The children have been learning about Robert Burns and why it is celebrated in Scotland. We discussed the types of celebrations people may have, listened to some Scottish music and read some poetry written by Burns.

The learning has been extended into the malleable area and home corner where we have made playdough haggis, neeps and tatties while listening to ‘Address to a Haggis’. The children really enjoyed hosting their own Burns supper in the home corner. 

“You need to prepare the tatties for the supper” -ER

“Where does a haggis come from, does it come from Scotland” AC

“Oooh Irn Bru, now that is yummy” EK

The children have been looking at a map of Scotland and were keen to find some landmarks and try to write the names of these cities through mark making. They shared their own experiences of their trips and journeys to these places with their peers and enjoyed spotting the transport symbols of planes and boats on the map.

AM “The football is in Aberdeen”.

JL “ We live in Glasgow”.

AM “There is a castle in Edinburgh, it’s where the kings live”.

They extended their  learning by looking at different countries in the atlas and then created their flags.

“I’ve been to Lanzarote, it’s warm but windy on the beach”. MM

“It took a  long time on a plane to get to Tenerife”. QF

At the sewing table this week the children have been busy creating their own tartan designs. We discussed how there are different types of tartan with lots of colours and patterns, and where we have seen these before.

Using the pencils we chose our own colours and drew our designs, sharing our creative choices with others. The children then brought their drawings to life when sewing their patterns using the ribbons. Some children even decided to add additional materials, such as buttons and lace. There was lots of learning within literacy and numeracy as we practised mark making for a purpose, discussed shapes and patterns, and worked out what length we needed to cut the ribbons. 

“this one goes this way” – IM

“I want to use pink” – AD

“I’m going to give mine to my dad” – ZB

“Miss Shannon, I’ve got pyjamas like that” – ES

“that’s like a Scotland sign” – NM

“at school sometimes the tie is tartan, my sister has one” – RA

The children have continued to develop their awareness of money by exploring the many different ways in which money can be used. During a range of experiences the children have been sorting a range of different coins whilst exploring the different shapes and colours. They have then used these coins in their play to take on different roles including the shopkeeper and customer.

There have been many opportunities to develop mark making throughout the course of the week in all areas and we have been delighted to see so many children recording their ideas in a functional way in their play.

To develop responsibility, the children have been out on a litter pick around the nursery to look after our environment.

Have a lovely weekend and we look forward to welcoming back all of our children next week.