This week in our discovery area we have been focusing on our positional and directional language. We have been following a theme from ‘We are Going on a Bear Hunt’ book. The children have been creating their own maps and then bringing them to life on our real life coordinate grid.

“I’ve got my map we go up, across and back 2 times” JW

“We go down and then up and then this way” FMc

“Were going round the spider wed then down to the forest then up again” ZB

“Across to there and up to the airport and then to the fishes and you go across” SD

“You go this way and it goes down and then back up here then back down” ZG

“You go there and there and there and up and down and left and right then the bears in the tunnel” KN

“That’s the nursery, we go through the very long grass then up the hill then through the very deep blue river. Then through the squelchy mud then into the big dark dark dark cave then we go in. Then we see a big nose, 2 eyes, a smile and 2 legs. It’s a bear! That’s the story of the bear hunt” CS

“I need to do the numbers first. First we need to go past the grass and past the storm. Then the deep cave, there’s a bear in it then up and up a bit and then across at the explosion from the tornado. Then up and across to find the bear” JW

“Can I follow my own map”

“I need blue for the river. Is this how you do an arrow?. Down then a loop the loop then we stop at the arrow. We have to go back then stop at the river then go across the bridge” B

We have also been exploring with our digital technology cars (sphero cars) and using our problem solving skills to get from ‘A’ to ‘B’. The children have been exploring with the mats which make the cars go in different directions and have been using both directional and positional language alongside this.

“It went forwards! (to the bakery)” – JW

“Two green just make it go forward” – JW

“Forward then left” – RG

“Straight and then right” – SW

“I’m going here and then straight, straight, straight” – JW

“Green means go!” – SBW

“Red means stop” – RL

This week in the creative area we have been going on a bear hunt. The children have been retelling the story, while creating their works of art. Some of the materials used were grass, sticks, mud, cotton wool, blue water using pipettes and charcoal crayons. 

EB – “I put the mud on before the forest. I forgot about the cave and the snowstorm”

NF – “They’re running away through the grass. The pool comes next and then the forest and snowstorm” 

FMcG – I got sea on the bear. I think I’ve got too much grass. What else do I need? Oh, I forgot the snowstorm” 

AF – “Do you want to come on a bear hunt with me? I need some wavy grass and water” 

BF – “Squelch, squirch” 

In our outdoor area this week the children have been leaf painting. Leaf painting can help with fine motor skills and hand eye coordination. It also helps foster children’s creativity and self expression. The children have been exploring natures colours, textures and shapes.

This week the children have been filling up their socks with sand and then attached them to the washing line using pegs. We noticed how some socks were heavier than others and we discussed how the volume of sand affected the weight. The children used the language of full, empty and some.

We then introduced the numicon and the children identified that the pieces with more holes would be heavier. We estimated which pieces would be heavier and lighter, and tested it out using a coat hanger to see which way it moved. The children could discuss how we know which is lighter or heavier and we worked on identifying higher or lower numbers. Some pre-school children also joined the pieces together as we explored how to add two groups together to make both sides of the scale equal.

This week in the sewing area, the children have been exploring wool to make pom poms!  The children have been winding wool. Winding wool and performing other early years sewing activities help to build fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and finger dexterity, which are vital for writing and other tasks!

We have also been exploring Halloween and making spooky wool ghosts!