Christmas Dinners and Parties!

As this is the last post of the year we thought we would let the pictures do the talking! May we take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. Have fun and may Santa bring you all you wish for! We reopen Tuesday 3rd January and look forward to welcoming you all back and to hearing about the all the children’s Christmas adventures!

Christmas Decorations & Outside Exploration!

Over the past couple of weeks the pre-school children have been busy helping to make lots of Christmas art work to decorate the pre-school room. One of the winter themed boards is a big hit for the children who are very proud of themselves and have been admiring their own art work. Alba called Zoe over once the board was finished, “Look Zoe, that’s my snowflake I made, which one is yours?” When Zoe pointed out her own, Alba said in a very soft voice, “Aren’t they so beautiful and sparkly?” Of course the Christmas tree delivery was very exciting for the children, they all enjoyed putting the baubles on the tree, with Louis even suggesting “Maybe that bauble will look pretty there”, pointing to an empty space on the tree. The children have all been talking together about what they would like from Santa and this week at swimming, some of the children were multi tasking, collecting the toys for the coloured boards and discussing what they would like for Christmas. Ari said he would like a robot, Immy said she would like an Anna and Elsa dress and Sophie said she would like a sleeping bag, which made all of her teachers and friends laugh.

Whilst out on one of our walks, the children discovered a grassy soil mound which they loved to run up and down. Olivia found it especially funny when her little legs went too fast and she couldn’t stop and fell to the ground. This of course prompted her friends to do the same and before we knew it, the children were loving tumbling down the mounds and on to the soggy mud. Jonathan reminded his friends, “Be careful where you stand though so you don’t squash any worms”. Very caring! The children continued on the walk once they were tired from all of the climbing and when they got to the map of the grounds, Florence made sure to stop her friends to find where nursery was. When Alfie pointed to the horse field, Florence laughed and said, “Nooo, we are not horses”. Next Alfie pointed at the nursery garden and Florence praised him, “Yes Alfie, well done”.

Gruffalo's Child and the Post Box!

This week the toddlers have started to get into the winter spirit coming into nursery all snuggly in their winter coats, cosy hats and matching mittens. They love to watch the leaves fall from the trees, exploring in the foggy fields, blowing their breath into the air like dragons and pretending to shiver as we all wait for the snow and ice to appear as the temperature continues to drop. The toddlers have enjoyed coming in from the cold garden and into the warm toddler room to listen to their book of the month ‘Gruffalo’s child’. Esmè shouts “Mouse, mouse!” as soon as the book is opened waiting with eagerness to spot where the little brown mouse is hiding. Youcef likes to point out the Gruffalo’s child’s nose as well as his while Freddie sits listening with full concentration not able to take his eyes off the book waiting to know what happens next. As part of a messy activity the toddlers had the opportunity to play with their small world characters on a snowy Christmas Day where flour was poured all over the scene for the toddlers to enjoy. Amèliè loved drawing in the fake snow with her finger making lots of swirly shapes, while Jude enjoyed throwing the snow in the air watching with pure joy as it fell back down onto his face and floated around him and his friends. 

The toddlers have also been getting ready for Father Christmas and the arrival of his reindeer on Christmas Eve by writing their very own letters to Santa which will soon be posted by first class mail to ensure they arrive on time! They have also been making some delicious reindeer food which can be sprinkled across the garden on the night before Christmas to keep the reindeer happy! Each toddler looked carefully at all the printed images of toys that Father Christmas had sent to the nursery to help them decide which toy they may want. After some much needed thought and consideration Oliver picked some dressing up clothes and wrote very politely that this is what he wanted and folded the letter up in an envelope and to post later. Josh and Madan enjoyed pouring oats and cranberries into a giant mixing tray, while Kitty and Cece added some sprinkles. Margot and Jasper found some big wooden spoons and begun mixing all the ingredients together. Isabelle said “Reindeer food” and pointed to the mixture and Sebastian said “Basti and Otto eat some” but his friends soon shouted “No for the reindeer!” in a very assertive way. The toddlers are getting very excited for Christmas as they begin preparing lots of goodies for their special Christmas bags and learning lots of new Christmas songs during circle time. 

Last week the under two’s have began to make preparations ready for Christmas. They have been looking at Christmas scenes getting lots of different ideas, and made some beautiful twinkling snowflakes. Isla and Gabriel were really interested and keenly focused spreading the glue across the stars, and Blair enjoyed scrunching up the tin foil and rolling it in her hand.

India and Monty worked really well together making a snow picture using their paint sponges. India knew to dip hers into the paint and press it onto the paper, Monty watched her and began to copy, and Arlo enjoyed scrunching his paper up enjoying the noise it made. With some help they had had fun making a stable scene using the builders tray, using lots of straw and hid lots of different animals within it. Edward was having a great time hiding and finding the big cow, whilst Matilda was scooping hay up and covering the goat and the sheep. Blair was full of giggles when Alice tickled her feet with the hay. They have had fun time playing with the crazy foam, and the white foam looked like big mountains of snow. India put her hands straight into the while Harry watched, Charlotte blew some of the crazy foam up into the air this made Harry laugh and try to catch it as it came down.

The under two’s have enjoyed some beautiful walks around our amazing grounds, observing the wildlife. There were lots of hungry and Oliver threw his bread as hard as he could for them! Some were a little unsure about the noise that the big geese were making as it was very loud, but Monty found it funny and began to point and smile at them. They also managed to see lots of big tractors as the groundsmen were working hard to mak the grounds look beautiful for us to enjoy, Eva and Harry were waving as they went by.