Bear Hunt & Sports!

Over the last couple of weeks, the children have enjoyed being active and learning about different sports as well as focusing on our book of the month 'We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’. After sharing the story at circle time, the children had the opportunity to go on their own small world bear hunt. Emily was first to the table, choosing 2 small world people and immediately heading off through the long wavy grass. Soon after came Ava, heading straight over to the deep cold river to see what she could find and was very excited to see some frogs on lily pads. She held one up for all of friends to see and shouted “Frog!… Ribbit”. Henrietta headed straight to the bears cave and let out a squeal of excitement “A bear! Look bear!” while pointing in the cave. She took hold of the bear and let out a big “Roar!”. Max giggled and took one look at the bear and excitedly said “Feed it” and ran and found some green pom poms and started to put them to the bears mouth, even storing him some extra food under a log. All of a sudden Harry said “Oh no… help… he stuck in the mud!” Arlo picked up a person and said “I help you Harry!” walking his person over to rescue him. The children had lots of fun creating their own narrative with this activity and had lots of fun exploring. 

Outside, the children have been very creative using the blocks and beams on the decking. George and Santiago set out 2 blocks on the floor then grabbed a circle block each and sat down. They twisted and turned the circle block in front of them. George shouted “Bee bee” pushing his hand onto the middle of the circle shortly followed by Santiago shouting “Beep beep!”. Once their friends heard the noise they were eager to join in. Ethan pointed and said “Look, a car!” Grabbing his own blocks to add. Arlo and Rafe went off to the shed and found some cushions to add to the car. Isla came over to see and said “Can I have a turn?” She sat in the car and said “I need to shut the door”, picking up a flat block and placed it next to her foot. The other children climbed in and when asked where they were going Leo shouted, smiling “The beach!” 

Over the past two weeks, the under twos have had a blast spending lots of time in the various outdoor areas the nursery has to offer! With the new book of the month ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ and the sports week, the children have had the opportunity to get busy with lots of activities engaging their senses and gross motor skills. 

Within the garden the children were transported into the “deep, dark cave” with their very own bear to find! A blanket covered tunnel and tuft tray made the perfect cave, allowing the children to become immersed in the story where they were able to crawl, climb and sneak their way into the cave, lifting the blankets to find the darkness underneath. Zachary and Henry were incredibly curious as they entered the garden and immediately began to explore the cave, finding their way under the blankets, whilst Evelyn crawled in through the tunnel. Whilst they were encouraged to sit within the cave, and join in the sing along of the story, Leo began tapping his legs to the beat and giggling at the sounds of ‘oozy mud’ and the ‘whirling snow storm’. 

Later in the week they also got the chance to go for a hunt of their own, but instead of a bear, the children were on the look out for the animals on the nursery grounds. At the beginning of the walk Sienna and Leonardo joined in making noises of the animals they might see, ‘clip clopping’ like horses, ‘tweeting’ like birds and ‘woof woofing’ like dogs. As soon as he entered the grounds Sebastian pointed to the field opposite, “Horse, horse!” he said and began making the sounds from before. Sebastian and Margaux were very excited to see a horse standing right next to the fence, lifting his head as the buggies approached. This horse was very brave and stayed right where he was whilst the children giggled and waved. As the walk continued they saw even more horses and sang the ‘horsey, horsey’ song as they watched from the gate. Once the bridge was in sight, Sienna and Imogen began to ‘quack’ knowing they would soon see the ducks in the water. Ready with duck food and bread to throw in, Madeline and Phoebe watched as duck after duck appeared from the bushes and swam along the water. Sienna joined in as Laura began to count the ducks, ‘one, two, three..’ but so many ducks came they couldn’t keep count!

During the sports week, the children got another opportunity to learn some numbers and begin to be introduced to counting. Cora, Cara and Charlotte were particularly interested in the ring toss, entering the mud kitchen for the game with colourful paper plate rings and being challenged to throw them onto the sticks in the soil. At first they were unsure of what to do with them, Cora holding the ring to her face as a mask, Charlotte poking her arm through as if wearing a bracelet and Cara holding it up looking at the dots. After a little demonstration of how to throw them, the group had a try on their own, launching the rings into the air and watching where they land. Each time they tried they got a little closer to the target and eventually Cara landed one on the stick, congratulated by a round of applause. Soon, it was time to count the rings the children had thrown and the children were encouraged to use the language “one” “two” “three”, with Charlotte enjoying picking the rings up as they were being counted to have another turn. 

