“What I need is the dandelion in the spring. The bright yellow
that means rebirth instead of destruction. The promise that life
can go on, no matter how bad our losses. That it can be good again.” – Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Acorns

This week we have been continuing our love of flowers. We started by making
flower soup incorporating lots of different flora such as red roses, pink roses,
big daisies, and pink tulips mixed with water and lots of bubbles. The children
loved pouring the mixture into various containers, filling and emptying repeatedly.

We then tried to ‘free’ the flowers from their ice cube cages watching the multi
coloured ice as it melted, slipped and slid all over the place. This was a great
opportunity for the practitioner to talk about all the colours of the rainbow seen amongst the bouquet.

The children have also been loving the warmer weather, enjoying lots of physical
play in the garden especially water, sand and our favourite, the mud kitchen and
bike track. The sunny weather has certainly put a smile on everyone’s face.

Star of the week:

Theo – for always getting involved and helping his friends.

Seedlings:

This week, the Seedlings have enjoyed activities involving flowers.

Painting flowers with forks was something all the children really liked doing. The
youngsters carefully dipped their forks into paints in a pretty array of pastel
shades before stamping them down onto coloured card. We chatted to the
children about the different marks they had been making.

Next, the children created artwork by painting with natural resources instead
of brushes. The Seedlings had so much fun seeing what patterns they could
create with leaves, flowers and twigs. This activity helped the little ones
develop their Palmar Grasp, while also boosting other fine motor skills.
To close the week, the Seedlings got messy during an activity that saw them use
tissue paper and glue. We encouraged the children to talk about what they could
hear and feel as they got to work scrunching and tearing. This helped the children learn ways to put two or three words together.

Star Of the Week:

Cornelius – For his excellent tidying up skills.

Saplings:

The Saplings had a truly fun-filled week that began with a hide and seek game.
Small world animals were hidden in sand, and we challenged the children to find
them using a sieve. Once all the creatures had been discovered, we worked together to count aloud just how many we found.

To add a fun dimension to an activity involving goats in three different sizes,
the children listened to the song Billy Goats Gruff as they played. Alba and
Jacob had a blast acting the story out using the mammals as props. Alba decided she wanted to be the troll who lives under the bridge.

Our activity that saw the Saplings paint using cardboard tubes was popular with
everyone. The children loved squeezing the tubes into different shapes to see what prints they could create.

The practitioners also worked hard to strengthen the Saplings’ fine motor skills
by asking them to move sand around with a paintbrush to reveal a picture hidden underneath.

Stars Of the Week:

Devon and Rupert – For settling into our room so brilliantly.

Upper Oaks:

We spent the week educating the children on the importance of recycling.
To do this, we embarked on an engaging project; making recycled cards. Using
old thick paper and cereal boxes – and a bit of imagination – we managed to create card we could decorate.

The process started with discussions on how recycling helps the environment
and reduces waste. The children then set about tearing up old papers before
blending them to a pulp. It was remarkable to see how the youngsters experimented with shapes, colours and textures.

Feeling inspired by a visit from police officers, Xander decided to drive the
children around the garden in his ‘police car’. His friends were all delighted to hitch a ride.

Back inside our room, the children worked hard to build their own vehicles using
materials we’d gathered together. The children got creative with wooden planks, scraps of fabric, tyres and chairs.

Star Of the Week:

Joshua – For asking some very impressive questions to the police officers.

Forest School:

The children were very excited to learn that filming was taking place near the
woods but we were told by the security guard that he could not reveal who was
involved. We could only see the huge marquee within which the famous actors
were being costumed and made up for their parts. This led to suggestions
amongst the children as to who was inside the ‘tent’. Most settled on Peppa Pig or Batman!!

Joshua, Luca, Ada and Finneas showcased self-sufficiency as they created fire
circles of their own, searching for logs of a certain shape and length, ably guided by Ada who was in charge of quality control!

Our walk away from basecamp saw us take a different path with Finneas and
William taking the lead in clearing the path ahead. Heer discovered a ‘lesser
spotted’ golf ball, nestling in a soft bed of moss and leaves, she remarked that
her daddy played golf and he would be really happy to receive it.
William found a ‘secret’ gate hidden away amongst the trees so we decided to
take the mystical path beyond and found it paved the way toward further
woodland, a haven of fallen trees, offering the children many opportunities to test their physical strength.

Lower Oaks:

This week, Lower Oaks have been learning about nurses, doctors and other people who might help us.

Cindy brought in a doctor’s kit and spoke about what each item was used for.
Finneas liked the stethoscope and said that it was used to listen to the heart.
Otis loved the ambulance that Cindy showed them too and beamed as he pressed the buttons to make the siren blare.

Next, we looked at how ambulances differ around the world and how their
sirens vary in sound. It’s fair to say the children were very excited when
Alaire’s mummy came in with her amazing police car to show the children. She
spoke about the sirens and let the children have a look inside the boot where
they found a selection of cones. Finneas suggested that they might be useful if a hole in the road needed mending.

The children became budding scientists during an experiment using test tubes,
red food colouring and water. Arthur observed that the food colouring had
settled at the bottom of the tube. The practitioner then explained that this happened because water was a liquid and oil was solid.

Next up, the children got stuck into a science experiment that provided the
opportunity to discuss pollution in the sea with the children. A Tuff Tray was
filled with water, oil and red food colouring, and Otis expertly showed off his
pouring skills. After noticing a change in the Tuff Tray, Arthur stated that the oil looked very small on top of the water.

Star Of the Week:

Arthur – For giving some really good answers to questions that were asked in relation to the activities that we have doing this week. He has also been awarded the backpack for his brilliant tidying up.

Yours sincerely
The Broughton Team