We have Butterflies 🦋

Our butterflies have emerged. The children were extremely excited to arrive on Monday morning and find 7 beautiful healthy butterflies.

Release day

We were very lucky to have had the opportunity to grow and care for 7 beautiful. All 7 butterflies were strong enough to be released. We took them to the school playground where there are lots of trees, bushes and flowers.

 

 

 

 

School visits

Football fun: exploring the school’s astroturf.

The chestnut room children are so lucky to have weekly access to the football pitch within the school grounds.

Cloud watching

Some of the children relaxed on the warm turf watching the clouds go by. There was chat about how fast the clouds move and the crazy shapes you can see. “I see a shark shape” “that looks like a N”

Walking around the school

We saw the office and Mark the janitor showed us where his office is.

10 boys and girls were so lucky to be invited inside Mrs Khalid’s classroom while on a walk around the primary school.

The primary one children showed off their backpacks and water bottles. Mrs Khalid gave every child a cool monster sticker

“I want to stay here”

Invitations to play

Invitations to play.

“Lemon hiding”

”Do you want a cup of tea….it’s lemon tea”

Pouring water into cups and using tongs to pick up lemon slices and tea bags develops hand to eye coordination and builds hand/arm strength.

Challenge of the day

How many small buttons can you pick up and transfer to the plate using a clothes peg?

The children are developing fine motor skills during small intricate activities which strengthen their pincer grip and in turn give more control drawing and writing while holding pens and pencils.

Loose part exploration 

Reciting nursery rhymes on stage

Chilling with a story

 

 

Busy learners: school, cakes and caterpillars

Getting ready for school 

The boys and girls are so excited to try on their future school uniform. We had a fashion show. Don’t they look so grown up?

Visiting the school

Some of the children had the opportunity to walk around the school and find out where their classes are, where they would have lunch, go to the toilet and play in the gym hall.

Mark the janitor spoke to us about the gym hall and playground.

One of the primary boys showed us where the toilets were. He was very kind.

We set up a pretend school outside

 

We wrote letters from the alphabet.

We practiced writing and recognising numbers.

Some explored the days of the week.

There were lots of excited pupils in school.

Baking a “big cake”

 <This is our recipe


Licking the spoon was the best part.

All the children were amazed at how pretty their cakes looked when finished. At snack we all got to taste the yummy cakes.

Lots of problem solving and team work took place putting together the new emotion jigsaws.



Caterpillar update

The caterpillars are now tucked into their chrysalis and we are patiently waiting on them coming out. There have been lots of questions about what colour the butterflies might be? And how big they will grow?

 

Bugs, books and boogies

Bug display

The children’s creative juices flowed while painting caterpillars using a cup as a stamper. They had the freedom to choose the colours and sequence of their chosen insect.

Our finished masterpieces are displayed proudly in the playroom.

Days of the week

Catriona introduced the children to a new and simple song to help the children learn the sequence of the days of the week. The song proved popular and catchy.  Some of the children made a days of the week wheel that they can access in their scrapbooks. They can spin the wheel to determine today, yesterday and tomorrow.

Motivational moves on a Monday

“Jump start Jonny” proved popular among our younger children. They were able to follow the on screen movements and freestyle a little on their own.

Is it the weekend yet??? “Just chillin”

Small parts were a big hit for creating transient art.

A civilised game of pairs

Hunting for letters in our name.

Sensory play writing letters

Short week but just as busy

Our new residents are proving popular 

Some of our budding artists got to work drawing the baby caterpillars. They proved to be good live models. Some children chose to draw what the caterpillars might look like when they change into butterflies.

“I did lots of legs and the spikey bits”

“I did a butterfly in the sky”

Finger painting bug jars

The sensory experience of cold paint on a hot day proved very popular. Our little bug jars were filled with “ladybugs” “Caterpillars” “beetles” “spiders” and various fruit and veg for them to snack on.

Play-dough caterpillars

Letter recognition

Matching letters from the alphabet.

Days of the week

The children practiced reciting the days of the week through song and enjoying the opportunity to place each day in sequence.

Capturing memories using technology

Nothing beats a selfie.

Its a hard life being a model.

There was even time to show off new skills.

“Look at me. take a photo”

Jumping into a new week

Capturing high jumps on camera

Some of the children asked to be photographed while jumping from the logs.

On inspection of their motion photos the children were amazed by their jumping shadow.

Making new friends

This week saw the beginning of the outdoor merging of cohorts. All of the Chestnut children seemed excited to explore more of the outdoor space and also build new relationships or in some cases spend quality time with younger siblings.


Teamwork makes the dream work

Carrying on with their outdoor performances and stage shows the children made musical instruments using recycled materials.

Sunshine means sunflower time🌻 

Independent seed planting was a big hit.

Can’t end the week without more bug hunts. The children had the opportunity to mark off any insect they found from their checklist.

“I got two of them” 🪳🪲🐞🐜🕷

There was abit of in house cheating going on. Some children noticed a butterfly tattoo on Laura’s arm so checked it off their list 🦋

There was “bumble bee houses”

And the expansion of “bug city”

Bug hunting, painting, glueing and performing

Set designs and stage preparations underway

The show must go on

Glue station was a hit

Colour mixing 

The children were fascinated by the new colours they could make with only red, yellow and blue paint.

Hopping practice

Bug hunters were busy this week

“I need one more bug”

Slug races were popular

There was fantastic bravery

 

Easter EGGstravaganza

Easter themed crafts  

The week began with Egg designing, edible nest building and pattern painting with potatoes and potato mashers.

Mid week activities included sensory play with flour, sugar, gloop and play dough.

Getting messy can be so much fun.

Tongs and spoons offered the children various ways to scoop, find and collect tiny coloured eggs.

Easter Bonnet Parade

 

Egg hunts galore

The children took part in a fun and fast paced Easter egg hunt in the garden. Inside each egg found was a small challenge; from giving a high five or hug to a friend to star jumps and dance moves.

We are very very lucky to receive an chocolate egg for each child donated by Tesco.

Feeding customers and feathered friends

Alfresco dining

“You want ice-cream???”

“What would you like?. We have pizza and salads”

Orders were taken from a wide selection of mains, desserts and beverages.

Teamwork in the kitchen to produce scrumptious meals. “I whisk it and you mix it”

The patisserie chefs were hard at work making cupcakes to sell using recycled lids as cupcake cases filled to the top with fluffy sand.

Feeding our feathered friends before Jack Frost visits again

The children were keen to hang the finished feeders all around the Estate where birds and squirrels could enjoy a treat.

We sat quietly waiting on any little visitors that came down to eat. A little squirrel almost came down for a nibble but ran back up because we were too noisy.

On return to the nursery garden the binoculars became very popular.

Pretty potions 

“Look I made orange”

The children were in deep concentration. Potion mixing is a serious business.

Some of the children found genius ways to mix their coloured potions.

Overnight Jack Frost arrived turning the potions into ice.

 

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