Dance train!

The older children were very interested in the progress of the new pergola being built in the nursery garden in the baby area. This will keep the babies dry during wet weather and enable the space to be used to a greater degree summer and winter, as it will also shield the children from the sun. we will post pictures when it is completed. The preschool children have explored chalk paint this week. They grated chalk and water mixed together to make pastel colours such as purple and green. They made various marks on the chalkboard, laughing as it splashed on their legs and feet. Olivia said "Raegan let’s make a rainbow. There are lots of colours to make one!" Raegan agreed and said "It's going to be very beautiful, like when it's in the sky!" They covered the whole chalkboard with their amazing pictures, deciding it looked better with all the colours. Some of the children even painted their hands and made handprints. The children have also had been dancing this week, showing their moves to one another. Maya shook her hips side to side, while Barnaby span around and around. They started to make a train, holding onto each other's shoulders and danced along. Oliver said "Big train, choo, choo!".

This week toddlers have enjoyed experimenting with different textures in the messy tray. They used uncooked spaghetti and oats and enjoyed feeling the different textures. George, Ada and Millie enjoyed listening to the spaghetti ‘crack’ as it was snapped in two. Oscar and Oliver enjoyed feeling the oats through the fingers and dropping it from a height. Other textures they had fun exploring were, cloud dough, crazy foam, cornflour and salt dough! When playing with the cornflour mixture they used two different colours and used their fingers as well as different tools to mix the two colours together! Toddlers also enjoyed lots of colouring this week, using crayons to colour our the first letter of their names and have used the chalks to make marks on chalkboard and easel. They also used finger puppets and soft toys to act out nursery rhymes and some stories at circle time!

The babies have been making winter animal pictures using different coloured paint and different textures, such as bubble paint for the polar bears and more usual paint for the walrus and arctic fox. They loved their sensory play activity in the sleep room, playing with the sensory light up boxes, rice in a big tub and feely bags feeling the difference between the hair gel, oats and crazy foam. When playing with the rice Zac and Emma loved filling their hands with rice and throwing it on the floor enjoying the sound that it made! Babies have been testing their fine and gross motor skills while playing with the play dough pinching it in between their fingers and trying to use the rolling pins to flatten the play dough. 

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.

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.