News from the Rooms
Week commencing 12th July
Oaks 1:
This week, we’ve continued with our quest of ensuring those leaving Broughton Cottage feel ready to start school. We want Oaks 1 to be as confident as possible when going into reception so have concentrated on exploring the emotions that come with such a big transition.
Firstly, we tasked the group with sketching their own uniform and shoes. Some opted to use the pincer grip while colouring in their creations using pencils, while others favoured the tripod grip. Swapping ideas with peers as they selected which shades to work with, a number of the class plumped for rainbow-coloured clothes in a bid to stand out and ‘look friendly’. Others worked hard to replicate their actual school uniform as closely as possible. Hugo concentrated exceptionally well during this activity and worked so hard on his drawing.
We added some furniture to our home corner this week, including a lamp so we can talk about how electricity runs through a cable to give the bulb a source of light. We put up a mirror too so Oaks 1 can spot emotions or features they’ve not noticed before and make comparisons between one another. This helps the children’s understanding of the world and of community.
Oaks 1 also created their own representation of a window, using fine motor skills again to grasp a paint brush. They painted the window white while discussing what they might see out of it. The children considered the view they would observe from home, nursery and on public transport.
Jack led Oaks 1’s Sporty Stars session this week and introduced everyone to the flying doughnuts game. Twisting and turning to avoid being touched by cones, this activity was great for teaching the children to have awareness whilst negotiating space. They also enjoyed an energetic game of tag rugby, having so much fun as they chased their friends about the pitch with the aim of retrieving a bib from their pocket.
Our Forest school group went on a treasure hunt seeking out many woodland features marking them off on their clipboards. Working in small teams they supported and worked diligently to complete the task. Others took time to forage for as a varied a collection of leaves and bark as they could then proceeded to make rubbings of their finds using charcoal made last week and crayons.
Star of The Week:
Reeve – For really coming out of his shell. He’s gained a lot of confidence and is now happy to talk in front of all of his friends.
Messages:
Please could you kindly send us a picture of your child in their school uniform.
Oaks 2:
We focussed on pirates this week as Oaks 2 seem to love the subject when engaging in role play.
During circle time, we’ve been singing lots of upbeat songs such as We Are The Pirates and Over The Deep Blue Sea. We even sang the pirate ditty from Paw Patrol – a tune Jamie loves to belt out at home.
The children loved collecting sticks in our woodland area to make pirate ships. This supported the children’s social and emotional development because they had to work as a team, helping each other gather as many twigs as possible. Oaks 2 went on to make eye-catching flags for their vessels, before setting off on swashbuckling adventures aboard their boats. This activity strengthened the children’s confidence and personal development.
In an arty project aimed at improving literacy and language skills, the group made their own treasure maps. They dipped tea bags in water before smudging them across paper. While doing this, the practitioners explained that tea-staining would give the maps an old and crinkly look. A few of the class described the paper as ‘brown and smelly’, while others said it resembled chocolate. Oaks 2 completed their maps by etching on Xs using black and brown pencils.
As a Friday treat, we created fruit boats and the children relished having the authority to choose exactly what to put on their cocktail stick. The finished creations were gobbled up with gusto at snack time.
Star of The Week:
Elsie-Mae – For her exceptional tidying and focus she demonstrated while engaging in craft activities. She was brilliant at listening to instructions too.
Saplings:
The children showed great interest in the story Don’t Call Me Sweetie by Smriti Prasadam-Halls and Angie Rozelaar so we decided to teach them about monsters.
Many of our conversations regarding beasts involved asking the Saplings what characteristics they might have. Most described monsters as scary but Oscar suggested they can be happy too. This was a great opportunity to talk about emotions, enhancing the children’s personal, social and emotional development.
The Saplings had a wonderful time crafting their own paper plate monsters, using decision-making skills to pick which colours to use. Fine motor movements were required when carefully holding and cutting with scissors. The children then stuck an assortment of shapes to their plates. During this activity, we touched on mathematics by asking the Saplings to tell us what shapes they could see.
As a group, the children really expressed themselves creatively while dreaming up a creature they collectively named ‘The Burger Monster’. We gave the youngsters freedom to come up with how it looked, with the Saplings deciding that it had a large circular head featuring one eye and seven mouths. This provided another chance to strengthen the children’s understanding of space, shape and measure.
The children went on to decorate their head-turning creature using roll-up crayons, exercising great precision to colour inside the lines. Some of the group gave meaning to the marks they were making by vocalising what part of the monster they imagined they were colouring. It was wonderful to see the Saplings being so creative with their ideas and suggestions.
Star of The Week:
Alex – For joining in more and engaging with lots of signing.
Seedlings:
The Seedlings have continued to look at colours, shapes and numbers so have taken part in a range of stimulating activities this week.
The children impressed us while counting Duplo blocks and sticking shapes together with glue, naming each colour and formation as they went. Flynn particularly wowed us with his knowledge.
We’ve completed plenty of craft projects too, including printing shapes with paint and making flower images using toilet roll tubes. The Seedlings also picked leaves from the garden to use for a leaf-printing activity.
The Seedlings have made the most of our garden this week, using the slide and exploring in the grass. Sebbie pointed out every aeroplane that flew past and Sofia had so much fun playing with and popping bubbles.
Star of The Week:
Leo H – For his extensive vocabulary. Well done, keep up the hard work.
Acorns:
The Acorns have enjoyed plenty of fresh air while playing in our courtyard this week.
Using their pincer grip to make marks, the children did a fabulous job of painting the blackboard with paintbrushes and water. They all managed to carefully put the brushes back into buckets at the end of the activity, ready for the next time they want to express themselves.
Ottilia and Ralph loved the Tuff Tray filled with rain water and Ralph was amused to see Lego bricks floating in it. All of the children enjoyed watering our flowerpots even though the tubs were waterlogged from all the rain we’ve had, displaying fine hand-eye coordination as they went.
We started a new theme exploring fruit and vegetables, their vast colours, shapes and textures. The Acorns made beautiful printed collages incorporating cut up potatoes, lemons, peppers and carrots. Using fine motor skills, they carefully took a piece of fruit and dipped it into paint. An adult then helped transfer it on to paper which was then hung up to dry.
To follow on from this, we curated a Very Hungry Caterpillar Tuff Tray. The children loved sampling the different fruits on offer. Ottilia happily sucked on a couple of lemon wedges, while the carrots and peppers went down well with everyone. This exercise was great for teaching the children about different tastes and textures.
Star of The Week:
Raul – For using more single words and being able to copy those he’s heard his friends or practitioners say.
Enjoy the sunshine and keep safe.
The Team at Broughton