We would like to wish Frankie a very happy birthday as he turned 4 this week. We hope you enjoyed your day!
In our Oaks 1 group, the children have been getting creative making astronaut helmets to continue their exploration of space. Using fine motor skills to hold paintbrushes, they chose colours similar to the NASA logo for their designs. Straws and foil were among the materials then used to create the microphone and buttons. Soon, the children will be making space boots for landing on the moon. Their interest in space was piqued further when we talked about ‘Perseverance’ landing on Mars on the 18th February 2021. Reeve went on to create a model of the rover ‘Curiosity’ at home and was very proud to share this with his friends.
Oaks 1 have also been using their planning and strategising skills to rearrange the garden. Evie, Belle, Florence, Thomas and TJ considered the mud kitchen’s functionality and worked together to create a campfire scene, complete with seating made from logs and a picnic bench. Next, they washed all the pots and pans to make the area look neater. They each carried an item over to the sink, ran some water and added soap. Thomas asked whether they could use sponges to help and proceeded to clean other objects from around the garden.
By moving a table out of the mud kitchen, we created a workbench for the construction zone where Oaks 1 have access to toy hammers, saws and screwdrivers. Wearing hard hats and goggles as protection, the group love using wooden blocks to build ‘pirate ships’ to sail the sea and search for treasure. Nova often captains the boat, with Yannick being a shark.
The children have also baked sultana rock cakes this week, with mathematics skills used to measure the ingredients out. The children combined everything together using gross motor skills, careful to ensure the mixture was not too wet. They then shaped it into round balls – many of which resembled space boulders or rocks, an effect we hoped to achieve! Frankie was very excited to make cakes on his birthday.
Messages: Don’t forget to dress up for World Book Day on Thursday 4th March. If your child does not attend on a Thursday but wants to take part, they are welcome to do so throughout the week.
The focus of the Saplings this week has been exploring the notion of ‘our senses’. Creating sensory collages was one of the first activities undertaken. The children used their decision-making skills to carefully select materials including bubble wrap and fabric samples for their artwork. Ava was very excited to find pink fabric for her contribution. The children were then able to use their fine motor skills to paste down the materials; creating a visual masterpiece.
Cereal bar making and fruit tasting were a highlight of the week for most children – they loved getting to use their senses of smell and touch. White chocolate and apricot cereal bars were created using rice pops and porridge oats. Each child had the chance to use the big wooden spoon to mix their ingredients, using gross motor skills. This was also excellent practice of turn-taking and sharing, as the children all wanted to have more than one go. Fruit tasting was equally well received. A show and tell-style approach was used in this activity, where each child got to hold and touch the fruit in its original form before cutting. We also talked about what each fruit felt like. Otti noted that the pineapple was very big and the plum was very small which sparked a discussion around the concept of size.
Sensory shakers were our next creation. We decorated bottles using coloured paper and glue before filling our shakers with coloured rice and dry pasta shells, transported on spoons. Joshua showed great concentration and accuracy as he filled his shaker. Thomas was particularly proud of his achievements saying, “I did it” upon completion. The children went on to enjoy making music with their homemade instruments for the rest of the morning.
Jelly play was a huge success. The Saplings loved watching the jelly wobble from side to side as they tried to lift it up using spoons and pots. Many children even went as far as having a little taste of the fruity treat, noting that it tasted like oranges. James was really well engaged during this activity. The children later played with a special cinnamon dough kindly made by a member of staff.
We’ve been working on furthering the children in Oaks 2’s knowledge of space this week. After learning about how Neil Armstrong first walked on the moon by researching him on the iPad aided by a practitioner, the children then imitated the moon walk for themselves. This interactive task saw them touch and feel tinfoil boots before moving them through shaving foam and flour to see the effect of their mark making.
To enhance learning about the moon and its surface even further, Oaks 2 then got experimental with our ‘moon sand’ Tuff Tray. The children found great joy in moulding kinetic sand into different shapes and liked describing the different textures to their friends.
