May we take this opportunity to remind all parents to send in several changes of clothes plus a sun hat (all named please). If necessary, we’d also appreciate any specific sunscreen requirements; many thanks.
Oaks 1:
One of our greatest friends, James Sayer, has left the Broughton family to move back to South Africa! From everyone here at the nursery, we’d like to wish you and your family all the best for the future. We will miss you.
We’ve continued to look at the topic of growth this week and the children have been learning about life cycles. A particular favourite proved to be that of a caterpillar. The children chose to make a junk model Hungry Caterpillar using fine motor skills and their tripod grip to paint and stick. They worked so well as a team to create the giant insect.
Drawing on their own knowledge, the class then exchanged the facts about why we need to keep our plants and animals safe from predators. To extend this, Oaks 1 delved into the life cycle of a butterfly. They discussed how it starts out as an egg before hatching into a caterpillar. They then touched on how it’ll need to eat lots of green leaves to form its cocoon to then transition into a beautiful butterfly. The class also became scientists, using a microscope to look at different slides that documented the process of a butterfly hatching.
Oaks 1 have also been looking at stick insects, which they’ll go on to care for. They spoke about how the creatures will grow, before touching on what vegetation they’ll need to stay healthy. As the insects get bigger, the children will compare their size to different natural objects. We chatted about the process of looking after pets too and how it is important to keep them fed and watered.
The class showed off their green fingers when they transported the broad beans they recently planted in cups to the vegetable patch. They revisited the elements needed for them to grow, recalling how plants need water as well as sunlight in order to thrive. They now understand that this process is called photosynthesis. The children suggested the broad beans will get bigger when planted in the soil as they’ll have more sun. Jamie and TJ enjoyed describing the roots, telling their peers that they looked like the opposite end of a flower.
As a group, we made a scarecrow to protect our vegetables from the pesky crows. The children decided to use different materials such as fabrics and newspaper to stuff our bird-scarer. Nova said that bright colours would keep the crows away, while James B explained that big eyes would make the scarecrow look menacing.
Star of The Week:
TJ – For perseverance and having good listening ears.
Messages:
If you’ve not done so already, may you kindly let us know your child’s last day at nursery before they go off to primary school. It’ll give us the chance to plan ahead for our leaving party.
Oaks 2:
To bring our under the sea theme to a close, the children used fine motor skills to make angel fish.
They carefully cut coloured paper into squares before arranging them on a fish they had traced. The children selected the colours for the scales of the fish, which then prompted them to sit and read Marcus Pfister’s The Rainbow Fish.
Oaks 2 also invented a new game called ‘musical fish’ which saw the children pretend to be sea creatures whenever the music stopped. One of the boys put a hand on his head to mimic a fin and said ‘I’m a shark!’.
We made a start on a new subject this week too which looks at maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We challenged the class to share their knowledge of which foods are considered to be healthy and which aren’t by asking the children to collate different groceries on two plates. This activity also strengthened Oaks 2’s language skills as we asked them to name the items as they went. The children impressed us when they successfully managed to sort different vegetables into a line by order of size.
We’ve also spent time discussing the importance of hand washing, with one member of Oaks 2 cleverly sharing that it ‘stops bugs’. This supported the children’s understanding of health and self-care. And thanks to the warm weather we’ve had, we’ve be able to emphasise just how important it is that the children drink lots of water. Oaks 2 were thrilled to add the word ‘hydrated’ to their vocabulary.
Star of The Week:
George – For sharing his experiences with his peers at circle time.
Messages:
If anyone has spare fruit or vegetables, we’d gladly use them for upcoming printing projects. We’d also like to thank parents for continuing to bring in books for our under the sea theme.
Saplings:
The Saplings’ interest in construction prompted staff to make it this week’s key theme.
The large building blocks in the garden have been very popular, with the children using gross motor skills to carefully stack the bricks to form a tower. Proving to be very inventive, Oscar decided to use them to make a robot instead.
The Saplings were overjoyed by the arrival of a few new digger toys. Instantly a hit, they encouraged the children to share and take turns. The toys helped spark up a conversation about what jobs different construction vehicles do. Joshua even used the tricky word ‘excavator’, explaining that he could see one from the garden.
The diggers were integral to different sensory activities including rice and sand play. The children used their imaginations and based their play on real-life experiences as they pretended to operate them like real ones. Felix repeated the phrase ‘buckets scooping’ while using one of the toys to shovel up rice before dropping it back down again.
The Saplings have enjoyed being out in the sunshine this week, venturing on to the grassy area before playing on the climbing frame and slide. We also engaged in water play, with Rawdon expertly using gross motor skills to fill and empty different containers.
Star of The Week:
Felix – For being kind and considerate towards his friends.
Seedlings:
This week in Seedlings, we’ve taken full advantage of the sunshine and spent lots of time outside.
The children kept cool with water play featuring ducks and other animals. They also loved paddling their feet in water and had so much fun with a sprinkler.
We’ve focused on bugs and insects this week too, a topic which made for great messy play. As well as putting spaghetti in mud to resemble worms, we got experimental with sand and hunted for bugs in leaves, sticks and bark. The Seedlings thoroughly enjoyed searching for spiders in shaving foam too.
The children were extremely engaged when we crafted our very own Hungry Caterpillar by making marks with a range of different media. We used pens, paint sticks, chalk and crayons to complete the arty activity. Leo S created the face with a red paint stick before Sofia stuck on the eyes and antennae. To extend this, the Seedlings got to grips with different bug-themed Tuff Trays too.
Star of The Week:
We’ve picked two stars this week, Arie and Arabella. Both have settled in so well and are growing in confidence when communicating with their peers.
Messages:
Please may you provide us with some family photos so we can create a room photo album.
Acorns:
We’d like to start by welcoming Oscar H and Parker J into our room.
The Acorns have made great use of our garden this week where we’ve enjoyed water play, a sand tray and our baby slide. Our key theme has been transport as the children love to push and pull cars and trucks and we set up an indoor Tuff Tray to reflect their interests with a variety of vehicles. We even had a helicopter upon the roof of our wooden garage.
Outside in our courtyard, the Acorns adored sitting in our large water tray and developed their physical and social skills by splashing and pouring together.
Star of The Week:
We’re especially proud of Sebastian S for adjusting to life at Broughton Cottage so well. He plays brilliantly well with friends and equally by himself.
Have a fantastic weekend.
The Broughton Team