“I drifted into a summer nap under the hot shade of July, serenaded by a cicada lullaby, to drowsy-warm dreams of distant thunder.” — Terri Guillemets
Seedlings:
The Seedlings have been looking at animals they would find at the zoo this week with the help of Rod Campbell’s charming book Dear Zoo.
The children explored a Tuff Tray where masking tape had been placed over a selection of animals. With the use of pincers, we encouraged the Seedlings to try and free the animals. Ashlynn carefully freed a tiger while treating us to an impressive roar. Otis showed great excitement as he lifted up a hippopotamus. He celebrated freeing the sub-Saharan mammal by waving it in the air.
Dear Zoo was read aloud to the class, with the children taking part by showing everyone their chosen animal when it appeared in the story. Alba selected the puppy whilst Genevieve opted for the monkey.
The Seedlings have made the most of the sunny weather this week with plenty of outdoor activities. They had great fun transporting balls from a Tuff Tray full of water to muffin trays using spoons which took dexterity and a keen eye.
Star of the Week:
Amara – For showing great enthusiasm when taking part in all our activities.
Saplings:
This week, the Saplings have been busy making seagulls to hang from our ceiling which ties in with our holiday and beach theme as they take their summer holidays. The children loved getting messy with glue as they stuck brightly coloured feathers on to their birds.
We also looked at some large feathers and asked the children if they could name which bird they came from. William quickly called out ‘peacock’. The Saplings went on to learn that it is only male peacocks that have big, bold, beautiful feathers.
Conversation then moved on to different birds we might spot in the Broughton Cottage Garden. Avery suggested Magpies and Robins.
We’ve also been working on the children’s counting skills this week. One maths-based activity saw the Saplings count different coloured stones and lolly sticks then try and group them into small quantities.
Star Of the Week:
All our Saplings for their combined efforts this week.
Acorns:
We have recently welcomed Marco to the Broughton family and are helping him to settle into his new surroundings.
The Acorns this week continued their exploration of their different senses by taking part in a range of activities. One saw the youngsters use their hands to explore and investigate the properties of paint and foam, Jessica was excited to get her hands dirty while Teddy favoured using pipe-cleaners as a mark making tool instead thus avoiding the mess!
Following on from this, the Acorns then enjoyed an engaging mark-making craft activity, painting directly onto to cling film secure to card. The children were intrigued by how smooth the paint felt beneath their fingertips. Obviously feeling creative, they went on to make their own sensory bags. To do this, they filled zip-lock bags with shaving foam, paint, confetti and water and marvelled as the mixtures moved and rippled beneath their fingers.
The children relished having the chance to make cloud dough by mixing baby lotion with cornflour. The Acorns shaped the dough using their hands and a selection of tools. James chose to work with a heart cutter and was able to tell his friends what shape he was using.
Star of the Week:
Teddy – For making brilliant advances with his babbling.
Oaks 2:
As many of you will have started to receive your summer term reports we have been reflecting on and thinking about the best ways to support the children in achieving their next steps. Report writing is so rewarding and is a great chance for us as practitioners to reflect and visualise just how far the children have progressed with us since last term.
In order to help support the children we have provided lots of opportunities for them to demonstrate their ability to recognise their names. During circle time every child was asked to go over to a selection of different names, select theirs and bring it back to the adult. I was very impressed with everyone, for not only how successful they were in this task but how engaged and enthusiastic they all were.
For many of the children we had identified that shape recognition needed a little more practice.
In order to help strengthen this we have included more opportunities to discuss them. We made some delicious biscuits and the children were given the chance to select their shapes. I was impressed with everyone’s recall but it was also a great way to see just what needs a little more work.
Star of the week:
Ada – For being such an excellent helper this week
Oaks 1
Well done to all our lovely Oaks one children this week who proudly graduated and for their participation in a super Sports Day, luckily the weather held out long enough and all the teams did exceptionally well. A special thanks to James from ‘Sporty Stars’ for his direction.
The children have certainly caught the sports bug as a result and have spent their mornings on the grass playing a game of tag rugby, which has been a big hit with all the children; it seems we may well have a lot of inspiring rugby players on our hands. Freddie and Sebbie found great excitement in this game and enjoyed being our team captains.
Using ‘loose parts play’ in the garden Raul and George created their own obstacle course for the children to try out, working hard as they stacked tyres and planks of wood for everyone to, giving their friend’s instructions and advice on how to make it over the beam in a particular order and jumping in and out the tyres.
Star of the week:
The whole group for their participation in Sports Day.
Forest School
The children love to collect stones and are often fascinated in the varying shapes and colour forms they take often likening them to whimsical characters or spotting features that they then compare to other things. They decided to decorate their finds and got busy painting their own illustrations upon the smooth but sometimes bumpy surfaces. Cindy will then varnish them for the children as a keepsake.
Our trek took us in a different direction this week to a hilltop field where the children to take part in a roly poly race and they thoroughly enjoyed the challenge; they all went a bit askew enroute but reached the finishing point with Sebbie declared as being first past the post. Having watched the great grasscutter a few weeks before the children could now see where it had been bundled and we discussed how dried grass becomes hay and food for the cattle and sheep which live nearby. Raul likened the enormous rolls to the marshmallows they toasted over the fire each week but, he declared they were much ‘bigger’.
