This month we have been exploring the woodwork bench. We have been discussing how to keep ourselves and our friends safe. We used safety goggles to protect our eyes and held the tools correctly to keep our hands safe.

Firstly we made our designs on the piece of wood, using lots of different colours.

Then we hammered nails into the piece of wood.

“It’s very noisy”

And lastly we stretched elastic bands over the nails to add more colour and detail to our design. We had to use our strong finger and hand muscles to stretch the bands.

” Look! I made a triangle”

Also in the construction area we have been busy constructing with other materials. We used gutters and stands to make a ramp for the cars and we also rolled balls down. We discovered that the balls went down the ramp a lot faster than the cars.

“Look Mrs Sloan”

It’s also that time of year again when lots of our friends get ready to move on to school.  The boys and girls have been visiting their schools and some of the teachers have been to visit the nursery. It is such an exciting time to find out what class they will be in and who their teacher for primary 1 will be.

We have also been practising for our moving on celebration and we know our grown ups are going to really enjoy our performance. Our nursery teachers are all so proud of us, as we have worked really hard to learn all the words to the songs and perfect our dance moves, it’s going to be such an exciting day!

I would just like to say a massive thank you to all the boys and girls in the red group for such a lovely year. I hope you all have an amazing summer and I look forward to hearing about all your exciting adventures when we return to nursery in August.

To my big school boys, it has been a joy to have you in my red group and I’m going to miss you lots. I wish you both an amazing time in primary 1, I know you are going to love the exciting adventures ahead.

Love from Mrs Sloan xx

 

 

May has been a very busy month in our nursery. It’s been lovely seeing all the children engaged in experiences and developing new skills and knowledge together.

Sports Week

We had a fabulous sports week, learning lots of new skills, working together in teams and having lots of fun……..

On Monday we had our first outdoor sports event, taking part in races and potted sports.

On Tuesday we went to the school playground with our bikes and scooters. Mr Fleming had set up a course for us to follow…..

On Wednesday Mrs McCluskey gave us a dance class, where we moved our bodies to music and learnt a dance routine.

On Thursday we had our second day of races and potted sports….unfortunately the weather was very wet today, so we had our fun in the lunch hall…….

Well done everyone….what a successful sports week!!

Miss Ramsay has been planting sunflower seeds and french beans with us. We have been discussing what seeds need to grow and how we can care for them.

It has been a very quick month having 2 weeks off for the Easter Holiday. It was really lovely to share with each other what we did when the nursery was closed. The children are really good at taking turns to share their stories and listen to each other.

At group time we have been playing the memory game. We gathered objects from around the playroom and hid them under a sheet. We then took it in turns to take one object away and our friends guessed what was missing. We had to cover our eyes with no peeking….which was quite tricky!

When in the gym hall recently we have been getting ready for our up coming sports week.

 

Whilst exploring outdoors we have been developing our understanding of risk and how to keep ourselves and others safe. During risky play we also develop our large motors skills by climbing, jumping, balancing and cycling.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

We have been enjoying having our snack outside.

     

We explore mark making using a variety of media, using the chalk on the ground is a great way to make some really big designs. Also in the art area developing our fine motor skills, using scissors to cut out our creations.

 

 

 

 

We really enjoy our sessions in the gym hall with Mr Fleming, developing our gross motor skills. Climbing, balancing, jumping and running  all help us to develop our core body muscles.

As we practise these skills we grow in confidence, forming a sense of physical, mental and emotional well being.

We have been playing Banana Tig and What’s The Time Mr Wolf.

 

 

We had a visit from the local Refuse Collectors and their bin lorry. We were very excited to see how the bin lorry collected the bins and emptied the rubbish.

We gave a helping hand by sorting the rubbish into paper, plastics and general waste…such as crisp packets.

By developing an awareness of how to help our environment  through recycling we are learning to  become responsible citizens.

February seems to have come and gone in a flash! The red group has been very busy exploring the nursery environment.

This month the children have been introduced to some ‘Froebelian Occupations’ which have been developing their fine motor skills, concentration and creativity.

Paper Pricking – we experimented with cocktail sticks in the playdough and adding paper to make our own designs.

