Diwali, Fireworks & Space!

The preschool children have been observing the changes of the trees in the garden over the past couple of weeks, noticing that a few trees in particular have lost their leaves and that the leaves have started to change colour. Henry told his friends, “It’s strange, some of these leaves have turned red, some are orange and some are still very green”. Whilst doing some observational drawings of the trees and plants in the garden, Ezmie noticed a leaf falling from the tree and quickly got her friends attention, “Quick guys, look before you miss it, the wind has blown the leaf off the tree, that’s super cool”. The children collected the leaves that had fallen on to the ground and placed them all in to a tray and were very focused on describing the similarities and differences between the leaves.

The children have been learning all about Diwali over the past week. One of the staff was informing the children all about the festival and the celebrations that take place and had brought in some clothes for the children to try on. Ada had seen that one of the staff members had put one of the outfits on and said, “You look like you are going to get married, the dress is very beautiful”. The children were then discussing special outfits that they wear on special occasions. Maya told her friends, “When it was my birthday, I had a party and I wore a very special sparkly dress!”.

The toddlers have enjoyed going up to outer space in our new ‘climbing frame’ spaceship! Alastair ran to the top and shouted “3, 2, 1, Blast Off!” which he had learnt from a song at circle time. They made rockets where they blew air into the straw and watched their rockets fly off. Rowan said “Wow, flying!” as he watched his friends rockets shoot across the room. While in space, the toddlers saw some photographs of planets and tried to make their very own by using paint, pens and sparkly sequins. Florence took her time painting her planet and was very impressed when she saw it hanging up in toddler room for everyone to see, “Look, planet up there!”. 

Outside they used paper telescopes to search for UFO’s and aliens. Isaac looked deeply into his telescope and said he saw an “elephant” in outer space. While in outer space, they came across some bonfires made of spaghetti which, due to the time difference, they had forgotten fireworks night was soon approaching. Sophie enjoyed breaking up the bonfire while Tommy and Sadie said “Fire hot!” and were trying to blow it out. 

Towards the end of the week, the children returned from outer space just in time for fireworks night. They quickly got on their aprons, found some paintbrushes and flicked paint across their paper and the whole of toddler room to create some fireworks. Rafferty said “Do it again” to his friends as he watched paint fly past his face to shrieks of laughter. The toddlers listened to a firework video and were asked what they could hear. Blake answered “Bang! Bang!” and her friends copied by shouting and clapping their hands to represent the sound. 

The under twos have been busy celebrating Diwali by making some beautiful firework pictures using cut out cardboard tubes. Esmé, Freddie and Kitty loved getting stuck in, dipping the tubes into the dishes of brightly coloured paint then stamping them onto the paper. Margot and Amélie had lots of fun hand painting and getting really messy, making different marks using their fingers and hands and sometimes their faces too!

Ada and Youcef concentrated really well when playing with the stacking toys. They took turns sharing the pieces and taking them off and putting them back on to the poles using good hand-eye coordination. Otto and Sebastian were role playing using the food and cooking utensils. They stood up at the table and were exploring the different items, mixing and banging the spoons with the pots and pans and sharing the food with each other, saying “Ta!”, babbling and laughing together. 

Pumpkins & Potions

The children have been very busy exploring Halloween and taking wonderful walks to the woodlands where they explored fallen trees and dens. Ellis said that there may be a bear in in the den, just like the bear in the cave from the book We're Going on a Bear Hunt. Ellis encouraged his friends to join him on his own bear hunt as they walked back from the woodlands they recited it as a team. Charlie went through the long wavy grass and Emma went through the mud whilst saying “Squelch squelch”.

Whilst in the woodlands the children collected some sticks to make some spooky spiders. Alba and Isla counted how many sticks we had and how many legs the spiders have. Varun and Zayne helped to stick on the spiders legs and then acted like spiders with their hands. Sienna choose to help out her friends by singing Incy wincy spider to all of her friends with a big smile, which made them smile too. After collecting some pumpkins, they cut them open and started to empty them out. Abigail enjoyed this activity, laughing when she felt the gooey insides, and when Reuben tried to scoop the insides out they flicked every where making him and everyone else doing the activity laugh and laugh. On the messy tray the children decided they would make some potions, mixing together different materials and scents. Adam liked the couscous, gently pouring it into his potion whilst Cianna liked the shiny material which make her potion sparkle. Louis wanted to have a go too, and whilst Lyra was mixing the potion she had created, Louis had tipped the water and spilt it all over the tray and laughed alongside everyone else who then decided to do some splashing in the water tray.

