I wonder if anyone is in need of a new hairstyle in preparation for the festive season? We have a great team of hairdressers who are very busy in Nursery if you would like to stay to play and experience a new style created by them. As you can see, they have been on the phone booking in appointments and trying out a range of equipment as part of their role play. I wonder if we have any hairdressers of the future here?
After discussion with the children, our role play area is being transformed from a Chinese restaurant to a shop. They are keen to have a clothes shop where they can experiment with lots of different outfits and we would appreciate your help if you have any unwanted items you could add to our shops.
We are looking for ties, sunglasses, shoes (adult or child), wigs, hats, jewellery … anything you think the children would enjoy trying out in their clothes shop. As you can see, the shop was popular when we set it up on Friday but it would be great if anyone could add to our stock.
The Rainbow Room voted recently to have a vet’s surgery in their role play area and it has seen lots of imaginative play in the past week. There was great excitement on Friday afternoon when, instead of our fluffy dogs, cats and hamsters, a real lamb visited us in Nursery.
Simon and his family have been looking after little Polly the lamb at home and his Mum kindly brought her in to see us. Although just six days old, Polly was not shy and seemed to enjoy all the attention in the Nursery garden. Everyone was able to stroke her and some even fed her from her bottle which was very exciting. Thank you to Simon’s Mum and Polly the lamb from all the afternoon boys and girls.
The Chinese restaurant is now very popular and some are getting right in the spirit of it. It’s lovely to hear the children being so polite to their customers as they take their orders and some of the dishes on offer have sounded very interesting. There have been lots of writing opportunities as the children write down what their customers want. The till is always a popular addition in the role play area and our restaurant till helps to develop the children’s learning about money. We thought these photos of life in the restaurant were too good not to be shared. 
Last week’s story of the nativity has made an impression on the children. As you can see, some of them have been recreating the story through role play and some are able to talk about it. Some of their ideas may not all be exactly how we told the story but you can see that they have understood much of the detail.
Brogan: baby Jesus slept in the hay. A queen came to see him.
Archie: well what happened was this … they couldn’t find a hotel so they had to go to a farm. A king came to see him.
Ava V.: there were wise old kings in the story.
Bethany: Jesus had a manger not a cot. Mary is his Mummy.
Sophie S.: Joseph was the Daddy. Mary was the Mum.
Zachary: Jesus was in the story and three wise men.
Riley: Jesus got born in the hay.
Freya: Jesus’ Mummy was Mary.
Simon: baby Jesus never found anywhere to sleep. He had to sleep in the hay.
Jayden: he slept in the hay ’cause there was no beds for him.
Amy-Leigh: baby Jesus was born on his birthday.
Our much visited flower shop has now become a hairdresser’s salon and it’s a very busy little place. Miss Boyd and Mrs. Kirkpatrick have both had “the full works” this week and came out of the experience with wonderful hairstyles, crafted by our budding young stylists. Parents and family members are welcome to come in for a visit to join in the fun: just put your name on the “Come and Play” grid in the cloakroom, as always. We can guarantee you will leave “Hecklegirth Hairdresser’s” feeling like a million dollars as the children will continually tell you how fantastic you look.
With the arrival of Chinese New Year, the sounds of “Gung Hay Fat Choy” (“Happy New Year”) have been heard round Nursery as we learn about the traditions, celebrations and story of this special time for Chinese people. Our Chinese feast consisted of noodles, rice, prawn crackers and various sauces for dipping. Great fun was had by all, trying to use chopsticks – who would have thought that snack could be such fun?
Our own Chinese restaurant in the role play area has been very popular and dancing to Chinese music has provided a wonderful calm among the excitement. Some of the children’s ideas about life in China have been delightful: there may not be “purple houses made from butterflies, sparkles and stars with fairies at the bottom” in China, as one child suggested, but what an imaginative picture she painted.
“Gung Hay Fat Choy” to families and friends from all the children and staff at Hecklegirth Nursery.
