“Be wise. Be brave. Be tricky.” Coraline – by Neil Gaiman.
Autumn is such an interesting season with beautiful swathes of deep colour everywhere we look.
At the start of the week, the children enjoyed a hedgehog mark-making activity. Using alternative instruments such as forks they had fun ‘scoring’ paper with here, there and everywhere as they recreated the small spikey animals.
Next, we made cloud dough together by combining baby lotion with cornflour. The children giggled in delight as they squeezed and squashed the mixture through their fingers.
During an exploration of our five senses, we got experimental with slime, cornflour, pasta and paint. They were ever so fascinated to work with paintbrushes crafted from twigs and different shaped leaves, sweeping through the different materials.
Stars of the Week:
All our Seedlings for their determination in putting on their shoes and coats
The Saplings have taken part in a range of activities inspired by Oliver’s favourite book all about dragons.
The children loved hearing about the adventures of Zog as Julia Donaldson’s stories were read aloud. They particularly liked the part when Zog attempted to fly but fell down with a big bump whenever he landed. We spent time discussing what colour dragons might be. Willow and Annabelle both quipped ‘pink’, while Otis suggested ‘red’.
The Saplings went on to create a large model of a dragon which they decided to paint orange. Oliver loved painting the mythical beast with his friends and didn’t mind at all that he was covered in paint.
Star of the Week:
George – For pouring out his water from a big jug at tea time all by himself.
This week in Acorns, we have explored the children’s many interests by coming up with activities focussed on them.
Because everyone in the room loves the push and pull of cars along the floor, we decided to set up an arty activity where the children could use their muscular power to force vehicles through paint creating some truly fabulous patterns. It was a real joy to see the children babbling away to each other.
While out in the garden, the Acorns enjoyed an array of natural resources as they explored the ‘fall’ of the season. River enjoyed using chalk and added leaves to the blackboard as she proudly announced her print was blue.
We added to our Halloween craft by creating happy ghosts using their feet. The children enjoyed the sensation of slippery cold paint on the soles of their feet.
Star of the Week:
Myles – For showing interest in all the different activities set out by practitioners.
This week we entered the woods twice with two different groups; it was really quite incredible to observe how the ‘split’ group worked together in different ways using the same tools and resources but for different purposes. We took a long walk across the meadows and clambered over the ‘dinosaur’ tree which we found gradually reducing in size as the weeks roll by; the landowners chopping for logs. The children undeterred! We were introduced to Scott’s chickens and looked over his new ‘yellow’ tractor which fascinated the children. In a nod to the fun side of Halloween the children sought out twigs of a regular size to fashion into webs, weaving over and under to achieve the right effect. Helgi had other ideas for his creation, announcing that it was a ‘controller’ and soon whizzed off putting it to work.
Oaks:
It has certainly been another busy and productive week for our Oaks.
On Monday, the children had a blast with the Sporty Stars teachers. We’re proud to say that the children listened and followed instructions extremely well.
Throughout the week, we’ve been using and developing fine and gross motor skills by handling scissors, paintbrushes, masking tape, Sellotape, pens, pencils and glue. The Oaks transformed pieces of recycling into fabulous creations. They demonstrated excellent teamworking skills too and shared beautifully throughout.
We have also continued to work on boosting the Oaks’ listening and attention skills during Circle Times. We’ve introduced some new and engaging songs and rhyming stories. This is the perfect way to lay the foundation for phonics. The children will be attuned to different sounds and will be ready to work on oral blending and segmenting skills.
Star of the Week:
Alaire – For showing courage and perseverance developing herself confidence and self-esteem.
Recommendation For Further Reading:
Letters and Sounds in Phase 1.
Yours sincerely
The Broughton team