Our Trip to Bockett's Farm!

Over the last couple of weeks, the preschool children have been focusing on farm animals on the build up to a very exciting Bockett’s farm trip! The children have been discussing which type of animals live on a farm, as well as exploring Jungle, Sea and Safari animals by participating in a range of animal themed activities. Chloe, Alfie, Isaac and Caiden enjoyed making some houses for the horses using the wooden blocks, with Isaac quizzing his friends, “Do you know what a horses house is called?” When his friends thought for a moment at what Isaac had asked, he gently reminded them, “Remember it’s called a stable.”. Chloe was using a ruler to measure up their stable and, when it was at the right height, suggested to her friends, “I think we can put the roof on now”. Next it was time to make more houses for other animals and very quickly, many more friends were helping out, using rulers and tape measures to get the correct measurements. Max had a guess, “I think it needs to be two hundred, thousand, million long”, which made his friends laugh a lot. 

On the day of the farm trip, the children were so excited to show each other their lunch boxes and eagerly waited for the coach to turn up to nursery. Sadie calmly reminding some of her friends, “We need to be patient guys, it will soon be here!”. The coach trip was very exciting for the children, with Florence and Ada pointing out the directions to their houses. Once getting to the farm, Madan and Tom were very keen to get to see the pig race. Iris, Jude and Oliver jumped up and down with excitement when seeing the tractor and Freddie asking, “Is it lunch time now?” The tractor ride was a great opportunity for the children to be able to see the animals that were deeper in to the farm fields, with many of the children looking around in amazement, big smiles on their faces and taking in all of the information the tractor driver was giving about the animals they could see. When it was time for the pig race, Sadie and Iris were cheering the pigs on, clapping and calling out, “Come on piggies!”. 

On the coach journey back and at nursery, the children were all talking to each other about their favourite part of the day with Ada letting Alfie know that, “The piglets were so small and cute and I loved them” and Ollie telling Amelie, “I really really liked the pig race, it was fun”. Sadie, Lana and Chloe went on to draw their own farm pictures, Lana adding some of her preschool friends on to her farm picture and when Rowan came to investigate what they were doing, he then went off to collect the farm animal toys for his friends to be able to draw.

Streams & Dinosaur Eggs!

The toddlers absolutely loved their trip to the stream one morning and were so excited to hear what they would be doing. As they saw spare clothes, wellies, wetsuit trousers and water toys all being gathered and put into the buggies Arlo asked, “Are we going for a walk? In the buggies?” Which Max overheard and celebrated with a cheer, “Go on a walk, Yayy”.  As the two were celebrating Arlo watched as their water bottles and a snack were placed into a bag too “We having snack on the walk too, it so tasty”. Once the children had their sun cream applied and hats on they were ready to set off in the buggies and began lots of chatter about vans, trucks and police cars that they might spot along the way. As they arrived at the stream they did some fabulous listening skills as made their way along the bank and sat down beside the stream to have a quick snack. Hugo was munching on a breadstick when he all of a sudden he stopped and shouted, “Ah Duck! Duck!” and pointed down the stream where two ducks appeared. This started a chorus of “Duck” and “Quack” amongst the children along with lots of giggles as Rafe tried to feed one his breadsticks. As soon as snack was finished the children were keen to get going and made their way straight into the water. Harry immediately gravitated towards the cups to scoop and collect water while Arlo chose a net. Arlo dipped the net in and scooped up a large amount of water, giggling as it trickled through the net, followed by a gasp as he saw what was left. He held it out to Harry to have a look who replied “Wow they are little stones… can you tip them out into the water? They go splash” which Arlo did and caused a little splash. Harry was about to pour out his full cup of water but hesitated and asked “Can we put this little water back into the big water?” Whilst pointing at the stream. Once Harry was reassured he could pour it out he turned his cup upside down with a splash. Matilda and Santiago enjoyed holding hands and wading through the water together, slowly making their way along the stream, stopping occasionally to giggle as the water flowed around them. Joseph spent a lot of his time on dry land, choosing to use his hands to investigate the water as he squatted down and used the cups and nets to collect water as it flowed at the edge of the stream. The toddlers spent all morning splashing, scooping, pouring and investigating the stream with the morning finished up by bundling into the buggies and setting off back to nursery for lunch. 

