Monthly Archives: September 2016
Ladybirds
This week we had fun getting ready for autumn, going on a nature walk collecting leaves, sticks and flowers! We will then use these in our displays and collages as well as in our sensory tray. We also got wonderfully messy leaf and stick painting!
Next week we will be creating our autumn display and encouraging the little ones to paint their own hands in autumnal colours, decorating trees using leaves and also feeling and exploring lots of textures.
Butterflies
We have been getting all set for autumn this week, and getting stuck into activities for our autumn display! We have had so much fun welly painting, making hand print leaves as well as hedgehogs and mice. The Butterfies have also focused a lot on colour this week with lots of different coloured playdoh to engage them in learning about and recognising the variety.
We are really looking forward to our autumn walk we have planned in for next week and will be collecting lots of sticks, leaves and flowers to add to our display. The Butterflies will also be continuing to focus on shape and colour recognition next week.
Bumblebees
This week we have started making some beautiful autumn trees using leaves to paint them. We have had so much fun splashing in puddles in the garden this week too! This week also brought us some new story books and the Bumblebees have really enjoyed listening to them in our cosy book corner.
Next week we are going to make a new display for our door and will be getting outside and going for a nature walk to collect some goodies to include!!
Dragonflies
We have had a strong focus on emotions again this week, talking about how we feel and how others feel as well as how feelings can change. We made a feelings display which the children really enjoyed. We have continued to let our imaginations wild in our firefighter role play and added literacy skills by drawing pictures and talking about how important fire fighters are.
Next week the letter S and the numbers is 1. The colour of the week is red and the shape is a triangle. One of our Dragonflies has been talking a lot about being part of a team so, inspired by this, we will be focussing on lots of fun activities we can do as a team. We will be encouraging the children to work together through ball games, parachute games, 3 legged races and relay running races too! We can’t wait for a fun filled week!
Hello from Bumblebees room to all our Bumblebee parents!
We are making a display of family photographs for the Bumblebee children to enjoy. It would be so wonderful, and we’d really appreciate it, if we could include a picture of your child and their family. If you are happy to, please either bring a photo in or email one across to Clare or Tracy.
If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to speak to Alice or a member of the Bumblebees room team!
We look forward to creating our lovely display and thank you in advance for your contribution…
Ladybirds
This week we have been doing lots of messy play including pipe cleaner painting, animal painting, glitter sticking as well as brush painting! We have been busy getting creative and changing the artwork in the sensory room too.
Next week we are looking forward to making some nature pictures with natural resources like leaves and twigs which should be fun, stimulating and produce some lovely results too! We will also be focussing on music and sounds and spending lots of fun engaging in music time!
Butterflies
It has been a lovely week this week in Butterflies and we have really enjoyed making our new snuggly book corner – the perfect place to sit and look through a lovely story! We have also been painting rainbows this week and enjoyed looking at all the different colours as well as making a beautiful display from them! We have also made our own “sneeze station” to help encourage the children to develop the skills to wipe and blow their own little noses.
We are looking forward to some fresh air and lots of time outside next week as well as a focus on sensory experiences, super fun messy play and get creative once more!
Bumblebees
This week we have been enjoying role playing animals outside! We also had lots of fun pretending to be dinosaurs stomping our feet around the garden and also finishing off our fantastic new dino display! We have also been learning about what flowers need in order to grow for our door flowerpot display.
Next week we are really excited about making some ice dinosaur eggs for us to play with (watch this space!) We will also be engaging the children in a matching colour hunt all around the room.
Dragonflies
We have really been enjoying our new firefighter station this week and the Dragonflies have been using some amazing imagination skills, it has been wonderful! We have also been focusing on our understanding of the world and different cultures. The children have also loved making Autumn trees and learning about the seasons and how different living things change over time. There has been a focus on technology this week too, engaging the children in how it works and encouraging them to use the smartboard independently. They have already learnt how to use the paint program, change the colours and draw some shapes!
We are looking at personal, social and emotional development next week, focussing on emotions and talking about how we feel and how we can express ourselves. We will be drawing pictures about different feelings as well as expressing emotions through dance and having lots of fun at the same time!
We’d love your input…
Earlier this week we sent a questionnaire out to all our families on email asking for thoughts, feedback and suggestions on a few different topics. We cannot emphasize enough how important parent feedback is to us and how we take all comments, suggestions and feedback on board. If you have not yet been able to fill in the form we would grately appreciate your input and returning this via email or to reception. There are also printed out copies on the reception desk for you to take away and fill in as well as downloading a pdf version of the form to print off here.
Thank you so much!
Don’t forget that tomorrow (23rd September) is Jeans for Genes Day!
1 in 25 children is born with a Genetic Disorder, an estimated 500, 000 children in the UK. The money raised from Jeans for Genes Day goes toward a range of iniaitives that help improve the quality of life for these remarkable children.
So…come in tomorrow wearing your jeans and donate £1 or…dare to wear double denim and be fined £2!!
