Bug Hunts and Duck Walks!

The preschool children have been busy the last couple of weeks immersing themselves into a variety of messy play activities. The children made their own play dough portions using the different ingredients. Henry said to his friend Dylan “I like making play dough because it’s warm and very fun.” Dylan said, “I like mixing all the things together.” The children enjoyed using their hands to mix all the ingredients together and exploring the different textures. Joshua looked at the mixture on his hands, laughed and said, “I’m quite messy aren’t I ?” The children explored using the different tools and utensils to make shapes and cut the play dough into smaller pieces. Ari said, “I’m cutting up pizza” as used the cutter to cut his slices.

During the last couple of weeks, the children have had fun with colour sorting activities, number matching games, letter searching and a variety of mark making activities. One activity has them sorting the coloured bears and matching them to the appropriate number on the paper plates. Parker looked at his plate and said, “Woah that’s a big number!” after counting 7 small toys onto his plate, and after looking round the table said, “I think I need some more on here.” Rowan giggled and looked her plate, saw the number two and said, “I’m not two, I’m three years old!” Tom said to Rowan “You can have these two for your plate.” The children also immersed themselves into mark marking in the mud and salt. They enjoyed using paint brushes to make marks and copy the letters they could find amongst the different materials. Riley said, “Look I write my name Riley- see?” 

The preschool children had a great time when they went on a bug hunt around the grounds of nursery during the last couple of weeks. The children loved finding lots of different slugs and worms that had come up to the surface of the ground because of the rainy weather. Ellie said, “We’ve found babies and daddy slugs.” Eddie replied, “There is a lot of slugs out here in the water.” The children searched high and low for the different bugs that had emerged in the rain and enjoyed splashing in the puddles with their wellies. Max giggled when he found a big puddle and said, “That ones like a bath.” Ezra encouraged his friends to watch a slug and a snail race along the fence of nursery. Benjamin got very excited when the slug crossed the finish line before the snail. 

Over the last few weeks, the toddlers have been participating in music week, where they have had the opportunity to use lots of different instruments and see how they work. Rhys liked the instruments with the bells the most and said “Ding ding” as he shook them. Sammy enjoyed bashing the tambourine and asked his friends to listen as he played. The toddlers used their musical instruments at circle time where some tried to sing and play which required a lot of focus. Immy found it was easier to sing a line of ‘Miss Polly’ and then use her instrument for the next! Not only did the toddlers get to use lots of different instruments, they also had the opportunity to make their own maracas. Zac loved dancing round the room with a maraca in each hand saying, “Look at me, I’m dancing!” 

Outside, the toddlers were excited to give their baby dolls a bath. Blake said “Babies dirty” as she saw them in the water surrounded by bubbles. Harriet used sponges to wash her baby being very careful; she did not leave any part of her baby unclean. Isabelle was ecstatic splashing the water to create more bubbles, she said “Isabelle splashing water on baby”. When the rain stopped last week, they took full advantage of the nice weather and went for a play on the field with the frisbees and balls. Amelia loved watching the balls be kicked high in the sky and would run as fast as she could to retrieve them. Alastair preferred to relax by sitting on the bench alongside his friends Luna and Harry. 

Back inside, the toddlers have had a fun time with their climbing frame being transformed into a pirate ship. The toddlers were able to drive the boat with their pretend steering wheel and hunt for treasure using their telescopes. Ethan and Tristan found the treasure chest and took all the gold they could carry while Finley was more interested in pulling down the bunting so he could have a closer look at the pictures. 

The children in the under two’s room have had a very busy time outside. Olivia, Sophie and Daniel loved playing peek-a-boo together through the tunnel, crawling through the middle and waiting for each other on the other side, laughing and smiling as they emerged. When the children went for a walk around the grounds, they were fascinated to see the young ducklings which had really grown! Ada and Rafferty did a great job of tearing the bread and throwing it from the buggy to feed them. They were saying “Quack quack ducks!” and were giggling when the ducks quacked in response. 

