We would like to welcome Thomas into the Broughton family, we know you are already making lots of new friends and are settling into the room well. We would also like to welcome Lacie Walker into the Seedlings and Acorns rooms who will be working alongside Jasmin and Monika. As we say good bye to Daisy we wish her family well for the future.

This week in Oaks 1, the children have been delving into the topic of ‘space’ which all stemmed from the children’s fascination in flying to the moon. Combining their interests, we discussed the knowledge the children already had about our solar system and space. Some of the children used various planetary names such as ‘Earth’ which Thomas described to be “where we live” and ‘Mars’ suitably described by James B as “a red planet”. The children considered what colour each planet would be depending on their distance from the Sun. Elliot pointed out that planets like Neptune and Uranus are blue because they are cold planets and Jaime explained that Earth is made up of ‘dust and gas’. Leading on from this, the Oaks were tasked to order the planets starting at the Sun and working out towards the dwarf planet Pluto. Nova successfully ordered the planets with minimal guidance and was very proud of her achievement.

As a continuation of our space theme, it was determined by the group that rockets are the only way into space. By looking at real images and pictures in books, the children were able to visualise every part of a rocket, including their “rocket boosters” as depicted by James S, an antenna on the top, and wings to help it fly. Using their fine motor skills and creative thinking, the children created a rocket model out of junk modelling. They pointed out that we needed a roof and therefore needed to alter the shape of the box in order to do so. Oliver G identified that it had to be changed from a square to a triangle so as to resemble a roof. It was decided that the antenna could be made from toilet roll tubes and stuck on top. The children asked what an antenna’s role was, the children learned from this that it takes in lots of data and also helps with stability when taking off. “Stability” was our big word of the week. To extend this, the children will be creating their own “Moon landing” complete with aliens, craters and planets. The planets will be made out of paper maché which not only enhances their expressive arts and design skills but will also allow some children to plan and make a decision as to how to approach such an activity.

To continue this learning at home, we would like to ask parents to provide a fact about space in the form of a photo, book, or object so that we can display this in our room for the children to view and discuss.

As Chinese New Year is fast approaching, the children have continued preparing various items for the celebration. The children have built their own Chinese Dragon, using Ping-Pong balls for eyes and tissue paper for fire. Danny added some ribbon for whiskers and Alba and Florence ensured that every inch of the boxes/cartons were painted in red or orange paint – colours determined to be that of a dragon. As a continuation of this, the children have created dragon masks, using their fine motor skills to hold a pencil in a tripod grip with good control whilst trying to stay within the lines. Many of the children chose bold colours for the mouth and horns whilst others decided a neutral tone of brown would be more fitting. Once the masks had been cut out and laminated, the children found it highly amusing to run around the room “roaring” at each of their friends, holding their masks over their faces. The children thought about the movements a Chinese Dragon would make, deciding they would be floating and needed wings to help it to fly; both Reeve and TJ explained that a dragon also needed to breathe fire.

This week in Oaks 2, the children have been exploring their new surroundings and getting to know their new room. Similarly to the other groups, the children have been creating Chinese Dragon masks, using their fine motor skills to hold a pencil in a tripod grip, focusing on colouring each section. The children have also been decorating their room in time for Chinese New Year, using lanterns and paper chains to create an authentic look.

The children have been investigating the weather, exploring how rain is formed. The children will be creating their very own weather system, using shaving foam, food colouring and water to observe how precipitation can be formed through clouds and in turn help keep our planet alive. The children have used a number of different sized pots to catch the rain whilst in the garden. This has enabled the Oaks 2 to think about mathematics, shape, space and measure, observing whether or not the containers were full, half full or empty. The schema of emptying and pouring fascinated the children; Jamie repeatedly placed pots under the drainpipes to see how long they would take to fill up.

To extend their understanding of the world, the children have taken part in leaf rubbings, looking at the textures and colours that formed. The children also used their mathematics to count the ‘vein-like’ skeleton on the back of the leaves, Imogen and Reece were able to count up to 20 on some. The children helped to prepare their lunch in the garden on Friday, cutting vegetables, adding them to the pot and cooking it all over an open fire, learning and observing safety instructions. It was delicious well done.

This week the Saplings have been exploring the topic of dinosaurs, stemming from the children’s interests notably whilst reading a number of dinosaur-based stories such as “Dinosaur Roar” and “Winnie’s Dinosaur Day”. The children got creative in helping make a dinosaur world tuff tray, being exacting and decisive as they carefully selected dinosaurs to place within their new environment. They used their gross motor skills to help decorate rolling mountains and volcanoes using junk modelling and paints, exploring how they can mix the colours together to create new colours. Stanley was particularly interested in this activity and focused for a considerable amount of time, successfully naming the colour green.

During group activities and throughout play, the children have been developing their understanding of concepts such as big and small. Dinosaur mark making was an excellent opportunity for the children to further enhance this concept. The children used different sized dinosaur figures as mark making tools and stomped them into paint, this led to a discussions around which footprints were big(ger) and which were small(er). Joshua described one particular dinosaur as ‘spikey’. The word ‘enormous’ was introduced and all the children were intrigued to learn new vocabulary that broadened their horizons and thus their communication and language skills.  