We look forward to a thoroughly denim day…
Ladybirds
This week in Ladybirds we have completed our Old MacDonald Had a Farm display as well as creating a brand new Three Little Duck masterpiece! Do come in and check them out when you drop off your babies, they have been lots of fun to create. We have also really enjoyed plenty of table top painting this week as well as getting thoroughly stuck in with the messy play including crazy soap, rice and pasta! We have spent much time in the garden this week to and have especially enjoyed playing in the sandpit and with lots of splashy water!
Next week, we are going to put a big focus on our black and white area – updating it and making it more engaging for the children. Black and white is excellent for visual development and the babies love the contrast. We will also be spending lots of time outside, exploring our environment (both inside and out) and can’t wait to make some scrummy chocolate cupcakes!
Butterflies
We have had so much fun outside this week and have particularly loved playing with the new garden toys including the new sand and water tray – we have absolutely loved being able to sit in the sand and make some fantastic sand castles! The Butterflies have also been enjoying exploring pompoms and making some wonderful creations with paint and water! This week we have also had a big focus on singing, dancing and combining the two with actions to songs – it has been great fun!
Next week we are going to be delving into lots more sensory experiences and having lots of fun with plenty of messy play! We will also be making the most of the warm September weather and playing in the sandpit a lot no doubt! We will also have some relaxing story time as well as plenty of singing and dancing again!
Bumblebees
Colours have been a big focus for Bumblebees this week and we have been having enormous fun painting splodges for our new bright and colourful display! We have also been talking about different shapes and sizes and putting these into practice in our block painting this week.
In the Bumblebees room next week we will be making and decorating our own flowers as well as a flowerpot for our door display. We will also be exploring and learning about the flowers and plants in the garden as well as playing in the mud kitchen!
Dragonflies
This week we have been looking at story structure and encouraging the children to explore making their own stories with our story cards. The Dragonflies have also loved getting creative drawing their own fish this week and we have had a lot of activities working on using scissors independently so they can learn about using one-handed tools safely and successfully.
Next week the letter is Y and the number of the week is 24. The colour is orange and the shape is a star. We are looking forward to encouraging the children to use their imagination as we turn our role play area into a fire station – nee naw! This will also serve to engage the children in our topic of people who help us as well as learning about the world and our current focus on different occupations!
Just getting young children ready and out of the house (with correct shoes on, on time!) can be a feat in itself but once in the car, transporting them from one place to another confidently, safely and legally probably feels like second nature. However, after the recent news on the upcoming change in law regarding booster seats, we thought it worth taking a look at the government guidelines on car travel with little ones:
https://www.gov.uk/child-car-seats-the-rules/using-a-child-car-seat-or-booster-seat
Also some information on the booster seat change (due to come into force in December this year) from Kiddicare here.
Ladybirds
This week we have been making different animals for our Old MacDonald display – lots of creative fun and it’s starting to take good shape! We have also had a lovely week exploring the garden in the lovely warm sunshine and getting lots of fresh air.
Next week we will be continuing with updating our displays – come up and have a look! We will also be exploring more group activities in the coming weeks as well as spending lots of time bonding with our key people.
Butterflies
We are very proud of the new ‘feelings’ display we have created this week – it includes a mirror so that the children can see their lovely faces and explore different expressions. We have had particular fun this week mark making with tools the children each chose themselves. We also took a lovely walk to the river to see our friends the ducks and really enjoyed feeding them (as well as sneaking some for ourselves too of course!)
We will continue to explore the topic of emotions next week and will be enjoying our display again for sure! There will also be plenty of focus on physical development with soft play inside and time playing in the garden too.
Bumblebees
This week we have been exploring different painting techniques using wonderful apparatus like forks, string and stones! We have also been looking at emotions and relating them our new feelings pictures. There has been a lot of play with playdough this week – getting creative and developing fine motor skills, we have been making cakes and different shapes. The Bumblebees have also enjoyed lots of counting and number activities in particular this week.
We are really looking forward to role play next week and plan to focus on different occupations – it should be fun and engaging for the children! We will also be spending as much time outside as possible playing in and exploring the garden and playground.
Dragonflies
We rearranged the room this week and have been enjoying our new set up! We have a new dedicated role play area along with a range of new toys too! The Dragonflies had a great time exploring new textures this week too and we compared pinecones, shells and a variety of different fabrics. We have also loved playing with different musical instruments and linking them to similar sounds. Another highlight was making bubble wrap paint rollers which made a wonderful effect as well as sound!
Next week the letter is Q and the number is 23. The colour is blue and the shape is a circle. We are looking to get back in the kitchen next week and making yummy cheese straws for our snack. We will also start to collect Autumn leaves, from the garden and also our local park, and use them in a new Autumn display exploring the colour and texture of the leavs. As well as welcoming some new faces from Bumblebees we will be making menus for our new role play area (as asked by the children) so that they can role play making their friends food. We will also be making a new cosy corner sign and engaging in some games that explore occupations and cultures.