Hello everyone! Welcome to this weeks blog all about Brilliant Bugs and the Very Hungry Caterpillar. We hope you have all had a lovely week enjoying the sunshine and celebrating Book Bugs birthday. Send us some pictures showing what you have been doing and we will add them to next weeks blog. We miss all of you very much and hope you are all safe and happy at home with your lovely families.
This is usually the time of year Mrs Kay would be inviting children and their carers to attend Peep sessions. These sessions are aimed at transition to Primary 1. This week and next weeks blog will be around transitions. A special transition that happens in nature is when a caterpillar transforms into a butterfly. Caterpillars work very hard to prepare themselves for this transition, just like our nursery children do all year round. They prepare for school with the support of parents, carers and nursery staff.
Mrs Kay has got some little caterpillars to look after. they started of tiny, hopefully you can make them out in the picture.
Over the last 2 weeks they have grown bigger.
They grew bigger and bigger by eating lots of food. They crawled up to the top of the container. They have now made a cocoon around themselves and are waiting to transform. Hopefully by next week the caterpillars will change into beautiful butterflies, lets wait and see!
Twinkl has some fantastic resources that supports children’s learning following the Very Hungry Caterpillar theme. They are offering free access to the resources during lockdown. Visit twinkl.co.uk and search The Very Hungry Caterpillar for lots of great ideas.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is a lovely story about a caterpillars transition to butterfly. Let’s listen to the author talk about the book, he has a great way of explaining why children have enjoyed the book for the last 50 years.
The book can be used to support every area of the curriculum. We will explore some activities that can be done at home. Let’s enjoy the story now.
This week we will focus on Literacy, Art, Drama and Music.
These are some ideas which will support children’s development in literacy. Children learn best through play, wherever possible learning should be fun and child led. These ideas are designed to be a gentle introduction to some of the activities children might expect to do in school.
Literacy ideas
Sand tray writing
Fill a small tray or dish with sand, salt or flour and allow children to make letter shapes or just enjoy making marks in the sand. There is no expectation for children to ‘write’ just to enjoy the experience. Gently shake the tray to clear, ready to start the fun again.
Play dough or plasticine.
Encourage children to use play dough or plasticine to make the letters that form their name. Plasticine is better to use if possible as it encourages strengthening of the finger muscles. This is needed to help when learning to write as strong muscles supports a child’s stamina when working. More information about building the strength of finger muscles and some fun games and activities can be found here https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/more-activities-help-develop-handwriting-skills.html
Playdough Recipe
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon oil.
Mix flour, salt and oil in a bowl, using your hands can be easier and fun!
Add a little water at a time to get the desired consistency.
You can add some food colouring if you would like, we do not add any in nursery so that we do not influence their design process.
Tell your own story
Have a go at being a story teller. You might want to be like Eric Carle and write over 70 books for people to enjoy. Parents can take on the role of authors if children do not want to write. Children can choose to be authors and illustrators if they wish. Older siblings can help too, it can be a fun activity for all the family. Try using some of these ideas and tips when publishing your book:
- Who is the main character? Is it an insect?
- What does the character do? Do they have an adventure, or have a problem they need to work through?
- What other characters are in your story? Do they help the main character, are they kind?
- Try to think of a start, middle and an end.
- Think about your illustrations, they should do a lot of the story telling. Children that cannot read can still enjoy the story by following the pictures.
- Have fun, would you like to read this story yourself?
Share a story
Share some story books together. Do you have any books at home about bugs?
The Very Quiet Cricket is another story from Eric Carle. It’ s a lovely story about a little cricket who hasn’t managed to find his voice yet.
I Love Bugs is written and illustrated by Emma Dodd. It tells of a small boys love of bugs, do you all love bugs as much as he does?
What the Ladybird Heard is a well known book by author Julia Donaldson. This is one of the children’s favourite books in Newport Nursery!
Art ideas
Eric Carle has a very distinctive art style. Why not try and create some images in his style? You could use paints, pens or crayons.
A fantastic way to explore art is by doing some transient art outdoors. You do not need any special equipment, just the materials nature provides. Go into your garden or on a nature walk to the local forest or beach. Collect sticks, stones, fallen leaves and flowers (only if they are from your own garden). Mrs Kay and her family collected sea glass from the beach. Jessica used the sea glass and some leaves and flowers from Mrs kay’s garden to create a beautiful butterfly.
Here are some pieces of art from Andy Goldsworthy who is an artist famous for his use of natural materials.
Art can be found in nature, the hive of a colony of bees, the patterns on a ladybirds wing or the markings on butterflies and moths. Can you find any patterns when you are out and about?
This week saw us celebrate World Bee Day. We celebrate world bee day to highlight the importance of looking after bees. The United Nations have a great section on their website giving lots of information about bees. https://www.un.org/en/observances/bee-day
Here we have a craft idea to make your own bee, send a picture of any of your art creations.
https://www.facebook.com/weeseedlingswithnickibradwell/videos/276337956880626/
https://www.facebook.com/218202244867441/posts/3162278080459828/?d=w
Music ideas
Why not try and make your own musical instruments? Empty containers filled with rice or pasta make great shakers. Pots and pans and wooden spoons make good drums. Old kitchen utensils hung from string make good wind chimes for outdoors.
Listen to the sounds that some well known bugs make. Can you hear bees buzzing or crickets chirping? Listen to some sounds here but go into your garden at different times of the day to see what noises you can hear.
Here is a funny song about some bugs going to a ball. What bug would you like to be? Would you dress up? Maybe you could make some fancy hats or clothes for your bug friends to wear to the ball.
Mrs AC, Mrs Laing, Mrs Kay and Mrs Ross have all sang a bug related nursery rhyme for you to enjoy.
Drama ideas
Sock puppets
You will need:
- Old socks
- Felt tip pens
- Pieces of material
- Googly eyes
- Glue
- Pipe cleaners
Decorate your socks in any way you’d like. You can make worms, caterpillars, spiders, bees or ladybirds.
Masks
Make bug masks using card or paper. Make lots and ask family members to take on the role of their favourite bug. Use old clothes and material to make a costume and put on a play.
Watch a bug themed film
Gather your family, make popcorn and turn the living room into a cinema. Some good bug films are:
A Bugs Life – Disney Pixar rating U
The Ant Bully – Warner Bros. rating U
Bee Movie – Dreamworks rating U
James and the Giant Peach – Disney rating U
Charlotte’s Web – Paramount rating U
Other news
Solihull Approach
Solihull is now available to parents and carers. This is a fantastic resource that is usually delivered to staff to support understanding of peoples emotional and behavioural needs. More information can be found here:
https://www.children1st.org.uk/who-we-are/news/news/children-1st-welcomes-announcement-of-access-to-solihull-online-for-parents-and-carers
Book Bug’s Travels
Mrs Laing has provided a list of all the places Book Bug travelled to. Did you get any correct? Show us some pictures from your recent adventures.
Answers to each picture left to right.
- Lay-by on Newport Road
- Inverdovat
- Newport Library
- Blyth Hall
- Tay Street
- Tayfield Estate
- Under the Tay Bridge
- Newport Bowling Club
- Tay Bridge Carpark, Bridge Access
- Top of the steps on Blyth Street
- Church, Blyth Street
- The Braes, Tay Street
- Tay Bridge Carpark
Sticky Kids workout 5
https://stickykids.podbean.com/e/sticky-kids-workout-5/
Thank you for taking time to read our blog, we hope you are able to try some of the activities at home. Don’t forget to send pictures of your activities and we can add them to future blogs. See you all next week and lets all sing the Goodbye Song before we go.
