Music, Lights & Families!

During the last couple of weeks the pre-school children have been busy exploring many different musical instruments, beats and rhythms for our Music Week. Whilst exploring the different sized triangles, maracas, bells and rain makers all together, Ada told her friends “Musical instruments make lots of noise, don’t they?”. Each of the children loved listening to the different sounds the instruments made as they took it in turns to play each instrument and they all had the opportunity to make their very own musical instruments. They used recycled materials such as cereal boxes, cardboard cylinders, bottles and paper plates to make their chosen instruments. The children used pasta, rice and other natural materials to put inside their instruments that they could use to shake and tilt their instruments and see what different sounds and music they could make. They loved decorating their drums with different coloured paints. Zachary was very proud of his instrument and was eager to show his friends his creation, saying “Let’s make a band and play lots of music!” 

Outside in the garden, the children have enjoyed lots of construction play activities. Riley encouraged her friend Jack to build a big train with the wooden blocks. Riley told Jack, “Let’s make super train to North Pole!”. Together the children stacked, joined and balanced the blocks one on top of the other until they were happy with their train shape. Jack said to Riley “We might see some reindeer, might we?”. The children enjoyed constructing a road in the builders tray using some masking tape. Tomas said to Jasper “We need a parking garage for our cars to have a rest.” “We need a roundabout too.” Jasper added. All the children had lots of fun driving their cars around the tracks on the road they had made together. 

Over the past two weeks the toddlers have been learning about families and the people who help us. The toddlers enjoyed looking at pictures of their families that had been sent into nursery from home. Tommy pointed out all his family members by name and kept his photographs with him all day! Reegan smiled when he found his family photos in the sand tray and proudly showed his friends the photo. Rafferty and James particularly enjoyed looking into a mirror and trying to draw a self portrait. Rafferty pointed out “Raffy has eyes, head, nose” while drawing what he could see. 

Outside, the toddler firefighters put on their brave boots and hardy helmets and bravely tackled the mighty growing spaghetti fire! The firefighters grabbed their water sprayers and sprayed the burning fire as quickly as they could! Alastair said “Fire hot! Fire hot! Pour on water!”, while Max believed stomping on the fire would be more effective. Out of nowhere, two robbers known as Sadie and Emily, ran across the playground carrying a stolen bag of food.  Not far behind were three police officers, Isaac, Rowan and Florence shouting “Going to get you!”. Sadly, their police hats were a few sizes too big, so kept covering their eyes sending them all in different directions. 

Back inside the doctors Zack and Lana were working long hours trying to keep their patients healthy. Zack used the stethoscope to monitor their heart rates by putting it on his friends heads, while Lana took the dolls temperatures. Thankfully all the dolls were healthy apart from a few broken legs, arms and one poorly head! Thankfully, Olivia came to the rescue with tissue paper and quickly bandaged them all up. 

The children in the under two’s room have been painting using different types of objects. Youcef, Kitty and Amélie really got stuck in, dipping mega blocks into red paint and got very messy! For Remembrance Day, the children used the bottom of drink bottles to create poppies, stamping the bottles onto the paper leaving a floral pattern. Margot held the bottle with both hands and Ada concentrated carefully placing the bottle on the paper plate. During a car rolling activity, Otto and Freddie were very enthusiastic, rolling the cars on paper once they’d been through the paint, and using their hands to spin the paint-covered wheels around. 

Outside, Amélie stacked the big wooden blocks to make a huge tower, then clapped and laughed as she knocked it down. Esmé and Margot investigated the treasure basket, using their hands and mouths to feel the different objects, including smooth pebbles and special wooden sticks. During a walk to feed the ducks, the children also saw the big police horses and Freddie and Sebastian waved as they passed by.

During sensory time, the children were mesmerized by the projector shining on the walls and ceiling of the dark sleep room. When it was turned off, Otto was looking for it, holding his hands out in a confused gesture. When put back on, he smiled and waved his arms. Kitty liked using the small shakers, learning that when shaken, the beads inside light up and she held them close to her face. In the messy tray the children used the cooking utensils to mix up instant mashed potato. Otto scooped up spoonfuls and put them in a frying pan while Margot was trying to eat it! Esmé and Youcef liked exploring the playdough, using their fingers to press into the dough and tried to push down hard on the cutters to make the shapes.

Ducks & Fairy Tales in the Park!

The older children have been very busy recently. They explored Diwali by making some wonderful firework pictures. Isla pointed out that she was making fireworks, as after each splat of the dabber pen she announced “Fireworks!”. Louis was really happy with his picture, and showed it off proudly. They have also been very busy with messy play with some shiny foam making different shapes and clapping it together. Cianna had a wonderful game of clapping the foam to make snow, which Deliah got involved with as well and told her it was snow and found a new way to spread it around by blowing it. When some went on their noses they laughed and laughed as they tried to shake it off.

The children went to the woods and enjoyed climbing on some fallen logs and cut up tree trunks. George was very eager to get started and climbed on the fallen log and started walking across it. When he started to lose his balance, he would hold on very tight to the log , carefully making sure to not fall and start again! When Charlie reached the top he encouraged all of his friends to join him, as they began to shout “We are so tall!”.

Whilst outside the children have also been caring really well for the animals and wildlife, Oliver and Wilf looked through the leaves to find some bugs that might need help. They didn’t find any bugs but a bug did find our group! A small flying shield bug came and landed on an arm, and Oliver looked at the bug very excitedly and waved saying “Hello!”. Wilf was interested in looking at the bug and learning what he could about it. They discovered it had some wings and they counted the bugs legs together. When it flew off, they flew after it by following its path waving their arms. The children also enjoyed feeding some ducks and birds. Alba really liked the ducks and encouraged Jessie and Bodie to feed them as well. They began to call over more ducks by quacking, and when the ducks came over they excitedly laughed and said “Hello” before feeding them all they could eat.

This week the babies went to a magical land and explored lots of different fairy tales. The babies created their own special houses for the three little pigs. They used a variety of different materials such as felt, foil, feathers, tissue paper. Dora particularly loved the foil. “Shiny!” she said as she stuck down nearly the whole pot of foil! Theo announced “Ta Da!” he said as he held up his masterpiece. Alex loved the fluffy feathers and tried tickling Jamie with them. Honor oinked as he picked up the toy pig and made Luca laugh hysterically. Agnes loved the shiny fabrics and Mabel kissed the pigs as she invited them into her new home and Dora even tried feeding them during her snack time.

During a woodland walk, the babies went on a secret hunt for the fairies in the trees. “Tree” shouted Honor as she ran up to one. Theo laughed and picked up a bunch of fallen leaves and threw them in the air. All the other babies joined in together. Alex climbed on the logs, inviting Rouxx to come join him. Theo found some sticks and banged them together making music for the fairies. “Duck” squealed Luca as a swan swam past. “Quack quack” said Agnes as she pointed to them. “Woof woof” said Honor as a dog ran past. Jamie laughed as Dora kicked the leaves. Mabel shared her special leaf and handed it to Luca.

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.