“But the true nature of the human heart is as whimsical as spring weather. All signals may aim toward a fall of rain when suddenly the skies will clear.” – from The Collected Autobiographies of Maya Angelou by Maya Angelou

Seedlings:

This week, the Seedlings have been exploring movement through play and have been enjoying the sunshine and spending time outdoors.

The children gathered around the bubble machine inquisitively, gazing upwards as the yellow bubbles drifted across the sky. The Seedlings used gross motor skills to chase the bubbles with their hands. As Cornelius looked up, he noticed a bird flying in the sky and pointed with his finger.

The Seedlings also played with the sand, moving their hands through it to inspect the texture of the soft and damp grains.

The children loved watching the cars travel along drainpipes before they dropped into the paddling pool with all of the other water toys. The Seedlings happily splashed in the water. As they created waves by swirling their hands around in the water, the children were captivated.

We’ve also spent time working on the Seedlings’ independence and fine motor skills when we tasked the children with taking turns to hand out the breakfast bowls, cups and cutlery. The children were given support when they attempted to rescue small farm animals that had been secreted under masking tape. This activity helped to strengthen their fingers too.

Star Of The Week:

The whole class – For approaching each activity with gusto and doing a fine job of remembering the names of one another.

Saplings:

This week Saplings have been learning about different shapes, with a main focus on circles and squares.

The children worked on their pincer grips too in an activity that saw them pick up brightly coloured pom-poms with tweezers. Alba correctly told practitioners that the pot she placed her pom-pom into was a circle. We challenged the little ones to tell us what colours they could see. In a second circle-themed activity, the youngsters gently pressed cardboard rolls into paint before stamping them down onto paper.

The Saplings then set about making squares using our magnetic tiles.

While basking in the sunshine in our garden, the children enjoyed cooling down with lots of water play. The children busied themselves washing dinosaurs and pouring water into different containers.

Star Of The Week:

Hope – For settling into our room so well while mastering the Saplings’ routine.

Acorns:

The Acorns continued to focus on transport, with the children this week showing a particular interest in aeroplanes and cars.

We set up a table with a road mat and added a range of vehicles including trucks, planes, helicopters and trains. The children really enjoyed and engaged with this activity and giggled as they zoomed cars around the track. Another fun activity saw the children play with aeroplanes in a Tuff Tray full of foam.

Thanks to the lovely weather, we were able to spend plenty of time in our courtyard. The Acorns had a blast splashing in the paddling pool and played with ducks and boats. The youngsters cooked up feasts in our mud kitchen too and made lots of sandcastles. Rolling balls down guttering into water was also a highlight.

The Acorns worked collaboratively to make a boat from a large cardboard box. Once it was painted and dry, lots of fun was had as they ‘set sail’.

Star Of the Week:

Luca – For settling in so well.

Upper Oaks:

It’s been a beautiful, sunny week here in Upper Oaks. We did our best to stay cool by setting up a relaxing foot spa. This was a hit with all of the children.

In very exciting news, we are thrilled to announce that we now have chicken and duck eggs at Broughton Cottage. We’ve created a chart to help us count down towards their arrival – Luca is so excited for the birds to hatch that he’s already starting thinking about names. Just three weeks to go!

Meanwhile, training for our Sports Day is in full swing. What a strong and determined group we have this year! We cannot wait to see all of the children shine on the big day.

The children also proved to be very handy with tools while trying their hand at woodwork. Oaks 1 all used the tools safely – under close supervision of course – and worked hard to learn new practical skills. It was such a joy to see the youngsters taking real pride in their work too.

Our week ended with a celebration to mark Catherine’s birthday. We huddled around the campfire to toast marshmallows. What a sweet and special treat!

Star Of the Week:

Emma – For her impressive imagination and creativity when building a boat using tools and cardboard. Her enthusiasm and innovation truly stood out – well done, Emma!

Forest School

 The children were fascinated by the huge cages which appeared empty on this occasion; they wondered who or what might usually be inhabit the structure – after some discussion they decided that it was a cattle feeder which led to questions about where they might be, after all I wasn’t many months ago that the cows were roaming the fields!

We saw many a foot and paw print along our walk and everyone took turns in suggesting who they might belong to – a horse, a dog, a gruffalo!! One was quite large and the children placed their own foot in the imprint to see if theirs would fit – working out whether it was it longer, shorter, bigger, smaller than their own?

We had lots of fun paddling at the stream and listened intently at the thunder of the waterfall as it trundled down into the stream, it really was the perfect place for a spot of Pooh Sticks.

Lower Oaks:

During the heatwave, we made sure to keep ourselves and our plants hydrated and were ever so careful to stay out of the midday sun.

The children have been very engaged in the Jack and the Beanstalk story and thoroughly enjoyed making the book’s main character out of recycled materials.

Our Jack and the Beanstalk display wall is ever evolving – we are planning lots of new artwork over the coming weeks.

We revisited the story throughout the week and used fine motor skills to pick up beans and seeds with tweezers. Thanks to the sunshine, our potato plants have appeared and our tomato plants are thriving too.

We’d love to know how your sunflowers are getting on at home. Please do send in any photos that you have! There will be a prize awarded to the most green-fingered child.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar has entered the classroom too and is showing us all of the healthy fruits and vegetables we can eat to hit our daily target.

Star Of the Week:

Alice – For being so helpful in the classroom when it comes to tidying up. Her listening skills have been excellent too.

Announcements:

If you have any games or stationery, you no longer use at home, we’d be very happy to accept them as donations.

Yours sincerely

The Broughton Team