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!!!

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.

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!!!!

The children in the 2’s room are fascinated by ‘Shoe’ the fish in the 3-5 room. We discussed with the children if they would like a pet in the 2’s room and with an overall majority it was voted we would ask if we could get a fish. Mrs Ross agreed and on Monday we took a trip on the bus to visit the fish shop and purchase a fish. Whilst taking our bus trip we had a sheet with lots of different landmarks and vehicles to find. It was lots of fun and we nearly spotted everything. When we arrived at the fish shop we were warmly welcomed by the owner who kindly directed us and allowed us time to look around before making the big decision on which fish to buy. The children in the morning decided that they would like the black and orange fish with the children in the afternoon choosing a white and orange fish. Ms Connor safely carried our fish on the bus and they have now settled into their new home and seem to have become good friends with each fish following the other around the tank. We have yet to think of a name. If you would like to discuss this with your child at home we will gather all suggested names and put them to a vote.

We currently have 5 hungry caterpillars in the 2’s room. We can see through the jar and watch them eating but the children wanted to know -” how they eat?” How move?” “Colour?”- with so many questions the ladies had a think and decided to use the microscope to see if looking closer at the caterpillars would answer all our questions. On plugging the microscope into the computer, the children were fascinated by what they could see close up. Soon we had all the children eager to see their hair, eyes, teeth all close up on the screen, but looking closely at the caterpillars was amazing!!!! Close up they look like “monsters” and have “ittle egs” , which we counted six of. We could have looked at them all day!!! We plan to look at the caterpillars again when they are in their cocoon, which we don’t think will be very long.

It has been lovely weather this week and in the 2’s room we decided to take our relaxation and yoga sessions outdoors. The children are progressing well with these sessions with a noticeable difference in concentration and focus since starting, with some children being that relaxed that they fall asleep!!! Being outdoors was a real treat and by taking that moment of calm the children were able to use their listening skills to identify sounds of birds, lawnmowers, ambulances and motorbikes. Fingers crossed we can have more opportunities for outdoor relaxation.

This week we have been exploring our artistic side. We have mark been making using pipettes. We began by assisting Mrs Hutcheson with choosing colours to paint with. After mixing our powder paint with water we had created 4 colours to use with our pipettes. Mrs Hutcheson placed some paper in the tray and demonstrated how the pipettes worked. Then we were given free range to explore and create. Using the pipettes is developing our fine motor skills as we have to squeeze the tip and our problem solving as we have had to figure out that the paint only fills up when we let go. We have worked together and took turns with the different colours. We have learnt new vocabulary and have lots of fun experimenting with colours and crating fabulous art work.