Over the last couple of weeks, the under twos have had an amazing time exploring our music and movement theme and all things dinosaurs. 

Inside, the children thoroughly enjoyed making their own rain makers using a cardboard tube, decorated by them and then filling it with rice. Sienna and Leonardo approached the table curiously, wondering what they could be doing. Sienna picked up the small scoop and put it to her her mouth, pretending she was eating and saying, “Mmm yum”, which made Leonardo giggle and join in. Once a short demonstration was given, the under twos began scooping and pouring rice into their shakers and played with them all afternoon. They also adored the sensory bag drumming activity. They used their hands or drumsticks to bang on sensory bags, filled with paint, along to the beat of drumming music. Margaux threw herself into this activity and set such a great example for her friends. Using both hands, Margaux drummed on the sensory bag and mixed up the colours, getting very excited when she left a hand print in the paint too. 

Outside the under twos have had lots of water and ice play to cool down in the glorious weather we’ve had. As they were loving the dinosaur theme, we continued it into the garden and made some frozen dinosaur eggs. The little dinosaurs were frozen inside spheres of ice which the children were able to feel and play with inside a sensory bin. Charlotte approached and felt one of the eggs which made her gasp and giggle, as she pulled her hand away saying, “Oh! cold ha ha”. During this activity, the under twos began exploring the garden in order to find things which could help them break into the eggs to get to the dinosaurs. Imogen came back with a spade from the sandpit and Leo came back with a saw from the toy tool kit. All in all, they gave it a very good go and we’re taking part for such a long time, the dinosaur eggs melted and created a dinosaur swimming pool. 

Nature explorers!

The pre school children have continued to explore the nursery grounds over the last couple of weeks, using individual nature explorer bags which give the children the opportunity to investigate and record all the things they find whilst out on a walk together. On one of the walks, Rowan suggested, “I know what we can look for today”, and very quickly realising that he had gained the attention of the other children, he excitedly suggested, “How about some real bugs and insects in the trees and bushes and grass?” His idea went down very well with the other children agreeing, “That’s a good idea” and some of them clapping and smiling. The children each took responsibility of their own bag which consisted of many things including a magnifying glass, some string and some writing tools. 

As the children crossed the bridge, it didn’t take them long at all to find a spot to explore. Olivia encouraged her friends to sit with her, letting them know, “I know we will find some bugs here because they love the grass”. Sophie and Oliver set themselves up with their magnifying glasses, looking at the grass closely and when Oliver very quickly found an ant on the ground, Sophie put her hand on his back and said, “Yes, well done Oliver, you found one”, which made Oliver feel very proud. When moving along a little to find a new spot to explore, Caiden, Alfie, Finley and Lana found a comfortable spot on the grass and sat themselves down with their nature fact sheets. Whilst looking through the sheet of what they could possibly find whilst out and about, Finley was very quick to prompt his friends to tick the things they had already seen including a horse, some trees and some ducks. He then looked down the list and said, “Next we just need to find some sticks to make some more photo frames”. 

In the warmer weather, the vegetables that the children helped to plant the seeds of, have rapidly grown and this hasn’t gone unnoticed. After a weekend away from nursery, Florence, Sadie and Madan were admiring the vegetable leaves with Madan gasping and running off to find Caiden to show him the vegetables. Sadie put her arms out to the side of her and laughed, telling her friends, “They are this big now, they are nearly as big as me”. Tom looked deeper down the stalk of the plants and noticed, “There’s something red at the bottom here like a tomato”. After a closer inspection, Tom was right, but it was radish that had started to be visible. The children couldn’t wait to investigate all of the plants and also discovered some sugar snap peas had started to grow.

Insect Walks & Under Sea Exploration!

