This week in the 2’s we have had lots of fun exploring the outdoors while at the woods.

we have been exploring gloop in the sensory trays and loved feeling the texture while playing in it.

We have been making amazing pictures with paint sticks this week. Some of the children are starting to describe what they are drawing and tell an adult about it.

The children have continued to enjoy the sunshine in the outdoors area this week. They have been responsibly looking after the plants by watering them with the hose; running around pretending to be monsters and getting really messy with sensory activities.

We have had a great day celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee. The children had lunch outside and had lots of fun at their garden party. We had the music on, we danced, we had the pom poms out and we had a great day.

The children enjoyed baking some cupcakes which they had for their snack to help celebrate the Queens Jubilee. The children learned the importance of hygiene when baking. The children also used their numeracy skills to help weigh out the ingredients.

We have loved playing in the garden this week. The children particularly like the mud kitchen because they like to use their imaginations to mix and create different things using the equipment.

We have been busy mixing and combining messy materials together. We had the opportunity to choose a selection of ingredients that we wanted to use and had fun making a big mess.

We have been exploring jelly play with our senses. Most of the children used a selection of tools to scoop up the jelly and fill the cups with them. Some  descriptive words were used through out play  “The jelly smells like strawberries“ -Karys  “The jelly smells nice”-Summer

This week in the ECC the children have been talking lots about places they like to go and holidays, so we all worked together to create a seaside role play area, with an ice cream stall, sandy beach, and summer dressing up clothes and accessories.

We all enjoyed working together to make an large messy painting using cling film, the children watched as the colours changed when mixing them together.

We have also been developing our independence skills by serving and selecting our own snack  while learning to make our own choices.

This week the children have been engaging in lots and lots of messy play. They have been exploring gloop (cornflour + water). K noted it was “sticky” and E thought it was “cold.” Messy play is a great way to role model a range of descriptive words which will extend your child’s vocabulary.

The children were also exploring the properties of different “wet” and “dry” materials by mixing them together. They used porridge oats, dry peas, chocolate powder, water, shaving foam and er gels. This was another opportunity to extend vocabulary with E describing her mixture as “shiney”. This activity is also great for strengthening coordination and fine motor skills with the mixing and the use of spoons moving the ingredients from bowl to bowl.

The children also painted with their fingers and sponge tools. Painting with fingers is an important way to show children that they can mark make and convey information without tradition tools, i.e pens, pencils and crayons.

This week we helped plant seeds for fruit plants and vegetables . The children have enjoyed planting some sunflower seeds, some strawberries and some peas. We will care for these over the coming months and see what grows.
Watch this space…….. 🌻🍓

While playing with the farm set, the children were naming the various animals and the sounds they make. This led to the discussion of where some foods come from which promoted us to create a farm shop in the role play area so the children can buy foods, use their numeracy skills to manage the cash register and develop their social skills by role playing and sharing the resources. 🐄 🐖 🦆

The children have also been experimenting this week. The children have been creating their own raining clouds using shaving foam, water and food colouring. We spoke about our clouds in the sky and when they get too full they burst as well which makes it rain.  The children have been using new tools called pipettes to drip their rain drops into their shaving foam clouds. The children have loved being little scientists this week👩‍🔬👨‍🔬

The children has settled back into the playroom after their Easter break. We have been making the most of the weather by spending even more time outside in the garden. The children have been engaging in water play, mark making, sand play and lots of other activities in our outdoor area.

The children have been exploring paint this week also. The have been painting pictures with a paint brush and encouraged to tell an adult what it is. This is developing their awareness that mark making, drawing and, eventually, writing can convey information. The children also explored the paint using cardboard reels. They used the reels either by printing with the circular side or by rolling it on the paper.

“Me paint all day.” – L

”I paint!”  – K

This week in the willow room we have been exploring Easter through a range of activities. We have been hunting for eggs left for us by the Easter Bunny in the garden. We have been making Easter picture with collage materials and exploring textures with Easter themed sensory trays

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The children also took part in an Easter Bonnet Parade where they were asked to create Easter themed hats at home and bring them in. They were so excited to show the ladies their creations.