Oaks 1:

This week, Oaks 1 have focused on getting ‘big school’ ready.

We opened up our uniform shop and a classroom, where summer dresses, shirts, jumpers and P.E. kit can be tried on. The children persevered with putting on and taking things off again, working hard on the buttons. This strengthened fine motor skills while encouraging communication with friends. Oaks 1 were very proud to show each other how well they could dress themselves.

They also enjoyed pretending to be shop owners, filling up bags with different items. They suggested school books could be offered in order to practice writing. Some of the children put their scribing skills to the test using different tools. This also encouraged the recognition of letters and the use of fine motor movements.

Oaks 1 were very excited to go out for a wet walk in the local area. They climbed a steep hill and cleverly pointed out that they were higher up than the nursery, commenting that the houses looked tiny too. Nova encouraged her friends to walk safely as some of the route was squelchy and slippery. She also told peers that the corn field looked like a maze. Jaime added that the farmer’s tracks appeared to be made by a giant, his cat and dog after recognising footprints and paw prints.

Our adventure continued down past a railway track and all were thrilled to see a train zoom past. Jaime and Yannick spotted a marker to identify a train route. After realising we’d taken a wrong turn a short while later, the children decided we should consult our map. Oaks 1 were amused when we had to duck down and walk like crabs to make our way through some dark tree caves.

In the garden this week, we focussed on moving in different ways. Oaks 1 attempted to do forward rolls and teddy bear rolls, with all demonstrating a real ‘can do’ attitude. Danny pushed himself to perfect his rolling by trying again and again until he’d fully mastered it.

Star of The Week:

Ivy – For feeling confident enough to try on uniform and talking about how excited she is for going to big school.

Messages:

We’d be very grateful for any spare pennies or plastic coins you might no longer need. They’d be ever so useful for our school shop.

Oaks 2:

We looked at giants this week as the children adore Shhh! by Sally Grindley.

While reading the book, the class had fun lifting up the flaps to see if they could wake up the other characters without disturbing the giant. They then used the iPad to research what castles look like to equip them for making their own one for a giant to live in. This taught the group about the importance of planning.

After circle time, the children considered what was needed to create a castle. One suggested that we could use a box, paint and glue. We then went on to paint a box brown.

To work on numeracy skills, Oaks 2 baked a giant-sized cookie. This saw them carefully measure out the ingredients. We talked about how things can be weighed with spoons and hands as well as scales. Oaks 2 decided to set themselves a challenge for next week – baking a cookie large enough to feed the entire nursery! We’ll keep you posted on how we get on.

The children also boosted their hand/eye co-ordination when crafting a hand-print castle and beanstalk. After coating their hands with paint and patting them down on paper to represent the castle, they glued on bits of green tissue for the beanstalk.

We developed the children’s literacy skills too this week, talking about the layout of books and discussing what an author and illustrator are. Finally, we discussed that the blurb can be found on the back of a book.

Star of The Week:

Reece – For standing up in front of his peers and proudly talking about becoming a big brother. He’s also been a fantastic helper for the group.

Saplings:

We’ve continued to look at the jungle this week.

Gross motor skills were used by the Saplings to make unique marks with sponges as they created greenery and trees for our upcoming jungle display board. We then drew around and cut out palm leaves, with the children demonstrating great accuracy and precision. Help was on hand for anyone not confident in using scissors. This activity provided the perfect opportunity to practice grasping pens and pencils too.

Having loved it so much last week, the children asked to take another look at Lucy Cousins’ book Jazzy In The Jungle. We explored the different feelings of the characters in the story, with some of the group identifying emotions such as happy, sad, scared and worried. This was excellent for the Saplings’ personal, social and emotional development. To further this we would ask that parents send in photographs of their families and pets to support our ‘All About Me’ theme.

The children all adored our water play activity involving small world jungle animals. To make the scene as realistic as possible, cocoa powder was added to make the water appear muddy. The children loved washing the animals while gaining a better understanding of the world around them. They learnt all about how jungle creatures clean themselves in the wild too.

Outside, we treated the group to a jungle hunt. The children used binoculars they made last week to look out for lots of different straw bundles with animals placed on the top. This was an excellent problem-solving activity and the Saplings were thrilled each time they came across a critter.

Star of The Week:

Rawdon – For being so enthusiastic and engaging with the activities, it was great to see.

Seedlings:

The Seedlings have been exploring shapes, numbers and colours this week.

We started off with a spot of rice play, mixing paints to create different colours. We went on to make a circle, square, rectangle and also a triangle. The children loved decorating them using a variety of paint sticks and also selected which crayons to use. This activity helped develop their pincer and palmer grasp.

Our Tuff Trays continued our week’s theme and the Seedlings had fun colour sorting and counting as well as finding and exploring different shapes.

The older children in the room took part in a number of group activities including colour and shape bingo. And while playing outside in our wonderful garden, we tasked the Seedlings with telling us what different shades they could spot. We also made sure to work shapes and counting into our daily conversations and routines.

Finally, the children loved stacking wooden blocks to make fantastic structures before knocking them back down again, being encouraged them to count the bricks as they went.

Star of The Week:

Samuel – For settling in so well.  

Acorns:

This week, the Acorns have been busy learning all about themselves and their feelings.

We spent time looking at our bodies too and had a great time singing along to Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. The children have now learnt to point to and name their body parts. We’re very impressed by the class’ real improvement in speech.

The Acorns also started work on their special ‘All About Me’ book, which will include handprints, fingerprints and photos. The aim of this project is to help the children learn about themselves and their peers.

To help the group grasp the concept of growth, we planted lettuces. The children helped to fill pots they’d decorated with soil and loved watering the seeds.

We also watched and cared for sunflowers and petunias, which we potted earlier in the year. The Acorns then collected fallen flower petals to use in a sensory activity. This involved mixing them with natural essential oils.

Star of The Week:

Mia – For her increasing physical development.

Have super weekend.

The Broughton team.