends." As the adults came into teh room Sami waved shouting "mummy mummy! I'm here!" and Xanthe ran over to give a cuddle to her family then excitedly ran back over to join her friends saying "I'm back! I'm back." They sang beautifully and there was a fantastic turnout from parents, relatives and carers whom all joined in with the singing, which was lovely. Afterwards everyone was able to go outside under the pergola and have some hot and cold drinks , and some snacks and treats, despite the pouring rain!

Thank you to everyone who came to support the children, and the hard work of the staff and efforts from the children. we are looking forward to the Christmas dinners and parties next week!

This week the babies have explored cosy dens. The sleep room was turned into a cosy corner with bean bags and pillows to sit on with hideaway sheet covering the doorway to make it the perfect den. Jasper and Owen explored the cosy den snuggling on the bean bags and exploring some sensory light tubes. Jasper was amazed at the colours changing opening his mouth in shock when it closed and turning it into a smile whilst Owen laughed as he gently shook the tubes. Abigail and jasper explored the foam, jasper was eager to bury his way to the bottom to find some oats where as Abigail played high five with the foam. Lyra, Oliver and Owen explored the baby gym, blankets were laid over the top to make a secret passage way to the slide intriguing the babies more. Oliver crawled up the stairs and slide his was down the slide before Lyra followed and had a go steering the wheel before drawing down the slide. The babies have also played with the floaty materials and bubbles playing peek a boo with the materials making all the children laugh before popping bubbles together as they make friendships.