Inside the room, the children loved investigating the feely-bags, using their senses to squeeze, smell and listen to the different textures inside. Sadie said “Mmmm” when she sniffed the bag containing raspberry conditioner, Isaac enjoyed squeezing the wet porridge oats and Emily squished the shaving foam. During a painting activity the children were using paint brushes to make marks, but Rafferty and Ada preferred to use their hands, using the brushes to paint their hands then used their hands to make marks on the paper. 

During circle time the children have been very interested in listening to stories, sitting nicely and looking at the pictures, Emily and Chloe liked pointing to the pig and lion in the books. The children loved singing the “Dingle dangle scarecrow” song, laying on cushions, with Sadie patting Chloe pretending to sleep then they all jumped up and danced around before sleeping again!

Exploring and Drawing in the Park with our Teddy Bears!

The children had a teddy bears picnic, they enjoyed their delicious picnic food and made a lovely story of the teddy bears eating the food. Thomas’ elephant liked the sandwiches whilst Lyra’s bear ate her salad for her. On a messy tray the teddy bears had a picnic in the woods. William hid his teddy bear under a tree waiting for Maxwell’s teddy to walk past and say ‘Boo!’. Maxwell had great fun, running far away with his teddy to hide, waiting to be found. Oliver and Sophia had a throwing competition with the teddy bears to see who could get it the furthest away. Oliver decided to throw his up high and tried to throw it the highest whilst Sophia practised her throwing so she could get her bear to fly past the highest number on the floor. After Sophia threw the teddy, she celebrated it going past all the numbers by shouting “Yay!”. Oliver joined in the celebration and before long, everyone was shouting “Yay!” trying to be the loudest. Jessie and Zayne drew some teddy bears in the park and Zayne enjoyed colouring it in. After Jessie was done, she did not like the chalk being all over her hands and she clapped them together making a nice big cloud, which made Zayne laugh and he joined in clapping his hands to add to the mess.

Playing hide and seek in dens is so much fun! Zach and Emily helped make a den in the garden which everyone loved to hide in. When Ritika and Varun made them jump, they laughed and the ran away so Zach and Emily could catch them before they got back into the den for safety. This turned into a lovely fun game and lots more children got involved, it led to lots of laughter all round. James and Isla choose to read in the den to their teddies. They then choose to build a fun obstacle course, with stepping stones, balance beams and a water trap. When they children fell into the water, they all laughed at the big splashes. In the park the children looked at the wildlife whilst out on a nature hunt with leaves and bugs. Hlenhaze pointed out so many of the list, he found the leaves and a squirrel by looking down his binoculars with Xanthe. When Xanthe found a woodlouse, they gently scooped it up and put it in a pot to investigate it further before the children released it back into the wild.

Last week in baby room, the babies were mathematicians and explored numbers and shapes. In the cosy corner, the babies enjoyed reading about numbers and opposites. “Ooo ahhh ahh” George said when he saw “10 monkeys” displayed on the page. Ciana giggled at the butterflies and Emma became a loud and scary crocodile, snapping her hands at everyone in the room. Once the babies had gathered important information from their books, they used the light-box to look at a variety of colourful shapes. Grace held up the red cube, “Red!” she said with a huge grin on her face. Alex had found some squishy numbers and watched the glitter inside them swim round and round.  Sidney and Louis worked together to create a tall, looming tower, with both concentrating to gently stack each shape carefully. However, Grace and Theo preferred to demolish their towers making everyone giggle and squeal. Edward decided he should be the main attraction, sitting in the middle of the light box and waving his hands. The babies clapped along to a range of number songs. Agnes swayed her body left and right to the rhythm whilst Honor banged her shapes on the floor for a louder beat.

In the garden, the babies listened to the story of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” which inspired them to stomp and crawl over our bridge to get to the other side, where the grass was greener. Rouxx enjoyed when the goats “trip trapped” and wiggled his body with excitement. Emma ran around the bridge to show the troll she was not scared! Eesa gently tip toed over the bridge, so he did not wake the troll up and Louis was extra brave and leant over the bridge to babble to the troll. The babies loved playing on the bridge and created an obstacle course out of it using tunnels and wooden planks.

