‘In every job that must be done, there is an element of fun. You find the fun, and the job’s a game.’ – P.L Travers, Mary Poppins
We wish Zoe a fond farewell and send her our best as she starts her teacher training.
Saplings:
The Saplings just love dinosaurs and this week while making an ice globe full of prehistoric creatures, William decided to put orange paint into a bowl before placing an orange and yellow dinosaur into water, leaving its head poking out. It was then put into the freezer. Once the globes were frozen, they were placed on a Tuff Tray outside. A number of the children tried to crack the globes using sticks in an attempt to free the dinosaurs.
The following day, the Saplings continued their interest investigating a dinosaur world, themed tray in our room. They adored discovering the landscape which was made up of soil, foil and various natural elements.
Further prehistoric activities saw children patiently wait to see if a dinosaur egg hatched and take part in a fun painting project using their feet and comparing them to those of a dinosaur.
Baking followed, with the Saplings making raisin dinosaur ‘claw’ biscuits, working with a safety knife to practice their cutting skills.
Star Of the Week
James – For speaking such beautiful and spontaneous sentences. Well done.
Acorns:
This week, the Acorns have enjoyed a range of engaging activities based on their interests.
At the start of the week, we to set up a fun game with balls as Jasper and Teddy love rolling them back and forth to one another. The children adored rolling the balls down a cardboard tube, giggling as they anxiously waited for them to come out the other end.
Sensory bags were also very popular. The Acorns were so intrigued to see paint and shaving foam moving around in the bags. It was wonderful to see the children trying to manipulate the different substances with their fingers.
Devon and Jessica’s love of water play inspired an inventive activity involving fruit. The children added cut up fruit to water before filling up various vessels to make special potions.
Star Of the Week:
Axel – For demonstrating excellent balancing skills.
Oaks 1:
It’s been an active week for Oaks 1 involving lots of sport.
While chatting about the Olympics, we mentioned that this year’s event is being held in Paris. We role played getting on a plane and jetting off to France.
While out in the garden, the children had the chance to work on their gross motor skills. Laughter filled the air as Oaks 1 raced from one side of the lawn to the other. They took part in running, hopping, skipping, ‘swimming’ and jumping races. Thomas and George really impressed the practitioners with their determination!
Oaks 1 also had a go at gymnastics, with Ottie showing off her flexibility as she attempted to do the splits. Yoga was up next, and the children retained focus as they practiced breathing in and out slowly before having a go at different positions.
This week, we also introduced the class to Kew Gray’s book Daisy And The Trouble With Zoos. We read a new chapter each day and spent time discussing the plot with the children. The youngsters wowed us with how long they were able to sit and concentrate for.
Stars Of the Week:
Peggy, Emma and Luca – For settling into Oaks 1 so well and for helping their Oaks 2 peers during their transition.
Oaks 2:
It’s been another transitional week for Oaks 2, with many of the children spending time in Oaks 1. In the coming weeks, they’ll move upstairs on a full-time basis.
As a result, we’ve been excited to welcome the Saplings into our room. We’ve spent the week focussing on routines to ensure the children feel confident and understand expectations. The visitors also enjoyed a number of group activities to promote self-assurance in the new environment.
Our week ended with a very successful farewell party for Zoe complete with balloons, bubbles, dancing and singing. All of the children were very sad to say their goodbyes but were equally excited for their new journeys in Oaks 1. Zoe wishes the children every success and knows each and every one of them will do wonderful things in the future.
Star Of the Week:
Ralph – For being kind to all his friends and helping welcome the newcomers.
Seedlings:
The Seedlings have been working on their physical skills in preparation for their move to Saplings, where they’ll face the new challenge of ascending and descending staircases throughout the day. An indoor slide helped aid this.
We enjoyed practising throwing and catching with balls of various sizes to encourage hand-eye co-ordination and reinforced descriptive language such as tiny, little, small, big, enormous. All the children loved this exercise as we also directed them to targets to hone their aim.
We had fun using soft play which encouraged turn taking as well as climbing, jumping and sliding; they enjoyed these sessions so much they were reluctant to come back inside for lunch!
Star Of the Week:
All our lovely Seedlings for being so enthusiastic all week.
Forest School:
The children were very enthusiastic as they marched towards basecamp with a sense of purpose. The canopy of the trees provided beautiful shading and everyone eagerly went off to forage and investigate. Our newcomers were happy to uproot logs and seek out tiny creatures, collect them in bug pots and find vegetation to keep them nourished. Climbing was the preferred pastime with everyone finding their own tree of choice. Theo drew a treasure map and we all set about finding the ‘haul’ whilst Ottie used our compass to figure out just which direction we were taking as we wandered further afield, fascinated at the movement of the dial as she proceeded.
The busy team worked together to assist when things got tricky and used fantastic problem-solving skills to help their friends out when they got stuck!