The babies loved listening to ‘Room On The Broom’ where the witch made a potion using pine cones and sticks. This inspired the babies to fill up a cauldron with bright green water and creepy crawlies. Theo picked up a wooden spatula and began stirring the magic mixture. Carol pointed at the insects saying “Ooh ooh” and picked up a ladle ready to scoop them up. Agnes shouted “Bug!” and dipped her hand in to potion, not worrying about the insects hiding. Dora enjoyed splashing the water, “Green” she said as it splattered over her friends. Jamie trickled the water down into the cauldron like a waterfall, this made Rouxx giggle “Yeahhhh!” he said throwing the mixture around the messy tray, “Ah, all gone!” he said when the water had disappeared. Harriet helped to stir the mixture but decided her arm was more practical than the spoons.

The babies ventured outside into the garden where a pumpkin patch was waiting for them. Mabel ran up to the pumpkins stroking and tapping them all. Luca started a game of catch with the munchkin pumpkin, “Ball ball” he said. Rouxx sat himself inside the wheelbarrow, “Cheeeese” he said, posing like a model. Alex used the pumpkins like an obstacle course, weaving in and out of them, “Weeeee” he shouted as he dodged the pumpkins. Jamie gave the biggest pumpkin a big slobbery kiss goodbye!

Costumes, Cobwebs & Collecting!

During the last couple of weeks, the preschool children have been really excited for the build up to Halloween and have enjoyed taking part in many fun spooky activities. Riley told all her friends “It’s Halloween! I got my decorations at my home already.” The children have enjoyed coming into nursery dressed up as witches, wizards, cats and pumpkins. Shyla said “I’m a nice witch, not a wicked witch”. Vivienne replied “I love Halloween.” The children have had great fun creating smiley ghost pictures from the The Little Princess and the ghost book and using different shapes to make pumpkins ornaments to hang on the door. The children applied glue to their orange card and then used different shapes to make a face and create pumpkins. Sienna was very excited to show her pumpkin off to her friends, she began to laugh and said “My pumpkin has lots of eyes to see!”

During the last couple of weeks the children have enjoyed the transition into the Autumn season. The children have used the leaf sponges and paints and made autumn pictures using natural materials found on their daily walks such as leaves, twigs, acorns and pine cones. Maya chose a sponge and said “I’m going to make a red leaf like the one in my garden. It fell from the tree.” 

Out in the garden they were really excited to race each other using the stilts and took it in turns to share the stilts whilst they had their races. Jack said “I’m going to win, I can walk fast on the stilts!” Joshua replied “I think I will win too, I got fast feet on my legs.” The children have also been on many walks around the grounds and splashing in several puddles. William said “Whoah that’s a big puddle” and ran over to jump into it. Ethan was very excited to see lots of Geese whilst out and walked over laughing and said “Ahh they going to get us!” as the geese walked over to get some bread. 

As Halloween fast approaches, the toddlers have enjoyed coming into nursery dressed up as cats, scarecrows and spiders. Alastair and Florence loved making a giant spider web that was put up across the room for the children to look through and hide behind. Rowan shouted “Boo!” as he jumped up behind it. Blake and Sadie helped cut the pumpkin for messy play. Blake said that it “feels slimy” as she pulled the insides of the pumpkins out. Luna smelt the pumpkin and said “Yucky!” and threw it back into the tray. 

Outside the toddlers have been collecting sticks and leaves on walks around the grounds as part of our autumn theme. Rafferty made a hedgehog using the broken up sticks from the walk and adding googley eyes. He then went round to all his friends showing them what he had made. Using the leaves collected on the walk the toddlers made leaf monsters using feathers, sequins, tissue paper and googley eyes. Ada said her leaf monster was “good” and counted how many eyes it had “One, two, three, four, five!”. 

