Firstly, we would like to welcome in Zoe who has joined the Broughton family this week and will be working with Monika in the Seedlings group. We would also like to thank everyone who contributed to our ‘Children in Need’ and our food bank collection, the children have been discussing why these are necessary and will be creating their very own shoe boxes to send off at Christmas in order to help someone in need. Danny very kindly donated from his own savings and was very proud to know that he was helping others less fortunate than himself.

The Oaks have been delving into stories and re-enacting them in the garden. Firstly, they decided to go on a bear hunt, journeying by car, the tyres encircling our race track became the car and so began their adventure. In very particular order the children waded through ‘swishy swashy’ grass, squelched through mud, splashed through the deep river, until upon reaching the forest, the children decided that a car could not fit past the trees as the gaps were just too small. Nothing else for it we had to continue on foot, stumbling over branches, faltering in a snowstorm (where the children ran around making ‘woo hoo’ sounds) finally, encountering the cave we had to tip-toe in case we came across a bear… and a bear we found. The children found this so exciting that we continued the theme into our daily yoga. Using Cosmic Yoga, the Oaks have been stretching their muscles and learning a number of various yoga poses, including; ‘downward dog’, ‘tree pose’ and learning our most important yoga code word “Namaste”.

Part of our daily routine now includes a simple Spanish lesson. The children have been learning basic words such as the days of the week and simple numerals to reflect those who speak Spanish as a second language at home. To continue recitation at home please see below:

Monday	Lunes	1	Uno
Tuesday	Martes	2	Dos
Wednesday	Miércoles	3	Tres
Thursday	Jueves	4	Cuatro
Friday	Viernes	5	Cinco
Saturday	Sábado	6	Seis
Sunday	Domingo	7	Siete

The children have also been exploring their senses this week by investigating various herbal teas. They watched as the tea bags altered the water colour and exclaimed that it smelt sweet and not sour. The Oaks used jugs and spoons to transport the liquid between various pots, discussing the volume, whether they’re full, half full or empty. A number of the children decided they wanted to make soup with the tea, Ottilie stated that she was making soup for someone as they felt ‘poorly’.

To commemorate Remembrance Day, the Oaks created their own poppies using bottle tops to imprint circles on to paper adding black finger print centres. They have also used their fine motor skills to further develop their scissor skills, by cutting triangles out of paper plates to create a rather different and unique style of poppy. The children paid their respects by partaking in the two-minute silence at 11:00am on Wednesday; they stood in their lines and saluted for the duration. Following the days commemorations, the Oaks were happy to have a campfire lunch where they cooked sausages, roasted marshmallows and warmed hot chocolate. The children took care to listen and follow the boundaries, understanding that they must not walk within the square that surrounds the fire.

This week the Saplings took part in activities to commemorate Remembrance Day. They joined the Oaks outside to mark the occasion by completing the two-minute silence with James saluting throughout the 2 minutes. The children made their very own poppy wreath, using their handprints dipped in red paint to create the poppies. To extend this, the children also created their own poppies incorporating egg cartons and straws. This allowed them to further develop their hand-eye coordination as they attempted to paint with precision on the top of the poppies.

To continue their festivities, the Saplings celebrated ‘Diwali’. Using their fine motor skills and creativity, the children created rangoli patterns. They used their ‘pincer grip’ to pick up the small shapes and then arranged and glued them into the shape they had chosen. This aided their shape recognition and matching skills as well as helping with colour identification. They also made ‘diva’ lamps from salt dough, though some of the children required help in forming the shape of the lamp. They enjoyed manipulating the dough, feeling the squishy texture and decorating them once they had been baked in the oven; we hope they have lightened up your weekend!

The Saplings have enjoyed outside play this week and have used their imaginations whilst sitting on the tyres pretending to go on a ‘bus journey together. Some of the children sang ‘the wheels on the bus’ whilst they ‘drove’ along. They have also been fascinated in their search of wiggly worms, with the children lifting up logs and blocks in the hope they might find some. They would squeal with excitement upon finding one and call their friends over to come and take a look. The Saplings observed how the worms stretch out before coiling up as they move along and watched as one slid under a log quickly disappearing deep beneath the soil.

The Seedlings have enjoyed looking at similarities and differences using our Noah’s ark game. The children paired the animals and placed them into the ark. Flyn very carefully compared the size of the animals and Oscar proudly mimicked the sounds he thought they made.

They created a shape and colour sorting box and have begun to identify the differences; we will continue to work on this next week.

Thomas enjoyed taking part in our pans and pots orchestra and encouraged his peers to join him as they proudly formed a tremendous marching band.

Outdoors, Ottie persevered (with help from Rory) to create a perfect circular train track, looking every so quizzical as they worked together to adjust the pieces until they interlinked correctly.

Flynn was amazed by and happy to tell all his friends that it had formed the shape of a circle. 

The mud kitchen was also a strong favourite this week, with Ava, Daisy and Sophia playing beautifully alongside each other, mixing dirt, water and leaves and whipping up all manner of scrumptious delights!

We have adopted sing and sign as part of our daily routine in the Seedlings room. We encourage all children to take part in learning and showing Makaton signs and we are extremely proud of all them for their increased Makaton knowledge. At meal times all the children can sign “thank you” and “more”, well done. 

Meanwhile the Acorns we have been focusing on Children in Need and the commemoration. Acorns and staff joined others as they paid their respects to those who have fallen in the Two World wars. They dipped apples into red paint to create their own versions of poppies. They made marks by stomping the apples decisively on paper. Using their palmer grasp grip, they used paint dabbers and tissue paper to illustrate leaves. The children found it hilarious that they could not rid themselves of the sticky paper as they shook their hands to try and release it.

To support Children in Need the Acorns had fun coming to Nursery in pyjamas which looked fab! We also had a teddy bears’ picnic in honour of Pudsey Bear and enjoyed making ‘dotty’ teddy bear masks to adorn during the celebrations and danced away moving their whole bodies to the sound. Some of the children decided they wanted to create their own music by drumming along or crashing cymbals to the beat. The children giggled at the noises of the instruments.

We’ve continued our theme of Bonfire Night and Diwali. The Acorns enjoyed making their own fireworks and a ‘bonfire’ using a blend of different colours and textures and creating a display some of which was reserved as a sensory experience, covered in cling film to enable them to feel the squishy paint beneath their fingertips.

Stars of the Week:

Oaks – Ollie B. – for showing such good manners and for seeking out others when taking part in new experiences.

Saplings – Hassan – for joining in with singing and remembering all of the words to our songs during circle time.

Seedlings – Ottie – for showing perseverance in overcoming challenges.

Acorns – Raul – for becoming more confident standing unaided and preparing to take his first few steps independently.

Have a good week, keep safe.

The Broughton team