Teddy Bear Picnics and Father's Day!

Last week, everybody had fun when they had a Teddy Bear picnic. They were excited and loved having their bears and cuddly toys with them at nursery. Joshua said to his friend Zachary “I’ve got my Chelsea bear today” Zachary giggled and said, “I’ve got my Makka Pakka he’s going to eat all my food.” The preschool children really enjoyed sitting outside together having their picnic, they each placed their bears and cuddly toys next to them as they ate their picnic tea. Once all the mini milks had been handed out, Scarlett asked “Can my doggy have ice cream too?” 

The preschool children have enjoyed putting on their own shows in the home corner the last couple of weeks. Ezra invited all his friends saying, “Do you want to come and see our show? It’s a Hampton court show.” Eddie said, “We are going to be superheroes and policemen on the stage.”

During the last couple of weeks, the children were excited to play in a variety of weathers. Outside in the sunshine the children were playing ‘Duck, Duck Goose.’ Salvador asked Zachary “Do you want to be goose with me?” Ellie then explained to Salvador that there was only one goose in the game. Salvador giggled and said, “I be goose.” They all joined in calling out “Duck Duck” and then shouting “Goose” as they chose somebody to be the Goose. Jessica and Benjamin laughed as they chased their friends around the circle. On days when the rain returned to the nursery, the children were also able to enjoy wet play. Ethan ran outside in his wet suit giggling and said, “Woah that’s big puddle!” Millie said, “We could pretend it’s a swimming pool!” They were all delighted when jumping off the apparatus and splashing in the puddles. 

The toddlers were all very busy getting ready for Father’s Day, participating in activities to create presents for their dads. Each toddler had the opportunity to use different sponges and colours to make a masterpiece on their canvas. Once the canvases were dry, they were able to see a magic message appear to which Sophie said “Wow, what’s that?” Zac then pointed to the letters as they appeared and said “D, A, D”. The toddlers were super excited holding their gifts in their hands ready to give to their dads at the end of the day. 

Outside, the toddlers have been exploring different ways to use their furniture. Rhys decided to pick up one side of the balance beam and put it on top of the giant stepping stone which created a ramp and a slide! They loved this! Jonny was laughing whilst going down the slide on his tummy, and Tristan had fun sliding down on his bottom. Harry enjoyed walking up the ramp with his wheelbarrow and shouted “Yes!” when he accomplished reaching the top! The toddlers have also found that if they turn over the giant stepping stones, it creates a small space that they can sit in. Sammy and Immy were keen on sitting in their new seats and they said “Cheese” to the camera when a photo was being taken. 

The under-two’s children have had a lovely time exploring the sensory experience of body painting and playing with cornflour. Sadie and Isaac really got stuck in, using their hands to spread the paint across a large piece of paper which was stuck to the floor and over themselves. As they squelched through the paint, Sadie wiped it over her legs and arms, laughing at the unusual texture of it. With the corn flour, some of the children were unsure of the gloopy consistency so preferred to just watch the activity, but a couple of them loved it, pouring the liquid into different vessels, and scrunching it between their fingers. 

The younger children have really enjoyed mixing with the 2-3 year olds’ room during free-flow. They had fun exploring the other rooms and their equipment. Chloe liked playing in the playhouse, whilst Rafferty loved the Duplo blocks and Isaac had fun playing the big dinosaurs.

They also had a great time doing mark making activities with felt tip pens, crayon and chalk. On the easel using chalk, Emily, Daniel Olivia played alongside each other, taking turns in walking around the easel and making marks in chalk on it. Chloe and Sophie then decided to play together, crawling through the centre of it, playing peek-a-boo together, ducking down so as not to bump their heads, and laughing when they spotted each other.

When you go into the woods today...

