Successful Learners – Page 5 – Hecklegirth Nursery

Make Your Own Skittles

Some of you may have skittles at home but, if not, why not try to make your own? It’s a great game for strengthening your muscles, improving your control and developing your hand-eye co-ordination.

All you need are some empty bottles and small balls (or socks).

Add some water to each of the bottles to help them stand up.
Arrange your bottles on the floor.
Roll your socks into balls if you have no balls at home.
Roll the ball towards the skittles and see how many you can knock down.

Think about what would happen if you added more water to the bottles.

What would happen if you moved further away from the skittles?

Why not write some numbers on the bottles then see who can make the biggest number when you add up your scores?

Rhyme Of The Week

This week’s “Rhyme of the Week” is “Hey Diddle Diddle”. Click on the video below to help you learn it with your family.

Refresh our page to watch the video again.

As well as sharing books together, the children could have fun developing their reading skills while out enjoying their daily exercise. There are so many letters, numbers and signs in the world around us so they can keep their eyes peeled for lots of examples.

• What numbers can you find? What number does your house have? Can you find that number on another door?
• Some of the children showed great interest in clocks last term. Are there any clocks outside in Annan?
• What about cars? Can you find your age on a registration plate? Or a letter that is in your name?
• Are there any symbols on road signs or letters on the roads?
• What letter does your name start with? Can you find it on a sign anywhere?
• Do any of the shops in Annan have a logo as well as a name on their sign?

You could take photos of all the letters, numbers and signs that you find when out and about then talk about your findings when you get home. You may well be surprised how many symbols and signs there are in the world around us.

National Numeracy day

Today is National Numeracy Day so why not have a little fun with numbers at home?
Cut 10 small pieces of paper or card from an old box and write numbers 1 to 10 on them. Or try 1 to 20 if your child can recognise them.

Scatter the numbers on the floor or a table and give your child a straw. See if they can use the straw to suck up the numbers in order and line them up to make a 1 to 10 (or 20) number line or ask them to move specific numbers using the straw. If you’ve not got a straw you could try it with a clothes peg?

You could then play a game by asking them to close their eyes while you remove a number from a number line. Can they tell you which number is missing once they open their eyes?

Dave The Dog

For any children who might benefit from a story about what coronavirus means, this story may be helpful. It’s called “Dave The Dog Is Worried About Coronavirus” and features Nurse Dotty explaining it all to Dave.

Click on the link below to see the story.

https://nursedottybooks.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/dave-the-dog-coronavirus-1-1.pdf

Early Reading

A focus on early reading skills has been one of our priorities this year in Nursery. We would like to share a few suggestions to support anyone who feels they would like a little advice when reading to their children.

• Find a comfy place to look at a book together ideally with no other distractions.
• Encourage your child to choose their own book to look at with you. Young children love to hear a familiar story again and again. This helps them to process the story and join in with the storytelling.
• Show your child how much you enjoy reading through your voice and facial expression.
• Talk about who is in the story. Use the clues on the cover of the book to help predict this.
• Talk about what they think may happen next in the story, encouraging them to use the picture clues.
• Use the terms ‘author’, ‘title’ and illustrator’ when starting to read a book. These may seem like sophisticated words for a young child but we use them in Nursery when reading a story and your child may well surprise you by knowing what they mean.
• Talk about where the story is set – is it at the farm, in the woods … ?
• Discuss how the characters might feel.
• Can your child hold the book the right way up with the front facing him/her?
• Can he/she turn the pages one at a time?
• Can he/she identify a picture and text?
• Can he/she read from left to right and top to bottom?
• With support, can he/she retell a familiar story using the pictures in the book as a prompt?
• Create a new ending for your story.
• Act out the story with his/her family, toys or puppets.

As well as books you may have at home, there are a range of websites providing online stories. As a starting point you could try these sites.

https://www.worldbookday.com/

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/Interactive.aspx?cat=39

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/stories

Above all, have fun reading together. There are so many wonderful stories out there waiting for us all.

Sing Along

Mrs. Irving and her son have kindly made us a little video of our “Rhyme of the Week”. We hope that you enjoy singing along with them and remember to do the actions too please. Have fun boys and girls!

What A Busy Girl!

Lola has been very busy while at home during lockdown. Baking has been a big hit and she has been practising her weighing and measuring skills. Lola has been planting some seeds and made her own flower bed. She has been watering her flowers to make sure they grow and stay healthy. Lola has been making pictures to celebrate our wonderful NHS and key workers to display in her window.
As well as being so busy, Lola made a home spa for her and her family to enjoy. “The cucumber was very cooling on my eyes and I loved relaxing”. Lola can’t wait to get back to nursery to see her friends.
I think we are all missing each other Lola. It will be lovely for your friends to see all your hard work here though.
Thank you so much for sending these super photos of all your activities. We love to see what you are all doing at home.

Home Play Pack

Play Scotland are delighted to launch their Home Play Pack to support children and their families. It contains many simple ideas to stimulate children’s imagination, creativity and play time. Many ideas can be led and carried out by children themselves, with very little adult support and some are good fun for all the family.

Click on the link below to see this super free resource. We have also added it to our blog on the right under “Useful Reading” if you would like to return to the play pack in the future. We hope that you have lots of fun.

https://www.playscotland.org/wp-content/uploads/Play-Scotland-Home-Play-Pack-for-Parents-16pp-Web-1.pdf

From Alfie To Grandma

Alfie from the Raindrop Room has sent us a wonderful picture of his work that he has sent to his Grandma. His family said,

“Grandma lives a long way away. So we sent her her very own Alfie. We drew round Alfie which he found very ticklish then Alfie painted himself complete with glasses & crazy hair! Grandma can now wrap Alfie’s arms around her whenever she needs a cuddle.”

They also wrote a lovely poem for his Grandma which you can see attached to his picture. What a thoughtful gift for your Grandma, Alfie. We think that you will have made her very happy indeed. Thank you so much for sharing your super work with us. It’s lovely for everyone to see what you have been doing at home.

Tag: Successful Learners