Frost & Lightboxes!

The toddlers have been loving the recent garden make over! They have jumped straight into the exploring every area, finding lots of excitement in the different placement of some of their favourite toys, play areas and climbing apparatus. One morning when it was particularly chilly, there was a layer of frost on one of the tables which intrigued some of the children. Eliza approached straight away and exclaimed “oh no!” at the sight of the once brown table turned white, and placed her hand on it. Madeline and Jenson followed suit, placing their hands on the table too with Madeline quickly retracting it and holding it close to her chest, giving a large shiver to show that it was cold. Jenson giggled and began stroking the table and commented, “Cold”. As Jenson moved his hand across the table, it left some marks in the frost which then encouraged the other children to touch the table and make their own marks. Eliza chose to use a stick while Jenson and Cara used their hands. Phoebe found a piece of wood and placed it on the table and began moving it back and forth, creating much larger marks which made her smile.

Back inside, the children have been enjoying using the new light boxes to investigate colourful blocks, insect toys from the nature tray as well as leaves, bark, petals and other items collected from the garden and while on walks. Imogen showed a big interest in this and immediately began carefully stacking blocks to build a tower. Leo picked up a leaf and pressed it down on the light box, leaning in close with a smile as he slid the leaf around. Evelyn watched this for a few moments, before approaching the nature tray and picking up a magnifying glass to bring over, commenting, “Ooo, what’s that?” as Leo had now swapped his leaf for a thin piece of bark. Evelyn leaned in close with the magnifying glass for a few moments before holding it up to Leo’s face, “Here Leo, you have a turn now… what can you see?”.

The under two’s have thoroughly enjoyed their first weeks of 2025 at nursery, and have been very happy in welcoming the new starters! The children have had lots of exciting activities prepared for them involving lots of fun challenges including a game where they searched for hidden animals. Farm animals were hidden under pieces of tape to reveal a new and exciting animal! Skandar and Lyra came over to have a look, intrigued by what they saw and began peeling off the tape. Bit by bit, they got closer to finding out which animal they were going to find. Lowen managed to peel off each piece of tape and found a horse. Next was a pig, which was shortly followed by a duck. A few more children came to have a look once the animals began appearing. Lyra lined up the animals on top of the tray and pointed to each one, “Neigh, oink oink, quack!”. 

In the garden and on a daily walk, the children have been experiencing the winter season, wrapping up warm, going on frosty walks in the buggy and hearing the crunchy noise of ice beneath the wheels. Whilst out a walk, Skandar came across a puddle that had completely frozen over and went to explore. He crouched down next to the puddle and touched the surface with his hand, pulling away quickly and giggling from the cold. Giulia was intrigued so checked it out for herself, leaning over and to feel the ice too. She screamed with excitement and laughter as she said, “Oh!” and leant down to touch it again. 

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!