Teamwork!

This week the children have been working together to achieve great feats as you can see! They managed very well to organise lifting logs and branches in the park on one of our daily outings., and were suitably proud how strong they were together! The children have been doing some bark rubbings and writing the letter "S" as the sound of week. The children then had a look around the park to see what objects they could find that start with that letter. Isla started to laugh and said "I see Sami". Thomas became very excited when he saw some sticks on the ground. He picked some up and began to wave them around in excitement.

Back at nursery they explored various vegetables and what types of seeds they may have inside. As Douglas cut open a pepper he said "You can eat seeds. They have to be special seeds like sunflowers". Eve became very intrigued with the conversation wondered over and said "What are seeds?" and Freddie opened his hand to show her. This prompted various conversations from what other types of vegetables may have seeds inside and where they grow. Damon announced "You can plant seeds and they grow into pumpkins and ginormous trees. Did you know peppers are chewy and hard?" Molly pointed out that they needed water, whilst Roma spoke about the sun and how it helps them grow.

This week the babies have been exploring the cold weather and frost using bubbles. The bubbles became stuck to the frosty grass and tree making Lyra laugh, and Freddie and Lyra began to blow the bubbles making a big ball on the ground. As they blew it it bounced up and down in the frost before finally popping making the two giggle and say 'Pop!’ Jasper and Owen explored the leaves, collecting some leaves to bring back to nursery. Jasper was so excited and tilted the bucket full of leaves over his head, and sat laughing after looking a bit shocked and all of his friends joined in laughing as well as throwing leaves into the air and watched them fall back down again. Back at nursery Lyra and Zayne used animals to break up some Weetabix and mix it with flour, and Zayne dropped the animals into the mix and began to hide them, Lyra and Zayne both searched for the animals laughing with everyone they found, Lyra said 'Moo' for every animal. Oliver and Abigail made cakes, using flour, custard and oats they mixed it all together to make a gooey, textures mess before filling it in to cupcake pan. Oliver tried to eat some of the custard but before he could Abigail took the dirty utensils away to wash them in the toy sink, whilst she was washing she made a splash in the floor and said 'uh-oh'.

Leaves and flowers!

This week the children have been collecting leaves in the local parks, and pressing flowers they had found in the nursery garden. William held one flower in his hand and said "We put this in a book and put bricks on top to make the flower flat". Some of the children smelt the flower to see if it had a scent. Roma smiled and said "it smells like grass". Eve asked about the colours which prompted a discussion about the children's favourite colours. They ahve also been using potatoes to do some potato printing and Sami pointed out that he was going to use more than one colour and he was going to mix them. Our sound of the week this week is "A". The children have been identifying various objects that start with this letter from Aeroplane to Ant. Douglas announced "I'm writing my name, my name has an A in". Xanthe noticed an A in her name and excitedly said "It's my name! it's my name. It's Xanthe's name!’. The children also cleverly made the letter ‘A’ using other materials such as the playdough.

This week the babies have played hide and seek. William came in to play with his baby brother Oliver. As Olivier peeked out from behind the fabric den, William said "Boo!" which caused Oliver to burst into laughter. The babies have all been exploring the world starting with animals. The animals were hid among hay. When Lyra found the duck she got very excited and every time it was hidden again Lyra would find its again and shouted "Quack, quack".  Jasper liked the horse, as as he found it gave it a hug!

The world has many different textures and a trip to the woods certainly stimulates the senses! The babies began by exploring the massive amount of leaves in Bushy Park Woodlands. Owen and Abigail played with the leaves, building piles, feeling under the leaves, squashing them and then throwing them in the air, making them both giggle. Abigail put her hand over her mouth looking shocked whilst Owen said "Oooh". All and all the babies have had a fantastic week of fun, messy play and exploring the outdoor environment.

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.