“It was June, and the world smelled of roses. The sunshine was like powdered gold over the grassy hillside.” – Maud Hart Lovelace, Betsy-Tacy and Tib

Seedlings:

The Seedlings showed great interest this week with the traditional tale of The Three Little Pigs.

Firstly, we read the story to the children. Puppets added a truly engaging
element to the plot. We then worked collaboratively to make piggy gloop during
a messy sensory activity. The children expertly mixed different shades of pink.
They also had the chance to practice their scooping and pouring skills.
A crafty activity saw the Seedlings fashion pig and wolf masks from paper plates, paint, stickers and pipe cleaners.

Next, the youngsters made three houses from straw, bricks and sticks.
Naturally, a spot of role play followed and the children giggled as they huffed and puffed while attempting to blow the houses down.

We spent lots of time outside too where the slide was very popular with River
and Finley. Our balance beams were a hit too with everyone and the children
impressed us with their grit and determination as they attempted to complete the course with minimal assistance.

Mastering the art of putting shoes on has also been key to our week. Marco was
brilliant at this! It’s wonderful to see the children enjoying being more independent.

Star Of the Week:

Axel – For showing so much kindness to his friends and being very chatty.

Saplings:

This week, the Saplings learnt all about World Ocean Day.
The children got creative transforming paper plates and tissue paper into
jellyfish. Next, they had so much fun searching for sea creatures in our ocean-
themed Tuff Tray. We also challenged the youngsters to find pictures that had
been hidden below a layer of sand. This presented an opportunity to work on
fine motor skills as they brushed away the sand with a paintbrush to reveal …..?.
Ahead of Father’s Day, the Saplings worked hard to make their special cards. By
dipping their fingertips into paint, the children were able to create a pretty blossom tree design.

Star Of the Week:

Jessica – For always helping her friends to put their shoes on.

Acorns:

Our Acorns have spent their week thinking about holidays.
We started off with a beach-themed Tuff Tray where the children were
challenged to build sandcastles. Lots of the youngsters adored filling up
different vessels with sand before tipping it back out again. Finn loaded his
bucket with sand and then tipped it over enthusiastically. When a practitioner
said ‘tap, tap, tap’ the children copied and banged on their buckets.
Following on from this, we froze sea creatures in water and tasked the children
with using various instruments to set them free. They loved scraping and picking at the ice, improving fine motor skills as they got to work.

We’ve also been boosting the children’s hand-eye coordination too. Nellie was excellent at catching the ball with both hands. Ahead of Father’s Day, the youngsters got creative making cards. Arlo loved the cool feeling of the paint beneath his fingertips.

To end the week, we set up a sensory activity consisting of scarves, tins, pots,
feathers and Velcro. Our little Acorns adored placing the different items inside
tins of various shapes and sizes … in out, in out, in out, total fascination.

Star Of the Week:

All our group – For showing such enthusiasm throughout activities.

Upper Oaks:

This week at nursery, we opened our imaginations and stepped into the world
of Rumpelstiltskin—a classic fairytale full of magic, mystery and meaningful messages.

The children listened with wide eyes as we shared the story of the miller’s
daughter, the greedy king, and the curious little man with a very unusual name.
Afterwards, we had thoughtful conversations where the children surprised us
with their wonderful ideas and reflections. We spoke about how honesty
matters as telling lies may lead to more trouble than necessary.
Thank you to all our wonderful dads and grandads who were able to join us for
our Father’s Day celebration. What a treat it was for all of the Oaks to share their world with you.

As Helgi said so sweetly, “My dad is actually coming past the gate!” — a special moment that captured the joy of the day perfectly. Upper Oaks worked so hard creating their photos and it was lovely to hear some of them explain what their pictures meant to them. Your presence made the day even more meaningful.

Star Of the Week:

Joshua – For putting his friends’ needs first and being supportive

Forest School:

Multicoloured jewellery making and stamping painted marks on a sturdy tree
stump were requests of the day, rapidly interrupted by the excitement caused
by the local farmer as he cut grass as feed for cattle to sustain them throughout the winter months; they watched aghast as the heavy machinery stretched huge mechanical arms across great swards of greenery, drawing it into precise lines ready for bale making later. Luca was particularly fascinated by this.

The children than had an impromptu roly poly session before heading back to
prepare lunch, it’s all for one and one for all, so everyone has a job to do in
preparation for our meal be it fire building or vegetable cutting, peeling or grating or setting the table.

Post lunch Alice found three sticks and put them together to resemble the first
letter of her name, with little help she used string and bands to secure it, well
done for such attention to detail and determination; it was rather tricky after all.

Lower Oaks:
In Lower Oaks this week, Elmer the elephant has been teaching the children about all our differences and why we should celebrate individuals being unique.

Next, we created a supersized Elmer for the garden with each child colouring in a square for total nursery inclusion. The children have loved keeping an eye on the progress of their caterpillars this week, with many of the youngsters noting that they’d grown.

We’ve spent time working on the children’s artistic skills too through a variety
of engaging activities. One saw them express themselves through mark-making.
We are still looking for donations of stationery for our workstation (a truly
busy place) – if there’s anything you could kindly spare, we’d be delighted to receive.

This week we’ve also cooked delicious international dishes while chatting to the
children about different foods they might find around the world. Lower Oaks
adored making healthy avocado and cucumber sushi rolls. The youngsters also
baked delicious biscuits to give to their dads on Father’s Day. To complement
their sweet treats, the children made pen pots from recycled materials and
clay. We hope your home workstation is now adorned with them.

Star Of the Week:

Amalie – For putting in such hard work when it came to writing her name and surname

Yours sincerely,
The Broughton Team