This week, we have been welcoming new children and families to our nursery, enjoying getting to know everyone. A big focus has been on learning and consolidating rules and routines, to make things easier. In the art area, children are learning about looking in the black folder with their keyworker’s picture on it, to find their name for attaching to their creation. This is sometimes quite a challenge however we are supporting them to persevere.
Perseverance seems to be a theme, as we continue to encourage children’s independence, particularly in self-help skills. Taking off and putting back on their own shoes and wellies can be a real struggle and this is something you can be supporting at home too. If you ensure all clothes and shoes are named, this really helps during us find ‘lost’ items!
In the snack area, we are teaching the new children our snack routine [ wash hands, take plate/bowl, select food, find place and table and eat snack, pour drink, wash dishes, place in dishwasher – it IS a lot to learn!] and our returning children are helping them with that. They are helping to prepare the food too, by cutting and chopping fruit and veg. We cooked up some of the potatoes we had grown at the community garden and enjoyed these with some garden peas from our own nursery garden.
In the creative area, children have had opportunities to explore design with paper strips, such as gluing, folding, cutting and twisting. Some have represented ideas, like these spiders’ webs while others have explored different ways to use the strips.
Our new station for larger Loose Parts is now in use in the main 3 – 5 playroom and the children have been investigating the contents. Loose Parts play is a variety of materials which can be moved, designed, re-designed, carried, taken apart and put back in endless ways. We are always looking out for more beautiful, alluring, found objects to use in this way, so if you have anything like this, perhaps, shells, balls, corks, glass beads, wooden rings, spoons, buttons, bangles, pebbles, cones, etc we would gladly accept these. If unsure, please ask any staff.
The Maggie’s Penguin Parade in Dundee this summer has captured everyone’s interest. We’ve been talking about all the penguins we have visited with our families and friends, and remembering the penguin we designed last term, which is currently in Menzieshill library. We have created our own Penguin Bingo game, featuring some of our favourite penguins. This is a real hit with the children, prompting lots of discussion about the penguin trail, the sticker book and the map.
We’ve had a very busy week and this is just a snippet of some of our activities. We welcome comments here, in nursery, or on our Twitter feed at @menzieshill_ns If you request to follow us, please tell us in nursery so we can authorise your request.