During garden time, the children have been enjoying sensory play with ice. The children were presented with frozen dinosaurs as well as hammers and chisels to try and free the dinosaurs from their icy enclosures. This required a lot of concentration and control. Killian was particularly motivated and showed a huge sense of satisfaction when he freed his dinosaurs from the ice. Felix loved using the hammers and showed great control as he hit the hammer against the ice, striking it on target every time.

The Saplings also helped bake their very own dinosaur biscuits this week. All the children helped to measure each of the ingredients, and worked hard to combine them, eventually creating a biscuit dough ready for manipulation. Everyone took a turn to mix the ingredients together using their gross motor skills to move the spoon around the bowl. This was an excellent chance to practice turn taking. Ottie was very excited as she closely watched her peers and was thrilled when it was her turn.

This week, the Seedlings have been learning about Chinese New Year and Chinese culture. The children enjoyed looking at pictures that represent New Year celebrations, and have used these to create their own interpretations of the Chinese dragon, lanterns and even tried to write numbers from 1-5 in Chinese.

The Seedlings have had a very creative week, which included basic junk modelling and painting with many different types of paint, pens, markers and crayons. This helped to strengthen children’s finger muscles and develop their fine motor skills. We have observed that Alexander, Sofia and Sebastian are already developing a very strong finger grasp and are finding it much easier to use chunky chalk or crayons. The children have all worked together, allowing them to develop their social skills. They all observed their peers at work as well as the actions of adults before attempting to copy them. Oscar and William decided to work together whilst creating their lanterns, which helped to progress their social development from “playing alongside others” to “beginning to join in in others’ play” a big social skill gained.

We have also enjoyed developing our mathematics skills through counting. Using chalk and tree trunks to create a number line, the children were able to count to 5 and in some cases, recognise the number shapes. To tie in with our Chinese New Year theme, the children have created their own puzzles – some more or less complicated dependent on their abilities. The children all had a go at the 3 different puzzles and towards the end of the week all of the Seedlings – through continuity of the activity and their perseverance were able to complete all of the puzzles.

The children have also continued to practise our daily sing and sign time. During this time, the children sing their favourite nursery rhymes and use Makaton to accompany the songs. After our singing, we looked at 5 animal or daily actions and encourage the children to say the word and make the appropriate Makaton action. We are so pleased to observe that children using more signing during daily activities e.g., at meal times the children will express the thank you sign by placing their hand over their mouths.

This week in Acorns we have continued observing colours and have learnt about Chinese New Year. Using a paint stick, the Acorns enjoyed creating their own Chinese symbols. Using their palmer grasps, they made marks across a paper plate with different colours. We created our own fireworks by cutting a toilet roll tube to make it look like a firework. The children then used the tube to create their own firework display, using a palmer grasp. During our activity we described our creations as we imagined they might light up the sky with ‘bang, crash and whoosh’. Once the paintings had dried, we used gift tag bows to stick on top of the fireworks. The children used their pincer grip to pick up the bows and stick them down onto their pieces of paper. Using a crayon and some red card, we created our own Chinese New Year lanterns. The children concentrated as they made marks across the card. We have hung the lanterns in our Acorns room and the children point and gaze at their work sharing the interest with others.

With the weather being warmer we have been using the courtyard garden as a free flow access to the outside. The children have loved using paintbrushes and water to paint the wooden fence. Showing high levels of energy and fascination, the children smiled and giggled to one another. Also in the garden, we have been using chalks to make marks on our outdoor chalk board. Using big arm movements, the children enjoyed making different strokes on the board. Whilst in the main garden, the rain bucketed down and the Acorns delighted in splashing in the puddles. They sought out buckets as they filled rapidly and used their fingers to explore the temperature of the water. To promote and explore colours in a sightly different way, we filled plastic wallets with paint and stuck them to a table. The children used their fingers to feel the texture and make marks through the plastic wallets. The Acorns had fun colour matching objects from around the room and grouping them.

Messages:

Please could we have family photos for every group if you haven’t already provided them, to allow the children to develop their understanding of people and communities but also to help them feel more confident to talk about their home lives, giving them a sense of belonging.

The Acorns ask; please can we have any photos of your pets for discussion next week. Please can we remind parents to provide suitable outdoor shoes now that we are spending more time in the garden with the complex and changeable weather.

Stars of the Week:

Oaks 1 – Evie – for sharing lots of knowledge about space and being confident enough to stand up in front of the group to share these details with her friends.

Oaks 2 – Alf – for being more confident and for being very chatty about his new baby sister.

Saplings – Ottie – for showing huge development in her communication and language skills.

Seedlings – William – for his increased social skills.

Acorns – Leo – for noticing one of his friends was distressed and offering a distraction to settle them.

Keep safe and warm.

The team at Broughton