Back inside the toddlers have been hiding in their very own hedgehog den on the climbing frame. Tommy found the animal teddies and buried them under the blankets and said “Fox sleeping, shush!” when any of his friends went passed. To celebrate Diwali the toddlers used paper, dabber pens, feathers and more to create lanterns to take home to their families. 

This week in the under two’s room, they have been having fun out in the garden enjoying the sunshine. Sebastian and Kitty were getting really excited exploring the wooden bridge, going over it and meeting each other the other side and laughing. Elsewhere in the the garden they played with the dinosaurs and wooden cars, and Freddie enjoyed finding the dinosaurs out of the sand tray.

Inside the boys had a lot of fun playing “peek a boo” standing on top of the climbing tower, which made Youcef and Sebastian laugh and squeal with delight. Over in the home corner Amélie and Margot were playing with the kitchen toys and making meals. Margot kept turning the cups upside down and banging them like they were drums, whilst Amélie used the wooden fork and the saucepan. All the children enjoyed doing the teabag printing using different coloured water to make wonderful artworks. Youcef especially had fun squeezing them so the colourful water went all over his hands.

Pirates, Boats & Treasure!

The older children have been exploring pirates, looking at where they live and what they do. They have practiced their pirate sounds and actions and really liked to find the buried treasure that was encased in ice! Abigail liked melting the blue ice, and when her coin came out she showed it to her friends. She gave a coin to George and helped him melt his ice as he giggled back and said “Ooowww”. Wilf helped to make some pirates alongside Charlie and they both mimicked the sound a pirate would make, saying “Argghh” and moving their arms. Bodie came over and joined in with their crafts saying “Pirates live on a ship”, before they then continued to play around the nursery acting like pirates.

In the garden we had some pirate races, pushing the boats along to see which one would be the fastest! Emma liked watching the boats but much preferred splashing in the water with Ciana, and when Emma splashed Ciana, she would splash bigger splashes making both the girls laugh and laugh. Reuben and Lyra played with some spaghetti sea, which they used to hide pirate treasure and let toy pirates swim. Maeva and Deliah helped to make junk model boats and used lots of colours pointing out that their ship was going to be colourful. Sidney and Zayne preferred to paint a sea using sponges, dabbing the painting dotters on the paper. Sidney felt the way the sponge felt, squashing it and paint in his hand and smearing it everywhere whilst smiling at his new colourful hands. Zayne thought it was funnier to make big splash type marks on the paper with the dabbers and see the the differnet effects when he dabbed either hard or gently.

The children have also explored Autumn this week. They have been into the woods to collect some wonderful Autumn natural resources such as leaves and conkers to create some amazing art works. Alba and Charlie tipped up the tray one end to make wonderful marks with the conkers and paint inside, and Charlie spotted the different colours and thought it was really funny tipping it up above their heads. Oliver and Sienna made some pictures whilst at the park using some of the leaves they collected, and began to make hedgehogs but half way through decided to instead make some family portraits! They talked about their families whilst busy doing their artwork and showed it off proudly.                

The babies became pirates hunting for treasure in a water messy tray. The treasure had sunk to the bottom of the deep dark ocean meaning the babies needed to use different tools to scoop up the gems under the boats. Rouxx opted for a bright yellow sieve shouting “Yeah! Yeah!” whilst Honor used her hands, “Boat!” she called out as she made big ripples and waves by swirling her hands round and round. Dora excitedly used her ladle to collect her gems, transferring them into a bucket. Jamie liked this idea and speedily filled his bucket up whilst babbling “Mamama”. Harriet explored the gems by holding them up in the air and tasting them to see if they were real. This made Alex giggle and he used his ladle to drink up the water. “Pirate” said Dora as she pointed to Carol who was banging her gems together to make a beautiful tune. Theo splashed his hands around in the water, not worrying about what laid beneath the ocean.

The little pirates found a bridge perfect for walking the plank. However, they spotted a group of ducks eating their breakfast in the Woodland Gardens. Rouxx was extremely brave and ran towards the ducks for a closer look, “Quack quack” Luca said and pointed towards them. Dora spotted geese and decided to run the other way. Honor followed “Duck?” she questioned when she saw the large speedy geese. Alex ran on the spot in excitement “Ahh!” he said looking at all the animals in front of him. Mabel clapped her hands and everyone began to sing ‘Five little ducks’ ! 

