We would like to warmly welcome new starters Emilia, Sebastian, Ophelia and Archie into our Broughton Cottage family and hope they will all be very happy here. We would also like to send many happy returns to Noah who will be turning 4 on Sunday. We hope you have a fantastic day! We bid a fond farewell to Andi and wish him all the very best for the future.
A warm welcome – to Charlotte and Angela who will be joining Lacie and Izzy in the Seedlings group.
Dates for your diary – The nursery will be closed for Easter from Friday, 2nd April until Friday 9th April, re-opening on Monday 12th.
Oaks 1
Wednesday 3rd of March was World Maths Day so we set out to enhance the children’s understanding of 2D and 3D shapes. Using fine motor skills, Oaks 1 designed ideas for junk modelling. They completed drawings and discussed how they were 2D shapes because they were flat and you cannot hold them. Reeve identified how many sides a square has before telling peers how many sides a hexagon and triangle have too. Using their sketches, the children later created 3D models.
Divided into two groups, the children also built the International Space Station and a model of ‘Mars Curiosity Rover’. This enabled the children to visualise the difference between 2D and 3D shapes. Yannick decided that the rover has pockets that reach out and catch stars as it travels across the surface of Mars. To extend this, the Oaks 1 group considered how many corners different shapes have. The children can now identify that a square has four corners, a triangle has three and a circle has one curved side. They’ve also started to think about indices and how they can be multiplied together. Thomas was very proud to display his knowledge of mathematics. Soon the children will be looking at repeating patterns, using both 2D and 3D shapes in order to change the complexity dependent on the child’s individual ability.
Thursday 4th March saw the children dress up in fabulous costumes for World Book Day. One came as the witch from Room on The Broom, another as Willy Wonka and two emulated Elsa from Frozen. We also had and were very pleased to receive visits from a dragon, a police officer, an astronaut, Wonder Woman, Spiderman and the tiger (who came to tea) plus a number of Gruffalos. Oaks 1 were so proud of their outfits and loved sharing their stories with peers. We asked the children to consider how a book has a title, how the author is the person who writes the story, and how an illustrator draws the pictures. To further this, Oaks 1 made bookmarks from strips of paper, using fine motor skills to draw their own interpretation of their favourite characters from various novels. As Jaime was an astronaut, he posed with a helmet created by the children themselves and even wore space boots made out of foil-covered wellies.
We would like to personally thank all parents who have contributed to our space theme and got involved in World Book Day. We would like to continue this partnership for our upcoming Planet Earth topic, a subject decided upon by the children. Having sat down and discussed what they would like to learn next, Oaks 1 all said they would like to know more about our planet. We will be delving into the science behind volcanoes and earthquakes, but will also be taking a more human approach by looking at population and culture. To begin this topic, we ask that you provide something relevant to your child about where they come from. This could be a fact, a picture, a model or a flag – anything they can proudly display on our boards. We look forward to seeing what you come up with!
Star of the Week:
Thomas – For listening intently about 2D and 3D shapes, and for contributing his mathematical knowledge.
Oaks 2
The main focus of Oaks 2 this week has been transport and we’ve done lots of fascinating mark-making activities. The children had a great time running cars and trains through paint, before driving the vehicles through play dough and cornflour they’d made themselves. By using their hands to push the cars and trains along, Oaks 2 utilised fine motor skills.
We also made our own vehicles in a number of activities aimed at promoting self-confidence. One saw Oaks 2 create cars from fruit and sticks – the children relished having the opportunity to independently choose which fruits they’d like to use. In another, they used decision-making skills and memory recall to craft and paint various vehicles they’d seen in real life using resources such as cardboard boxes.
Oaks 2’s transport theme continued outdoors. Without being prompted, the children made up a game to imitate being in a car. This inventive game – that saw two children sitting in a box while a third child pushed it – proved to be very popular, with all of Oaks 2 joining in. Role play allows for the development social skills through constant interaction and gives children the chance to really use their imaginations.
Star of The Week:
Maia – As well as helping the adults put the beds away, she has been an amazing role model to her friends and has spoken confidently at circle time.
Saplings
The Saplings have continued learning about the five senses this week. They’ve taken part in plenty of creative activities, one of which saw them manipulate a cornflour and water ‘gloop’ solution with spoons. They also had plenty of fun making ‘moon dough’. To do this, the children took turns mixing baby oil and flour together before using their gross motor skills to roll and squeeze it. The Saplings were all amazed at the end result, with some comparing it to play dough.