Slat work – The children have been very creative and have shown great imagination with the wooden slats creating their own designs.

 

We have been baking shortbread with Mrs Sloan, developing our fine motor skills and learning about all the different ingredients we use to make some delicious sweet treats.

Our first job was to measure out all the ingredients….we used sugar, flour and butter.

Then we used our hands to mix the ingredients together, it was very sticky!

Then once the mixture formed a dough we rolled it and flattened it and used different shape cutter to make our shortbread.

Finally we put it in the oven to cook. The smell from the kitchen was delicious. We took our shortbread home to enjoy!

 

 

 

Happy New Year, hope you all had a great Christmas. It was so nice to welcome everyone back to nursery after the Christmas break, the children had lots of exciting news to tell the adults and their friends of how they spent their Christmas and all the lovely gifts they had received.

The children had so much fun during role play at Cross Arthurlie’s  Hairdressers.  They took turns doing  each other’s hair. Mr Fleming  also enjoyed his experience getting his hair done.

By taking part in role play the children develop their communication and social skills. They act out and make sense of real-life situations and explore new experiences.

 

 

“My mummy is a hairdresser!”

At snack time we have been developing our skills for life, by washing our dishes when we have finished eating.  This give us a sense of responsibility as we work together as a team… keeping our nursery safe and clean.

 

Christmas has been in full swing in nursery, practising  and recording our nativity for all our families to see….we really hope you enjoyed watching us in action!

We also had our Christmas market where we showcased our creations we have been so busy making and designing.  We enjoyed decorating some Christmas bags, showing our family round the nursery garden and even had a wee hot chocolate to keep us cosy outside.

   

Working really hard on our number recognition and counting. Keep up the good work!

This month the red group have been exploring the great outdoors.

We have been exploring numbers and found objects from around our garden to represent the quantities of each number from 0-10.

 

We have also been using number stones for number recognition and by using a number line we are able to put them in order from 0-10. By counting the spots on each stone we learn to recognise each number.

Some of our new friends have been developing their independence skills by putting on their own suits and boots for outdoor learning….Great job!!!

Building new friendships has been a big part of our nursery life this term and the teachers love to see everyone having fun. Many of our pre-school boys and girls have been supporting their new friends throughout the nursery day.

Have a look to see what the children have been up too in nursery so far this term.  As they have been settling back into nursery and getting to know new friends  there has been a huge amount of learning going on as well as lots of fun and laughter.

Getting Creative

When making something in the arts and crafts area the children are making choices about the materials they want to use, developing fine motor skills and problem solving when it doesn’t look as they had imagined.

 

Cooking and Snack

 

It has been a really lovely addition to the nursery this year. Whilst still keeping to our COVID guidelines, we have been able to introduce the children to baking and cooking, helping them develop important skills such as knife control, mixing and measuring.

Outdoor Play

Sliding together and making friends.

Helping to plant the spring bulbs ready for next year. Fingers crossed the make an appearance.

Construction 

 

Using our imagination we can create models and bring our designs to life. It also helps with our communication skills, working together with friends to decide on a creation.

 

   

   

Literacy 

Stories can be enjoyed anywhere.

When playing games the children are learning to communicate, take turns and listen to the rules of a game.

Music 

Listening to the pitch and tone of music in our cloud room, the children have really enjoyed learning skills to become a musician.

 

Playing games helps to learn about turn taking, following instructions and listening to our peers.

 

Happy Halloween 

It has been a busy few weeks settling back into nursery. The children have been reuniting with old friends and getting to know new faces.

The children have been exploring both inside and outside nursery learning spaces.

Using loose parts to create pictures and patterns.

   Lots of fun making potions in the mud kitchen.     

Helping to make snack for the other children in the nursery and learning about healthy food has been really popular.

In the construction area the children use their imagination to build a variety of models.

Retelling the story of the 3 little pigs was lots of fun in the construction area.                   

Water play is always a hit in the nursery garden especially as we have had some great weather so far.

We understand that seeing the nursery space without the children is not the same as seeing your child playing and learning. We are working to get all permissions updated through the parent portal and as soon as we can we will share all that has been going on through twitter and our blogs. It is important that we keep in line with the GDPR guidelines before sharing photographs of children.