We had a busy day in our mud kitchen: we were using our imagination, role playing, developing language, building relationships, developing our emergent literacy and numeracy skills and of course we were having lots of fun in the mud!!!!

ICT allows children to learn and develop new skills and knowledge. The use of ICT encourages problem-solving, develops language and communication, builds relationships between adults and peers, encourages self-awareness and develops confidence and so much more. In the 2’s room we have been exploring ICT through the use of the whiteboard to play puzzles and by using the Ipad to take pictures. We had lots of fun trying to match the pictures on the puzzle, it was very tricky and some of us required a little support and guidance on how to manoeuvre our pictures over to the correct spot. Outside in the garden we enjoyed taking turns to use the Ipad to take photographs of our friends at play, some of us even figured out how to take a good selfie!!!

This activity encouraged lots of discussion and wonderful language. Pirate ships and secret maps were drawn. We just need to find the treasure now! I wonder where it can be? There are fabulous mermaids under the sea, with princesses dancing in the waves. Football players winning the cup and a fast car driver, driving up a mountain were also evident.

A roll of old wallpaper and some pens and pencils, was all that was needed to spark the children’s creativity and imagination. 🤗

In the 2’s room our ABC and Beyond story of the term is “Ten Little Dinosaurs” our sparkle words from this story are “Stomp” and “Safe”. With our sparkle words we give them meaning and make use of them within conversations with the children. Our sparkle words are there to extend each child’s vocabulary. The children have enjoyed the word stomp and have been stomping around the nursery like little dinosaurs. We have even made our own stomping foot prints, dinosaur style. Below are some pictures of how we made them and they are now pride of place stomping over our ABC and Beyond wall so feel free to check them out next time your in.

After lunch in the 2’s we have a little bit of quiet time before we embark on more energetic play. At our quiet time we have our own cosy blanket, we dim the lights and enjoy some peaceful, relaxing music. As you can see from the pictures below a number of our children fall asleep!!! This moment of rest allows their brains and bodies a moment to recharge before embarking on more learning adventures.

We had our first visit of the new term to our local library. Our visits here give us a chance to become familiar with our local community, to listen to a story and to explore a wide range of books to take back to nursery. The 2’s did very good listening and good sitting. We enjoyed two stories, with one being about dinosaurs just like our focused story of the term back at nursery. We are looking forward to our next visit which will be a big adventure for us all as it will be in the new community centre. Can’t wait.

The children in the two year old room are making “balls” and “cakes” using the play-dough. Many skills can be developed when exploring play-dough. It can can encourage children’s imagination and creativity, enhance fine motor skills and develop language and communication to name a few. Play-dough also a calming effect and sensory benefits.

We love play-dough in nursery! 💕

We had great fun today playing hide and seek in the garden. Robyn thought of a great hiding place and stacked up tyres and climbed inside!! Of course everyone wanted a turn at hiding in here, Miss Field had very sore arms after this game!

The weather has definitely took a turn for the worse, but nothing stops us getting out and having fun in the garden at nursery!

Coats- check

Puddle suits- check

Wellies- check

Puddles- check

Last week we had a lot of fun in the nursery garden exploring various forms of water play. At our water wall we had to problem solve how to get the water into the bottles and what path the water would take as it flowed from one bottle to the next. We discovered that by pouring the water into the flower pots it looked like it was raining. Many skills were used in this area: problem solving, exploration, team work, fine motor skills, language and early numeracy. Our other form of water play was basic, a bucket of coloured water and some paint brushes and rollers. Much fun was had washing windows, cleaning cogs, painting pictures. The children were very imaginative in their play and spent lots of time engaged in play. Who knew water could be such fun!!!!