Exploring the New Garden!

It’s an exciting time for the children coming back to nursery after the Christmas break, as they discovered that the garden renovation had been completed! They have loved exploring the new open space grass area, as well as the frost and ice that the winter weather has brought in. Otto ran straight over to the preschool door, calling Sebastian and Joseph over as well, “Doesn’t it look so lovely and nice!” he said with a big smile on his face. The children eagerly got ready to play outside, wrapping up warm in their coats, hats and gloves before they went off exploring. Gabriel, Sebastian and Otto went to check on the nature area and got set to building a new home for the robin they had regularly seen visit the nursery garden, whilst Margot and Harry sat themselves down on the new seating area at the back of the garden, sharing some stories. Margot looked up at the sun and contently said to Harry, “What a lovely, sunny day!”. 

Ollie and Blair enjoyed a game of football together. Ollie had used the two cones and suggested to Blair, “This could be like a real football field and a goal, you need to kick the ball and I need to save it”. Blair was very keen with this idea, laughing and challenging Ollie, “I will score the goal!”. Blair counted down, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ready, go!” and was so proud of herself when she scored the goal with Ollie being a great team player and clapping for Blair. Arlo and Santiago joined their football game for a short while, Arlo then saying to Santiago, “I’m tired now, that was a lot of energy”. They both laughed and went over to explore the dinosaur set up, engaging themselves in to imaginative play. Whilst washing their hands to get ready for lunch, Amelie said to Freddie, “I’m excited to go and play back outside on the grass with the bikes!”. 

Christmas Concert!

The preschool children have had a very busy last couple of weeks as they prepared for this weeks Christmas performance of Stickman. Each day has been filled with excited discussions about the play and what they would be wearing. Edward excitedly told his friends “I have a Stickman costume at my home!” To which Jasper replied “I have a dog costume!”. On the morning of the play, Arlo asked “Are our Mummies and Daddies coming to Stickman?” to which Freddie answered “They are coming later!”. The children have spent the last month practicing very hard each and everyday to remember their words and songs, and it was excellent to hear that a lot of them had been practicing at home too. It was so wonderful to see them all in their costumes at the final practice before the big performance and the children loved seeing each other in their costumes for the first time too. Sadie told Margot “I love your Snowman costume, look at my one too!”

As the parents filtered in, the children chattered excitedly amongst themselves, pointing out their parents and waving to them with big beaming grins on their faces. It was lovely to have such a great turnout! They did a fantastic job and brought the house down with their singing, causing a few Mummies and Daddies to shed a tear at how well they all did. The children received a well deserved round of applause at the end along with the cheers and sniffles. Lots of parents stuck around for some food and to socialise after the performance. Thank you to everyone who came along to support and well done to all the children for all their hard work! We hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and New Year!

Christmas Countdown!

The toddlers have had a great week with lots of Christmas themed activities and spending lots of time creating beautiful artwork to take home along with special cards and gifts made for their families. One activity the toddlers seemed to enjoy was writing a letter to Father Christmas. Cora sat at the table as soon as she saw the pens and began mark making, creating circles and swirls across her paper, “This is christmas”. Upon hearing the word ‘Christmas’ Margaux immediately piped up and shouted in excitement “Christmas tree, Christmas tree!”. This led to all of the children at the table chiming in and sharing about their own Christmas trees at home. The toddlers then engaged in conversations of how they wanted to spend their Christmas as well as what they wanted to eat. Finley said “I get presents and have a party” while Matilde said “I have cuddles with Mummy and Daddy”. Evie joined in stating “Yes, eating yummy food” while rubbing her hand in circles over her stomach. 

Later the next day the children were able to post their letters in the post box in the garden. Charlotte immediately knew what to do and took the letter in both hands and pushed it into the post box, clapping her hands together once it dropped in. After watching Charlotte do this Arlo and Lucy had a turn, taking their time to line up the letter with the entrance to the post box and pushing it all the way in. Lucy didn’t let go of her letter and pulled it out again, only to post it one more time with a smile of success on her face. Sebastian posted his letter and said “Do it again?”. So after sitting himself on the floor with some paper and pens he wrote another letter, getting up as soon as he had finished and posted his second letter to Father Christmas.

Over the last couple of weeks, the under twos have been getting very excited for the upcoming festive season. Together, the children have been decorating the room by painting and printing on bright coloured paper to make paper chains, along with rolling pine cones in paint to make hanging decorations. One activity the children thoroughly enjoyed was the paint splatting activity, using spoons and paint to create abstract marks across the paper. Henry stood patiently at the table whilst paper was set up and giggled every time a drop of paint hit the paper. Hearing Henry’s laughter, Theo soon approached the table and seemed eager to have a go. As they are absolute professionals at this activity now, the children got straight to work, lifting up the spoons and splatting that paint all over the place. Some paint splatter had made its way onto Zachary’s arm as they played, to which he pointed and said, “oh” and smiled, looking around to show his friends. 

 As the temperature is beginning to drop, the children have loved making dens in the garden using blankets and furniture. Before garden time, a den was set up with pillows, story books and toys inside. As the children went out into the garden, Skandar and Lowen were first to spot the den. Lowen, with a huge grin on his face said, “Ooooooo”, as he pointed in the direction of the den. Skandar was very curious too and bent down to have a look inside. After having a sneak peak, Skandar got down and crawled inside, shortly followed by Lowen and Theo! Together they sat, super cozy and having fun with their toys.