Animals & Numbers in Nature!
Over the last couple of weeks, the preschool children have been learning about various species of animals and their natural habitats. The children have had the opportunity to explore jungle dens with elephants, tigers and lions as well as farm small world areas. One activity they had the most fun getting stuck into was a cornflour “under the sea” tray activity. India was pushing one of the boats around the sea creatures and when the boat got stuck, she very quickly realised it was because the cornflour had started to set. She picked up two handfuls of the cornflour, clenched her fists tight and then released her fingers. She started to laugh which caught the attention of her friends who all then watched, almost in amazement, as the hard cornflour instantly turned to liquid and started to drip through India’s fingers. Soon enough the other children joined in, giggling whilst the cornflour seeped through their fingers. Amelie looked at Esme and said, “It tickles doesn’t it?” Esme responded, “But I like it, it feels funny”. The children started their own game and as a group they were counting “1, 2, 3” and picking up the cornflour. They were then clenching their fists with the cornflour in their grasp as tight as they could and again began to count, this time backwards, “5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Go!” releasing their hands and really laughing when the cornflour melted in their hands.
Whilst out on a walk around the nursery grounds, the preschool children were on a nature letter hunt. Otto looked up in the sky and had seen a circular shaped cloud had formed and excitedly called out, “That’s on O! O for Otto!”. Sebastian had seen the number 5 on a road sign and explained to his friends, “That is a number 5, but it looks a little bit like a S for me”. Upon arriving to the map of the grounds, the children were pointing up at the board and was able to identify several numbers on the board.
When back at nursery, a letter and shape sorting activity with sticks, leaves, bark and stones had a large group of children engaged. Whilst Ethan made a letter E with some sticks, Freddie made a dinosaur skeleton outline with sticks and leaves. Finding a split stick, he placed it at the top of his dinosaur shape and said, “That’s the dinosaurs big mouth so he can eat lots of leaves from the trees”. Margot and Tilly used some of the smaller stones to accurately spell out all of the letters in their names, Margot reassuring Tilly, “That’s very good Tilly, it says your name”, giving her a gentle pat on her back, which made Tilly smile.
A Visit to the Train Station!
The children loved going on a trip to Esher station to see the trains! They all wrapped up warm and bundled in the buggies with commentary from a lot of them about what they were going to see. On the walk to the station the buggies passed a construction zone that Evie labelled as “so noisy” and Imogen pointed out the dog barking from a nearby garden and began barking back. As the children arrived at the station they were lucky enough to see a train quite quickly, although once it had passed and it was quiet again Phoebe looked around and said “Where they gone?” while swivelling her head form side to side, looking for more. It wasn’t long before more followed, at one point two went past at the same time, causing Jenson so giggle and say “More please”. Eliza began calling out for the trains by saying “Choo choo” and cheering when another went past. When it was time to leave the trains and return to nursery the toddlers left the station with a final wave a “Bye bye” to the trains.
Over the last couple of weeks, the toddlers have been loving the theme of transport and have had the chance to explore lots of themed activities. Arlo, Leo and Clara were very intrigued by an aeroplane activity where they were able to fly lolly stick aeroplanes through crazy foam clouds. To start with, they dove their hands straight into the crazy foam with lots of smiles and giggles, but upon Clara picking up one of the aeroplanes to take a closer look, the others joined in one by one. It wasn’t until Leo quickly plopped it into the crazy foam, gaining a cackle from Arlo, they began diving and scooping the aeroplanes through the clouds. Clara started to add sounds to this, “Niioow” which made Leo and Arlo laugh even more!
Recently, the under twos have thoroughly enjoyed their malleable play and being able to explore senses such as touch, look and smell. Inside, the children took part in a baby spa session where they could kick and splash in a builders tray, filled with a little warm water and crazy foam bubbles. Lowen showed no hesitation and stepped straight in, sitting himself down and grabbing two huge handfuls of crazy foam. He lifted each hand in the air and giggled with excitement as the crazy foam fell off and dropped onto his legs. Freya and Lyra kicked their legs and feet and laughed as the foam moved around them. Emilia found all of her friends very amusing and sat happily as she watched them.
Outside, the children have adored their adventurous walks, experiencing different kinds of weather and spotting animals along the way. One day in the garden, the children were intrigued when they saw something new. Sophia went for a look and found some ramps and a box full of colourful balls. Her ball of choice was a bright purple ball which she lifted up into the air to show her friends. As more of the children approached, Isabella tried her best to work out what the ramps were for. She picked up a yellow ball and threw it up the ramp for it to then roll all the way back down. Isabella said, “Ohhhh!” as the ball dropped onto the floor in front of her, which encouraged her friends to join in and experience the fun she was having.
Dragon Parades & New Flavours!
The last two weeks in preschool have been filled with lots of wonderful activities as the children have celebrated the Chinese New Year! The children worked hard to create the dragon for our dragon dance as they took turns to paint the head and the body of the dragon. Whilst painting the dragon’s head, Phoebe said “We need to make the dragon red all over!” River added “The dragon is going to have really big teeth!”. Harry was painting the body and proudly showed his friends his handy work, saying “My dragon is so so red!”. When the dragon was finished, the children had lots of fun taking part in the special dragon dance and listening to traditional Chinese music. They took turns to parade the dragon around Preschool Room whilst dancing with ribbons, as well as dressing in jackets and dresses from the Chinese culture. Oliver excitedly said, “I really want a turn to hold the head!”, whilst Joseph enjoyed roaring as he took his turn to parade the dragon.
The children also had the opportunity to join in with a Chinese food tasting as they tried sweet and sour noodles, egg fried rice, prawn crackers and lychee juice. Santiago enjoyed the food; telling his friends “I like it all!”. Francis however really liked the lychee juice; saying “The juice is so yummy, can I have some more please?”.
The preschoolers have also had fun joining in with some baking, as they measured out and mixed their ingredients to make some bread rolls! Otto used the water station and a jug to pour out and measure the water to the line, saying “That’s enough water now!”. Amelie really enjoyed adding her ingredients to her mixing bowl and giving them a good stir, turning to Esmeralda beside her and saying “Look at my one Esme! It is really sticky!”. Esmeralda replied “And mine is too!” causing the two of them to share a laugh.
