Good morning! We are so happy to be able to welcome you back to nursery next week (From Monday 22nd February) and to get to know the many new children and families who have joined our nursery in the last few weeks.
The staff team has been quietly preparing for this return and will do so in earnest for the rest of the week. The purpose of the blog in the next few days will be to help you prepare too. We need to work together to ‘rebuild’ our nursery so Lego (or similar) seems like a fitting recurring theme here.
Many of you have connected with us and with friends during our time apart and we have also encouraged experiences which focus on recognising and managing feelings; be reassured that these will both contribute to a positive transition back to nursery for your child.
Despite our overwhelming optimism about your children’s return, here are a few ideas which should help us all manage time apart from family and returning to nursery – environment, people, play, routines and feelings.
You might want to begin by watching our video from August:
Playing with others
- One of the best things about nursery are the many different friends we can play with. Who are you looking forward to playing with next week? What would you like to do together? Why don’t you draw/write a list of the people and games you are going to play? If you share it with us on Teams we will try to have appropriate resources ready to support your choice of play next week. Lego and certain requested books are already on our wishlist…
- When nursery is busy we sometimes need to wait. Waiting is tricky when we are excited or really want to tell someone something. Playing turn-taking games is a great way to practice being patient and to learn to enjoy listening to others and celebrating what they can do. Why don’t you play a game that encourages turn-taking?
- Board game, card game or dominoes
- Outdoor obstacle course or target practice ball game
- Make a (fruit) salad together, taking turns to choose the next ingredient
- Have a living room disco party, taking turns to choose the music
- Play hide and seek, taking turns to hide or seek!
- Build a Lego/Duplo/K’Nex model together. Talk to each other about your plan and ideas. This might have to be adapted as you go!
- Sometimes when we have so many great ideas in our play we forget that others also have interesting things to say or ask. Or maybe we forget that adults can have important instructions to help us join in with play or to be safe. In both these instances we need to try to get better at listening to others. This can be tricky in a busy and noisy nursery but we all have these skills; we just need to practice them sometimes! Here are some ideas:
- Play a barrier game
- Play musical statues
- In nursery we often play ‘Guess the instrument’ . Show a range of instruments or toys (or everyday items that make a distinctive noise) and play with them/talk about the sound they make. Next, hide the items and ask your child to close their eyes. Choose an instrument and make a sound. Have your child try to identify it by listening. Take turns!
- Take a break from using images to help understanding and focus really carefully on what you hear. There are some traditional tales to listen to here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listen-and-play-traditional-tales/zjjkbdm
Or some other listening and movement ideas as well as stories can be found here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/eyfs-listen-and-play-index/zrrvhbk
- Sometimes in nursery we get upset when we want to play with a friend and it doesn’t work out as we had hoped. Can you think of a time when someone said or did something silly or unkind? Usually we can sort our problems by talking to each other. Here’s a reminder of some of the things you might say to join in with play or sort a problem:
- Can I play with you?
- Do you want to play with me?
- Can I please have the pencil / doll / truck?
- Let’s play with it together.
- Thank you.
- Stop! I don’t like that.
- Miss/Mrs X can you help me please?
- Miss/Mrs X I feel …. because…
Do you remember some of the pictures we use to help us say what we mean?
Can you think of other things you might say to let your friends and adults know what you want or how you are feeling?
Daily Routines
- We have all been spending lots of time with our close family members. That is such a special time but it is important for you to be back in nursery playing and learning with your friends. So, in the next few days, you will need to say goodbye to your parents for a few hours and hello to all of the nursery children and adults. Here’s one of our favourite ways to do that:
- Are you an Amazing Apple or Brilliant Banana? Do you remember? The Red, Yellow, Blue and Pink groups are apples and the Orange, Purple, Green and Aqua groups are bananas.
Could you draw some funny apple and banana characters? Maybe today’s snack could be an apple or banana. Do you remember that we play in different spaces and try to use different toilets and sinks? When we go back to nursery we will need to do this for a little bit longer. The apple and banana pictures are there to remind you of where to go but, remember, it’s okay if you forget or get muddled up some time 😊
If you are an Apple you can expect to play with…Mrs Elliott/Mrs Atherton, Mrs Nugent, Miss Buchanan, Miss Gaff, Miss Paterson, Mrs Harris, Mrs McCulloch and Mrs Rafique.
If you are a Banana, the adults you will spend time with are… Mrs Gentile/Mrs Paton, Mrs Miller, Miss Campbell, Mrs McMenemy, Miss Hardie and Mr Chrystal.
The Apples will play on the side of the room with the ‘real’ kitchen and direct access to the Little Garden and the Bananas will play on the ‘board side’ of the room, also with access to part of the Little Garden. Both groups will use other spaces around the school grounds, such as the Secret Garden, and of course plan local area walks, where possible.
- You know we always take care to wash our hands regularly in nursery but especially in recent times. Here are some ideas to think about how and why we wash our hands. Why don’t you make your own handwashing video today? Maybe you could share it with us.
- One of the times we must wash our hands is after we have been to the toilet. Remember that you can use the toilet whenever you need to go but you can always tell and adult and ask for help when you need it. Do you remember some of our toilet rules for feeling safe and healthy? Have I missed anything important?
- We don’t play or take toys into the toilet.
- There should only be one person in the toilet at a time. If someone tries to come in say “Stop! I don’t like that” or call for an adult’s help.
- Close the door but don’t lock it.
- Try to take only the toilet paper you need.
- Flush.
- Pull up your pants/trousers/leggings before you leave the toilet.
- Wash your hands with soap and water.
- Dry them with one paper towel.
- Put the paper towel in the bin.
- Go back to play!
Remember that the toilet is one of our private spaces where we should be alone and feel safe. Trusted adults might come to help if you need it but no one else should. Remember – we shouldn’t be sharing our pants!
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0OzNjpbx7gIVjpftCh3nHwI-EAAYASAAEgKG9fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
We hope this helps you remember a little of nursery relationships, routines and expectations. Tomorrow we will focus on feelings and final practical preparations for return.