Experiments, Volcanoes and Colours!

The pre schoolers have really enjoyed our science experiment week at nursery, especially learning about volcanos and watching a volcano erupt using cola and mentos. The children all watched in anticipation, ready for the explosion and as the cola shot up out of the bottle, Maya shouted "Wow, that's gone super high in the sky!". The children also loved watching a volcano eruption from the top of the Lego volcano using baking powder and vinegar. The children watched in wonder as the liquid began to fizz and spill over the sides of the volcano. Sienna said "Ooo! its all fizzy". During science week the children also enjoyed making their own rockets using junk modelling materials and different coloured paints. "My rocket will go so high to the clouds, and then into space!" Henry said to his friend Ezmie. The children enjoyed using the dabber tools to carefully apply their chosen colours to make their wonderful creations. During this week the home corner became the centre of many of the children's exploration and play after being transformed into a space rocket. Many of the children spent a lot of time aboard the space rocket, role playing their journey into space, pushing all the buttons on the space rocket and zooming off into the sky. Joshua said to his friend William "Let's fly up to space and see all the planets and stars!".

During the last two weeks, the children also enjoyed getting messy in the cornflour, searching through it to finding the letter pebbles hidden amongst the cornflour. Leo and Emma had fun using their hands to explore the texture of the cornflour and making marks using the wooden sticks. Leo giggled and said "My hands are all sticky now.". In response Emma giggled and said "It's wet and all slimy, like slugs!" as she watched the cornflour drip off her hands and back into the messy tray. Many of the children have also enjoyed practicing their physical skills by using the scissors to cut materials and create wonderful models and pictures. The children could choose to cut different coloured papers, card and also different fabrics which they could then stick down using the glue onto their chosen junk modelling boxes or paper. Jack had lots of fun cutting up his pieces of paper. He laughed and said "I'm giving my paper a nice hair cut. My mummy cuts my hair like this.". Maya giggled and said "That's a nice hair cut Jack.". 

Over the last week, the toddlers have been learning about shapes and colours by participating in activities that support their recognition and knowledge of them. Alastair thoroughly enjoyed making his rainbow collage where he stuck down each shape individually and named the colours he knew. James enjoyed being asked questions while he was making his rainbow and was asked if he could find the orange triangle and he pointed correctly and said “Orange triangle”. Emily enjoyed hiding the coloured shapes and waiting for someone to find them before sticking them down on her collage.

Outside, the toddlers explored colours and shapes through a colour hunt where a name was shouted and they had to run through the garden to find it. Sammy screamed “I found red!” finding the colour hidden behind the sandpit. Sophie found green but didn’t want to tell anyone so hid the colour under her top and ran away. In the sandpit Rowan and Lana were digging to try and find some hidden shapes. Their faces lit up when they found one as if it was as good as treasure! Back inside the toddlers have enjoyed getting messy with potato printing. Tommy found this funny as he splatted the potato down really hard causing the paint to jump and hit his face! Charlotte loved painting and noticed she had printed a yellow star which she proudly named.  

The babies have been busy exploring different materials in the messy tray. When playing with shredded paper, Kitty liked to pick up individual strands while Margot preferred to grab small handfuls, looking at the different colours. Youcef got really stuck in, excitedly pulling out the paper and throwing it around and over his head. The under two’s also loved playing with the light up sensory shakers in the dark. Margot held them close to her face, watching the colours change as she moved the beads inside. Kitty and Otto were really engaged by the rotating projector, looking at the shapes it made on the ceiling and walls as it turned and the image change. 

The children have been for some lovely walks in the pushchairs where they saw the big horses in the field and fed the ducks on the river. They also helped collect some colourful autumn leaves which they later used to make a lovely collage. Margot held a huge brown leaf and was waving it around like a flag and Kitty really studied her green leaf, holding it close to her face. Otto liked feeling the cool, sticky glue on his fingers as he tried to get it from the spatula to the paper and was confused and amazed when his leaf got stuck to his fingers!

Back inside, the more mobile children have been using their physical skills to climb up the stairs of the climbing frame, coming back down on the slide. Sebastian, Otto and Amélie had great fun following each other around, paying peek-a-boo and looking at each other in the big mirror, then playing with the walker together, using their fingers to move the cogs around on the frame.