This week, the Oaks have been very busy as they continue to decorate their rooms. They have created a ‘Santa’s Grotto’ in which the children have access to wrapping paper, cellotape and boxes to try their hand at wrapping. Within the grotto direct access to Santa is provided via a personal telephone line (and number) that only adults have access to. The children have all been trying their hardest to follow the rules of our Oaks room so as to remain on the ‘nice’ list. The Oaks have been looking out for their rather cheeky visitors ‘Pickle’ and ‘Pants’. They have been getting up to lots of mischief as you may recall from last week, making a mess in a number of the rooms, pushing each other down the stairs in toilet rolls, acquiring flour from the kitchen and shifting their bodies as snow angels sending dust everywhere; culminating with them leaving some ‘snowball poos’ in a potty to which Theo E exclaimed Paige and Karen “must not eat them”. The children were lucky enough to spot them having a dance in the window one evening which made them very excited and led Nova to copy their movements.
The children have also been creating candy canes to put onto the tree. Using a template, Yannick, Rowan and Florence very carefully held their pencil in a tripod grip, ensuring it was “pinchy pinchy” as they accurately navigated the perimeter. They then used white paint and their fingerprints to create stripes and polka dots to reflect the common patterns associated with candy canes. Once ribbon had been attached, the children hung their decorations on the tree and around the room. Some of the children remarked that the candy canes looked similar to sticks and so to extend this, we read “Stick Man”. After identifying that the title of the story is its name, the author writes the words or text and the illustrator draws the pictures, the children pointed out that the “S” sound appeared frequently throughout the story. The Oaks then offered up other words they thought began with “S” including; snow, sea and sand, Hugo pointed out that ‘splash’ not only had the “s” sound in it but was also a sound in itself. Theo then went on to identify that “waves” had this phonic at the end of the word, thus extending their understanding of the formation of words.
To add to their Christmas bags, the children have begun creating their version of reindeers. Using piping bags, powdered chocolate and marshmallows, the children measured out the correct ingredients alternating and filling in order, at times perhaps eating a marshmallow or two in the process! They discussed how it might resemble a reindeer and added brown pipe cleaners as antlers, googly eyes and a red pom pom nose, et voila, Rudolf emerged!
The children will be taking their Christmas bags home after the party on Thursday 17th December. The Oaks have been working exceptionally hard on their Christmas production and will be recording it for all to see following the party.
This week the Saplings have continued with their Christmas creativities. They have enjoyed making Christmas stockings using great dexterity in placing sequins and stickers on to their stockings before ‘fighting’ with cotton wool as it stuck to their fingers to add the final touches. I’m sure you will all agree they look fab!
They have also completed their large scale ‘Santa’ and he now takes pride of place on our fireplace. The children, especially Felix loved getting messy as he took hold of the paintbrush and tried his best to paint within the lines.
Another favourite activity this week has been the making of salt dough decorations with the children each choosing a cutter to push down into the dough thus developing their gross motor skills, before ‘twisting’ to ease it back off then finally after the drying process they proudly painted and decorated them with sequins placing them meticulously.
The Saplings are continuing to practice their Christmas songs and are getting better by the day, learning all the actions to accompany each song, as is their listening when we read our Christmas stories.
Lots of play has taken place in the garden too with Joshua and Reece being obsessed with finding worms! They’ve been using magnifying glasses to detect worms from under the log pile whilst closely observing their size and shape. Hassan and Killian have enjoyed playing in the mud kitchen. Whilst Hassan cooked ‘fish and chips’ Killian was absorbed in stirring and pouring water for long periods, transporting from one container to another.
This week Seedlings enjoyed their Christmas arts and crafts. The children have been busy creating bags, cards and calendars, gluing, sticking, painting, dabbing and mark making in different ways. Some of the children weren’t as confident as others getting their hands dirty so to make it more amenable, they were offered brushes, rollers and glue sticks. Ava and Thomas soon found a new use for their dabbers – as drum sticks prompting Hudson to strike up his band and play the drums. Such involvement and co-operation helped develop the children’s social skills as they took turns in making drumming movements and sounds, observing one another and drawing others into their social interaction.
The children have also enjoyed playing with their “winter” themed play-doh. They mixed the blue doh with “magic snow” and blue glitter as they strengthened their fine motor skills while kneading the dough. This helps to support children’s future writing skills as they develop their fine motor skills and strengthen the muscles in their fingers. Sophia and Leo had fun as they squeezed the dough and popped bubble wrap (no mean feat!)
The Seedlings have also enjoyed messy play, creating a winter town using blue and white modelling foam to replicate a snow scene. The children enjoyed the sensory experience of the foam as it’s physical state altered throughout the day. Daisy enjoyed making marks in the foam using her index finger. This activity supports the early stages of mark making and develops children’s creative development. Flynn has also proudly counted 3 polo bears and categorised them, showing his understanding and development of mathematical understanding.
The Acorns have been focusing on their gross motor skills this week by painting ‘Santa’s footprints’, using stencils and sponges to create different marks. The children were able to choose different and very festive colours including green and red, lifting their arms up and down to dab onto the stencil. The children were delighted with the finished prints. To follow on with their sensory experiences as well as their winter theme, the children have been exploring ice and foam play. Using paint to create a ‘snowy’ scene, the children ran their fingers through the foam feeling how it changed shape as they squeezed it in their hands. The Acorns enjoyed mixing the different textures together, watching as the ice combined with the paint and the foam, not only changing the colour but the texture too.
The Acorns have also made their very own salt dough, mixing together, salt, flour and water and kneading the dough until they had a spongy mixture. Using Gingerbread shaped cutters, the children pressed down hard to create a shape into the dough. Once the salt dough was cooked, the Acorns decorated them using paint, glitter and googly eyes.
Stars of the week:
Oaks – Adrian – for feeling confident enough to try new foods.
Saplings – Felix – for settling so well into the Saplings room and for following the routine.
Seedlings – Sebastian – for being inclusive and for drawing others into his play.
Acorns – Raul – for feeling confident enough to join in with foam and ice play.
Messages:
Could all parents who have not yet replied to our previous email regarding the Christmas party please let us know whether your child will be attending – no need for those who already attend Thursdays.
Winter termly reports are currently in progress and will be emailed to all parents this week. After reading the reports, we ask that parents please respond with any parental comments they wish to add. If you would like to meet in person, or discuss via telephone call or Zoom please let us know and we will organise one evening.
Please could all long hair be tied up as we have experienced a few cases of headlice recently and this will help to reduce the spread.
A pair of orange fox gloves have gone missing so if these have appeared in your child’s bag, please could these be returned as soon as possible.
Finally, for catering purposes please let us know your child’s last day either via email or through their contact books (Acorns, Seedlings and Saplings groups)
Have a fantastic week,
The Team at Broughton.