It’s safe to say our alien Play-Doh activity was a hit with Oaks 2 as well. Using their imaginations to create colourful extraterrestrial beings, the children made some incredible figures. Theo exclaimed “he’s got four eyes” while making his alien, while Imogen said “mine has got five arms to tickle you “. What a fun way to improve fine motor skills!
This week has also seen Oaks 2 make their own galactic glittery slime. They were talked through the instructions of how to use the different ingredients and learnt how the solution could be transformed from a liquid to a solid state. They all remained very focused throughout.
Finally, Oaks 2 once again got stuck into our ongoing activity of crystal making. An engaging way to help youngsters learn an appreciation for the workings of the world, it teaches the children about the growth and decay of salt.
Whilst in the Seedlings group, we have continued our transport theme notably using topical stencils to imprint in a variety of medium such as cornflour and sand, making our own vehicles using junk modelling materials and creating a track upon the floor using tape. We then raced against each other exclaiming which were the fastest or slowest.
The children have been very active this week exploring the effects of physical exercise on our bodies and the many ways in which we can move our bodies in response to spoken instruction and stimuli such as music. We also used our bodies as an interpretation of how different modes of transport move eg: using our outstretched arms to replicate the wings of a plane and swooping high and low. As we explored the obstacle course set up in the garden, we looked at the many ways we can move our bodies as we ran and jumped and avoided oncoming obstacles by bending and stretching in all directions.
We made boats out of apples, sticks and card and experimented by testing their buoyancy qualities and speed and the children shook the water to create the movement required to propel them forward. The Acorns have been enjoying the beautiful weather by spending lots of time in our courtyard garden this week. They had fun painting the fence with water, a wonderful outdoor activity for strengthening fine motor skills and improving grasp. Lorelai was fascinated by the wet patches as she moved her brush up and down.
The Acorns have also been making marks using chunky chalks. Easy to grip, they’re ideal for younger children. During this task – which was great for encouraging social interaction – Henry observed Leo drawing for a while before deciding to join in and play alongside his peers. Large group activities enable children to gather a sense of belonging and offer a key opportunity for youngsters to learn from one another.
While at the Wildlife Reserve one afternoon, the Acorns were thrilled to spot both cows and sheep with their lambs. During this outing, the children took their naps in buggies in the fresh air. Going out for walks is beneficial for a number of reasons. Firstly, they help children gain their ‘cultural capital’, which is defined as the “essential knowledge that children need to be educated as citizens”. They also help foster a feeling of being part of a community and are such a fun way to explore the local surroundings. We were particularly impressed with the way Maila walked around the reserve. She was also able to observe the sun and seemed amazed by it, so we followed her lead and have continued to talk about the weather back at the nursery.
The Acorns thoroughly enjoyed our rainbow Tuff Tray activity, which featured fabric of different textures, sensory bottles, a Gibbs rainbow stacker and our new favourite ‘rainbow’ ribbon book. As well as learning simple words such as sun, rain and wind, the Seedlings gained exposure to the mathematical concept by placing the stacker together to create a rainbow. Our Acorns have also been able to use the tuff tray to pull themselves up – something Mia is becoming so much more confident with. All children were able to gather around the tray and explore the holistic sensory experience of colours.
As a continuation of our week’s weather theme, the children have had the most amazing time playing with modelling foam and animals to create a ‘snowy scene’. Alfie loved spreading the foam and making marks, as well as rubbing the foam in his hair. His classmates found this extremely funny and decided to create their own ‘hair makeovers’. We apologise for the crazy hairstyles the Acorns had on Wednesday!
May we please ask parents to provide family pictures, so that all children in the Acorns room can have their own photo albums.
Stars of The Week:
Oaks 1 -Yannick – For sharing his knowledge about space and for contributing very informed answers to questions.
Oaks 2 – George – for good listening and excellent perseverance.
Saplings – Joshua – for signing the days of the week song independently from start to finish.
Seedlings – Flynn – for his increasing confidence and independence
Acorns – Maila for fantastic skills shown on our walk. Maila held the hand of the practitioner all the way and demonstrated good walking skills.
Yours sincerely
The team at Broughton