outdoors – Page 33 – Hecklegirth Nursery

Rain, Rain, Stay In Nursery

Which child doesn’t enjoy the opportunity to jump in a puddle? Well, we certainly had a big enough puddle for lots of jumping this week in Nursery when our garden area became waterlogged. As well as a mini pond in our mud kitchen, we had water stretched from one end of the pathway to another. It certainly brought home to children that winter weather is not all about Jack Frost and snow.
We had ducks and boats out which produced some valuable discussions about floating and sinking as well as lots of pouring and measuring to develop numeracy skills. The children worked so well together and enjoyed investigating their ideas in a real context. Great fun was had, for example, experimenting to see if a boat would sink if they filled it with water.
It may have been a little inconvenient for adults to use a different entrance to Nursery but the children took full advantage of conditions that were very exciting for them.

Celebration Statue

On Friday we were invited to join P1-3 for the unveiling of a statue in our school outdoor learning area. A former pupil, who is now a parent, is celebrating his 50th birthday in the same year as Hecklegirth School and has created an impressive statue to recognise the event. Unfortunately the weather was not kind on the day, as you can see from the photos, but it was lovely to be part of this landmark event. We are looking forward to a closer look at this interesting piece of art when we make visits to our outdoor classroom in the future.

Why Has A Digger Come To Nursery?

A digger and trailer arrived unexpectedly at Nursery today which caused quite a bit of excitement for those busy in the garden. It was even more exciting when we realised that Robbie’s Dad had come with it and that he was bringing us lots of bark to top up our garden.
Suddenly our day changed and we all had to get our spades and wheelbarrows into action to transport the huge pile of bark into the digging area of the Nursery garden. What fantastic teamwork and perseverance the children showed, working so well together as they shovelled it into wheelbarrows, took them up the ramp into the garden and raked the bark flat. They were all taking turns and helping each other if the wheelbarrow was a bit tricky to manage – getting it up that ramp is not as easy as you would think. Very well done to the gardening team – we couldn’t have managed without you. We hope that everyone appreciates your hard work.

Carmen Loves Outdoor Play

Carmen enjoyed seeing her photo in the den in the Nursery garden. Her Mum left a comment:

“I showed Carmen the picture of her and her friends. She said they were hiding. She laughed and sayed look at Reagyn he’s trying to cuddle me. She loves playing outside she says she has lots of fun”

It’s been great to watch the children grow in confidence to build their dens and develop their imaginative play outdoors.

Den Making Continues

Den making remains popular in the Nursery garden but the children continue to think of new ways to create their dens as they grow in confidence. Last week some of them wanted to paint the posts different colours and they decided to use planks of wood rather than a tarpaulin to make walls and a roof. As you can see, they are working well together and producing some fantastic results.
Click on the photos to make them bigger.

Den Making

Den making is becoming popular with the children in the Nursery garden. They are showing good problem solving skills and are working well in teams to make their dens.
Here you can see some children from the Rainbow Room who decided to make a house for the three little pigs so that they could hide from the big bad wolf. As you can see, they had to work as a team to make their frame then persevered well to position the tarpaulin to make their den. When a group of children from the Sunshine Room came to play in the den they turned it into a home for the three bears which is the story they have been focussing on in their room last week.
Problem-solving, teamwork and imaginative play were all developed from a tarpaulin and some wooden poles which just goes to show how enterprising and creative our children are. Well done boys and girls!

Garden Fun

Freya’s Mum has commented on one of our recent photos:

“Freya had a great day in the Nursery garden. Freya is really enjoying all aspects of the nursery and looks forward to going each day.”

Everyone seemed to enjoy digging up the vegetables and it was such a lovely sunny day to spend in the garden. It’s great to hear that Freya’s enjoying Nursery. Thank you for taking time to visit our blog and to make a comment.

Carmen Enjoys Gardening

Carmen seems to have enjoyed digging up the vegetables last week. Her Mum commented on her photo:

“Carmen sayed she loved getting her hands dirty”

She certainly does look very busy in the garden.

Hecklegirth Harvest

Last week we lifted the last of our vegetables from the raised beds in the garden. This was the result of a super Family Learning project we did last term. Even although some of the children were not involved at the start of this project, they were still very enthusiastic to see which vegetables they could find in the beds. They worked hard to lift potatoes, courgettes, carrots, onions and beetroot and little groups showed great confidence to take their wheelbarrows to show all the older children in school. Mrs. Alexander was also impressed with their harvest when she met them on their travels round the school.
Well done children for all your hard work and thank you to Eileen, our Family Learning Co-ordinator, for her hard work. Those new to Nursery will be hearing about some of Eileen’s activities later this term and we hope that lots of you will join in with your children.