In our sweet and savoury toppings challenge, the children carefully spooned small amounts of pickle, Marmite, cheese spread and jam on to crackers. After smelling and tasting the ingredients, the Saplings shared their thoughts on each. Emi discovered she liked pickle, while Otti was rather shocked – and quite disgusted! – by the taste of Marmite after assuming it was chocolate spread. The Saplings had another very enjoyable tasting session when they were asked to carefully spread frosting on to Gruffalo biscuits to celebrate World Book Day. Their sweet treats were decorated with white chocolate buttons to represent the beast’s terrible claws.
The children were engrossed by a ‘baking soda and vinegar fizzing colours’ experiment we undertook later in the week. After baking soda was spread out over a tray, the Saplings patiently watched as droplets of food colouring were added. Each child then got to pour a splash of vinegar on top, watching in amazement as bright colours fizzed and bubbled before them. Joshua and Felix excitedly told their peers they could see purple and yellow.
We really made the most of the sunshine this week, with lots of fun in the garden. The Saplings particularly enjoyed taking part in egg and spoon races. This saw the children attempt to balance eggs on plastic spoons while walking around the track. Those who found this too difficult chose to hold the egg instead! Thomas was so determined to keep his egg on the spoon that he didn’t mind being overtaken by the other children.
Finally, the Saplings have all loved racing vehicles up and down the ramps on the car garage Reece kindly donated. We’d also like to thank Felix for bringing in his dinosaur book to share with us.
Star of The Week:
Emi – For settling in so well and for following our routine and rules.
Acorns
The Acorns have been very busy taking part in sensory activities based on their favourite books. At the start of the week, the children created a Tuff Tray themed around The Very Hungry Caterpillar featuring different fabrics draped over the edges of the tray. The children loved crawling underneath and decided that the Tuff Tray was a den. Loralei and Alfie were so enthralled that they moved toys into their makeshift camp and enjoyed playing alongside one another.The Tuff Tray was such a success that we decided to keep it out all week as an on-going activity in a bid to help the Acorns learn through the principles of repetition.
The children also enjoyed our We’re Going On A Bear Hunt sensory station, comprised of six textured plates inspired by the book. Leo adored playing with the natural flowers and decided to extend his play by placing them in ‘mud foam’ before making petal marks on the table. And because the Acorns love to read The Tiger Who Came to Tea, we decided to make our very own batch of overnight oats. To ensure this activity was inclusive for all, we used coconut milk, oats and a selection of fruit.Freddie, Raul and Henry were excited to taste, smell and touch the ingredients, while Adrian showed fantastic self-feeding skills with his spoon. The Acorns enjoyed their oats for breakfast the following morning.
The children have spent a lot of time playing in our mud kitchen this week but the area can get wet and muddy. May we please ask parents to make sure all Acorns bring a waterproof all-in-on or coat to nursery.
Star of The Week:
Raul – He has been doing brilliantly with his spoon and is very focused when using it at meal times.
Seedlings
This week has been full of colourful sensory fun for the Seedlings. Each day we’ve created a bold and bright Tuff Tray, with the children scouring the room to find various objects and toys to match a specific colour theme. Flynn was able to confidently name all of the primary colours as well as orange and brown.
The Seedlings thoroughly enjoyed a colour-matching activity using Duplo blocks too, where we asked them to build a tower in a single shade. Keen to give the children a chance to work on their numerical skills, we encouraged them to count how many blocks they had used.
In an exploration of different ways to make marks, the Duplo blocks also came in handy for a spot of messy play. The Seedlings loved dipping the bricks into paint to print squares and rectangles in a range of colours. A second mark-making task involved using paint sticks, crayons and felt-tip pens to decorate paper. A third centred around sand in which Sophia was particularly engaged. She correctly told her peers that its texture felt soft. Each of these activities is a valuable tool for developing a child’s Palmar grasp and pincer grip.
Quiet time had a sensory twist this week, with the Seedlings learning to self-soothe and meditate aided by our colourful projector and relaxing music.
Star of The Week:
Sebastian – For his growing confidence and self-settling skills at drop off and when separated from his main carer.
Yours sincerely
The Broughton Team