The older children have enjoyed a lovely trip to the woods. Before going into the woods, the children looked at a map to tell them where to go. William pointed at the river on the map and said ‘That’s the river isn’t it?’ The staff showed them where they were on the map and the children helped to create a route for a walk, following the paths with their fingers. The children led us to the woodlands, and stopped on the bridge and saw a beautiful swan and its cygnets. Sophia was happy when she saw them and told everyone ‘Swans are white’ Eve said, ‘Yes, look at it’s babies’. They also saw a baby crow. Thomas copied the birds sound and cawed with Maxwell telling everyone that birds fly and acting it out flying around making his friends laugh and encouraging them to join in. Xanthe and Hlenhaze saw a nice big log and decided this was a great time to practice their balancing and climbing skills. Hlenhaze balanced well for a while before jumping down and landing safely, then he started to make a fun train. Lots of his friends joined him and Zach yelled out “Toot toot. All on the nursery train!” This inspired an activity back at nursery, where the children collectively built their own car/train and were very proud. Lyra loved being the driver and waited for all the children to sit down on their seats before facing forwards, shouting “Beep!” and turning the wheel. When a staff member stood in front to get a picture Nyra told us to ‘Move, quickly, you will get run over!’.  

With the amazing heat, the children cooled down with a little bit of ice painting. They used the coloured ice to make some beautiful pictures and Oliver said “It’s cold” as he felt the ice and Imani pointed out all the different colours as it melted on to her page. Emily and James made their pictures full of colours and had a go at mixing them, Emily pointed out that the red and yellow was making orange. In the outdoor learning area they children made a lovely feast. Jasper mixed the mud and the bark and made a tasty summer soup whilst Maxwell and Zach had a great idea to make chocolate cake which gave William the idea to make some fruit salad. When all their foods were made they laid out their plates containing bark, mud, and leaves (cake, salad, fruit and soup) on the table and called their friends over to join them. Jessie sat down for some food and pretended to eat it, after she poked her tongue out and said “Yuck” this made Zach laugh and say “It is yucky” and he helped to make something else suggesting to use the plants that were being grown, “When they are ready, we can eat them” spotting strawberries and raspberries.

This week in baby room our theme was oceans week to celebrate world ocean day! Outside, the babies splashed around in the tuff tray which was filled with water. Sidney pushed the boats around the water, concentrating very hard! Emma was using a fishing net looking for different sea creatures, shouting “Fish!” Grace and Alex were fascinated by the lobsters holding onto them tight! They used the lobster to splash themselves and their friends making them all laugh lots and turned it into a fun game. They all loved exploring in the garden to see what they could find! The babies dived into the deep dark ocean to search for seashells that needed rescuing for their ocean clean up. Using toothbrushes, they scrubbed the seashells clean and looked after them very well. Grace started to call out the word “Brush!” whilst Louis giggled at the ripples in the water that Alex was creating. Sidney on the other hand, used his toothbrush to clean his teeth, they were nice and sparkly by the end of the day! Theo enjoyed playing in the garden with all his friends, smiling when they joined him at the water tray! He loved the water tray so much that he stayed by it the whole time. They all began to splash each other and laugh, by the time they came in for lunch they were soaked!

When on a walk to the park the babies used their magnifying glasses to take a closer look around. Ciana was laughing while pushing her face up to the magnifying glass and making it look bigger, which the others decided to copy! Ciana then saw another friend and decided to play peek-a-boo, lifting the magnifying glass up and down saying shouting “Boo!”, this made Honor very happy as she laughed and tried to copy. George loved crawling around on the grass chasing after the bigger children. George and Emma played together looking for bugs.

Now Summer has arrived we have updated our display boards in the baby room. All the children helped make art work for the displays. One of our boards was themed ‘under the sea’ which tied in perfectly with our weekly theme. Ciana, Emma and Edward loved using their sponges to print orange paint for their starfish. Edward clapped his hands when he saw the marks he made with the paint. Ciana said “Oooo” and showed everyone what she had done! . Alex and Rouxx loved taking part in the bubble wrap paint printing to make gorgeous colourful scales like our ‘Rainbow fish’ book that we read earlier in the day. The babies dipped their hands in to bright red paint and printed them on to card to make crabs. Emma moved her fingers to make crab claws whilst shouting “Snap! Snap! Snap!”

