This week has been a very busy one, our new pm children are settling in and finding their comfortable place within the setting. This may take longer for some than others and we will support them all individually.
We have been finishing off our literacy focus with some drama. This was mainly focused around “Goldilocks and the 3 bears”and “We are going on a bear hunt” Some of the children participated really well in these experiences, some preferred to watch and play rather than speak the parts. Staff were really pleased with the contribution that all children made. We have a fair few drama students in the making!

The children have also participated in some Mark Making and early writing experiences through powder paint mixing and mark making on the wallpaper. This was very popular with the children who enjoyed the science of mixing up the powder into paint and then exploring this with their hands and fingers. Some were writing letters and names in this.

Making our own book of Goldilocks was fun. We each did a page and then put the book together and read it to our friends. We talked about the Author, Illustrator and story.

Some of the Oak children have been participating in a variety of activities such as; Making a wall display of the bear hunt, going on a bear hunt adventure, they were also introduced to a variety of  describing words: Swishy squashy, thick oozy mud, long wavy grass. The children were role playing the characters from the story. They also drew and painted their favourite scene of the book.

Reading with puppets🦊🐍🦉🐭

The Gruffalo story sack was a great experience for the children to recite their puppets lines from the book. The children developed their turn taking skills waiting for their opportunities to talk and when to listen. This encouraged good language from the children to predict what might happen next, recite what happened previously and reflecting on what they liked/disliked📚

The smartest giant in town🧦👞👔🩲

We used shredded paper in the tuff tray and the children had all the clothing from the book to stuff/fill etc. We read to story together which 15/17 children all voted a thumbs up for enjoying it. A few children recognised that some of the words rhymed, such as dog/bog, house/mouse, socks/fox and town/gown/crown👑🥼🏘️.

Exploring snow🥶🌨️⛄️

The children were so excited to have snow and luckily this morning the nursery garden didn’t have much sun so there was plenty of snow still lying around. The children had snowball fights with each other as well as staff and some of the children found some fox prints from the smartest giant in town story and where they thought the fox might live🦊.

WORLD BOOK WEEK📚

This week it has been all about books, reading and talking about our learning. The children have had lots and lots of visitors throughout the centre from home to read stories to us. We had parents, grandparents, siblings and we even had a translator in too to read a book in polish👍🏽
The pre-school children went a visit to the school to listen to a story from a primary 1 teacher along with her class.

WORLD BOOK DAY📚

This year we decided to do a pyjama day this year. This was the cosiest day for both children and staff and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Everyone should have been given their book tokens – if you haven’t received one please ask a staff member on the door.

Today the children went to the astroturf for a run around before lunch. The children enjoyed playing some movement games and even played some football as well which is great for their physical health and well-being.

The children were learning to thread some cheerios which is great for their fine motor skills. We also played schematically by filling and emptying the pots, bowls and cups.

We have enjoyed playing in the garden this week. We have done lots from climbing to exploring some forces like rolling and sliding. The children have enjoyed using their gross motor skills.

Due to the centre being quieter on Monday we went a walk to the park altogether. We were exploring the different climbing frames, slides, spinning seats and the favourite was the swings. This encouraged the children gross motor skills especially on the wobbly bridge with support from an adult.

The children were exploring 2D and 3D shapes this month within the room planning. The children use various shapes to create houses, cones, towers and even scorpions.

Exploring the construction area, the children were role playing working on a building site. They used cones and tape to cordon off the area as unsafe while the building work was in place. They worked cooperatively together taking turns of tools and various roles when working on the site encouraging lots language and communication.

This week we had stay and play session with our parents, this allowed the parents and children to share an hour together in the nursery setting the engage in different activities that the children do throughout their time in the centre👩‍👧👩‍👧👨‍👨‍👧‍👧👩‍👧‍👦👨‍👦‍👦

Throughout this month we have been focusing on shapes. What can we see around us? What can we use these for? The children have been collecting items of different shapes stating what shape they are and what we use them for. The children found items throughout the garden to use to create an obstacle course

The children were creating a human body listing all the body parts and e en dressed them using the appropriate clothing👚👖🧦🥾

Using the gym hall we had a disco. We had the LED lights on and music to sing and dance to. The children noticed that their shadows were different to usual ones. The said they would see more than one and that they were different colours 🔴🔵🟢🟣

What a busy week in the Oak room!

The children in the room have been developing their knowledge of shapes. They have been creating people, a house and the sun by using the shapes. We are also developing to explore new shapes around our environment and outdoors.

Some of the afternoon children were putting the cakes in order from 1-10.

We have also been using our concentration and listening skills whilst doing a listening activity.

Have a lovely weekend 😁

As part of our planning this week, one of the things we have been working on is shape recognition. To observe this, we went outside for a shape hunt to see what shapes we could find in the garden. many of the children participated in this, pointing out all the tyres as circles and locating squares, triangles and rectangles that they could see.

During the week we participated in some art activities using different shapes. The children showed enthusiasm with this, adding in different objects to paint with, telling us what shapes they had and showing creativity in them.

Another of our learning targets, is to identify the different parts of our bodies. So far we have done this through games such as Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, Simon Says and through drawing around one of the children. We then discussed all the different parts of our body, from our head to our toes and talked about what each part does and how they help Us.

Welcome back to all children who have returned after the Christmas break and welcome to our new starts. The children have settled back very well, and have been eager to explore the playroom alongside their new and existing friends.
We have observed lots of different experiences this week, from painting and craft to den building which was the idea of several PM children, although the morning group enjoyed this as well.

The children have been working well together and getting to know each other, helping and assisting where required. We have been cooking in the kitchen, washing and transferring the potatoes and learning about pattern on the board.

Moving forward we will have a planning focus on keeping ourselves safe, discussing shapes around us and understanding when to talk and when to listen, ensuring we wait our turn when another child or adult is telling us something.

As this is our last week in the ECC we have been very engaged in Christmas experiences and had our Christmas parties with a visit from Santa and The Grinch! Not everyone was a fan of the grinch.

We have had fun climbing and balancing in the gym hall, exploring various materials for Christmas crafts and sensory trays and generally having lots of Christmas fun.
The children are now all ready for their well deserved holiday break and the staff wish you all a very Merry Christmas and hope you have lots of fun memories to share when we return in January. 🎅🏻😊👍🏽