The toddlers have been absolutely loving their Thursday sessions of interactive singing and story telling with the entertainer, Ellie. As soon as tidy up time is called and the children notice tables being moved to make space the excitement begins. Harry asked “Is the bubble lady coming?”, remembering the bubble machine from last time. Once Ellie arrived and began setting up, all of the toddlers gathered into the big space and with a little guidance sat in a perfect circle with their listening ears switched on. Once the ‘hellos’ began and the first song started to play, Rafe held up both index fingers and began swishing them from side to side, doing the sign for music. Henrietta smiled as she stomped her feet to the music and Ethan wiggled his head from side to side as he smiled happily. Arlo found it absolutely hilarious to shout along to the funny noises as they squeezed their toes, giggling away as he said “Boop Boop” and “Beep Beep”. Emily loved the musical instrument section and dived in straight away to gather some instruments to play. Once the shaking, tapping and banging had finished she helped to tidy them all away. The session was ended with a goodbye song and each child was given a ‘star’ on their hand for all of their participation. 

The children were so excited to go for a walk, each with their own explorer bag containing a clipboard, pen, insect checklist, a magnifying glass and pair of binoculars. As they set off around the Imber Court grounds holding their little bags, Leo commented, “Got Leo’s bag.. got lots stuff in it” while holding it out for everyone to see. At the first stop the children all placed their bags on the floor to remove either their magnifying glass or binoculars to investigate some flowers. Arlo retrieved his magnifying glass and held it right up to his face, looked at the nearest member of staff and said “Oh hello Alice, nice to see you!” before redirecting his gaze into the sky and shouting “AEROPLANE!”. Maximilian then shouted “HELP!” as he struggled to pull his binoculars out of his bag in a rush to see the aeroplane, once assisted he held them up to one eye and commented, “LOOK!…Big one up there!”. Megan’s attention was elsewhere as she noticed a small grasshopper had jumped onto a staff members leg, after looking at it closely with Joseph they both squealed as it jumped back into the grass to hide. Joseph explained to Megan as she began searching the grass “Oh no it gone now, hiding in the grass.. bye bye hopper”. Ava pulled out her clipboard and pen which influenced the others to do the same. As she began drawing on her checklist along with her friends she paused, shouting “Ah!” and pointing to the spider picture “It’s a spider!” and Joseph reassured her “It not scary”.

In recent weeks the under twos have had an amazing time exploring the book of the month ‘Elmer’ and all things under the sea! One activity that the under twos were particularly interested in was the ‘under the sea’ sensory bags! Each bag was filled with a different sea related malleable material, such as string and water creating a look of seaweed! Charlotte was particularly intrigued by this one, pushing both hands and hard as she could into the bag, watching as the ‘seaweed’ wiggled and squished out of the way. She giggled as the green and blue string moved beneath her hands, and this caught the attention of some of the other children. Leo was curiously observing all of the sensory fun, whilst Cora had discovered the bag filled with blue water and oil, creating bubbles and ripples in the bag as she poked and prodded it. ‘Oooh’ she expressed, quickly followed by a clap! In the other two bags was green sand, and little toy fish, which Evie enjoyed chasing around the bag with her fingers! Later in the day these under water sensory bags were hung outside, to create a whole new way to explore them. 

In the garden the children explored all things ‘Elmer’ by digging for elephants in the sand pit and then cleaning them with crazy foam. One of the most exciting Elmer themed activities was the rainbow pom pom chutes! Attached to the chalk board was a variety of tubes of different lengths and sizes, all aiming at different angles. The under twos practiced their pincer grasp, carefully choosing which pom pom they wanted to use. Margaux was a tad unsure at first as to what to do next but after a demonstration of how to post the pom poms down the chutes and collect them from the bottom, she excitedly took a handful of them and began quickly posting as many as she could! Cora and Sebastian followed suit and copied Margaux’s actions, all of them eagerly watching as the pom poms vanished from the top and miraculously shot out of the bottom. All of this fun quickly drew the gaze of the other children and soon there was a whole group of children excitedly laughing and babbling to one another as they played! During this activity the children were helped with attempting to say the colour names as they selected their pom pom, listening and repeating it back! Margaux repeating back “blue” as she investigated the texture of the pom pom, and Sebastian “white!”.