Aeroplanes, Animals & New Flavours!

The older children have been learning all about the human body recently and the functions of some of our organs, in particular our hearts, lungs and brains. At group time, Ada confidently stood up in front of her friends and told them, “I know something about our brains, it sends a message to our body so that our body can move”. Parker laughed and said, “My mum sends messages too”. Oscar then told everyone, “Our lungs help us to breathe and they go up and down when you breathe in and out”. Whilst discussing our hearts, Edie said, “Our love hearts help us to love people” and Ellie smiled and added, “But our hearts also push the blood around our bodies”.

The home corner has been made in to an airport and the children have absolutely loved engaging in aeroplane role play. They made their own aeroplanes using the chairs and Max told his friends, “I am the pilot, we are going to Africa”. The children made their own passports to take on the aeroplane with them. When creating his own passport Henry said “I’m drawing my face in my passport so I can see my picture”. The children enjoyed lining the chairs up in rows and using their tickets and passports to board the plane and looked at the world map to choose where they would like to fly to. Paige pointed to a country and said “I would like to go here”, Ellie replied by saying “I would like to fly to New York.”

The children also have been enjoying talking about different types of animals, such as animals from the jungle, the safari, the farm and our pets at home. They have been learning where types of animals originate from and what their habitats are like. They have been comparing similarities in some of their patterns and also which animals have the same name babies. Oliver was able to tell his friends that, “An elephant has a calf and also that’s the same as a cow; a cow has a calf”. Mateo went on to say, “And a lion has a cub and a bear has a cub”. The children went on to making their own 3D animals using the play-dough.

The last two weeks the toddlers have explored the flavours and textures of different coloured foods each week. They started with red foods where they had the opportunity to try red onion, pomegranate, pepper, beetroot, rhubarb and cherries. Charlotte was very brave and tried the red onion first; she took a huge bite and then quickly spat it out... not sure she liked that one! Immy loved the pomegranate calling it a “Sweetie” and she gobbled it up before any of her friends could attempt to steal it.  Next up was orange foods. The toddlers were able to try balsamic vinegar on bread, grapefruit, peach, sweet potato, mango and butternut squash. Although Rhys didn’t eat much, he did pretend to eat everything on his plate saying “Nom nom nom”.  Charlie tried everything and even licked his plate clean... delicious! 

Outside the toddlers have loved spending time in the glorious sunshine.. They had fun playing in the water tray, splashing water as high as they could! Alastair enjoyed splashing so much he went through five pairs of clothes in one morning! They have also been stretching their legs playing running races. Isabelle and Isla shouted “READY, STEADY, GO!” and they all ran as fast as they could, darting side to side to avoid the others running in the opposite direction! 

The children in the under twos room loved taste testing different vegetables. They tried beetroot, mange tout, baby corn, peppers and broccoli and we talked about healthy eating. Luna and Sadie enjoyed the beetroot and looking at the pink colour it left on their hands, Zack and Billie also got stuck in but Emily was a little more cautious of trying them. 

Outside they went for one of their regular walks to see the ducks and ducklings, to feed them bread and watch them come out of the water, closer to the buggies. They also saw the horses in the fields and Blake and Isaac were very excited saying “Horsey!” as they watched the horses gallop across their enclosure. In the garden Zack was exploring the tunnel, crawling through and laughing as he came out the other side. Chloe, Olivia, Tomas and Ada spent a lot of time concentrating on playing with the stacking cars, taking the different parts off then placing them back on the base..

Sophie, Finley, and Emily chose to play with the heuristic objects, putting on gloves and giving each other high fives, playing peekaboo with flannels, looking through bamboo and feeling the rough textures of pine cones and sponges.