Oakburn Early years centre

This week in the fine motor area the children have been exploring the story book ‘How to catch a star’ by Oliver Jeffers. Through different mark making and fine motor activities the children explored different ways of catching stars.

Outdoors

In the garden this week the children have been using their fine motor skills to break up the ice and find toys hidden underneath. we’ve been using hammers to set them free and our goggles to protect our eyes.

Construction

This week in the construction area the children have been busy building with lego, magnets and wooden blocks. We have been focusing on 2d shapes. The children have identified squares, rectangles, triangles and circles and have been exploring pentagons and hexagons. Some children matched the shapes, some drew shapes and together we explored the differences the shapes had. The children were able to look at the wooden blocks and identify squares, circles and rectangles.

Acorn Room

We made snowmen using playdough, developing our fine motor skills, learning the concept of big/small and identifying colours. The children used their hands to roll playdough into ball shapes then using their hands to flatten the dough down before adding buttons, carrot noses & spaghetti arms.

Courtyard – cosy corner

In the cosy corner of the courtyard the children were reading “ Katie’s Ferm” where they helped Katie find the cat on the farm.  They were developing their language and role play skills when playing with the animals creating their own adventures on the farm . Some of the children then counted out the correct number of animals for each square from 1-10. This was developing their 1-1 correspondence and number recognition skills, a few of the children were able to add numbers together to find the correct answer.

Courtyard

We have been making the most of the frozen weather this week. We decided to make our own ice tray.  The children explored the ice, the animals and people that live in cold places and countries.  We discussed the different seasons and looked at the winter season in the book about what weathers can happen in winter.  The children also used paint, paint brushes and pipettes to change the colour of the ice.  The children also thought of different ways to rescue the animals from the ice. We also made some art ice using natural resources such as leave, grass and flowers.  The children learned about freezing and melting process, weather and different seasons.

Art Area

This week the children have been making decorations in the art area to put on our Christmas tree. After making them for our tree the children wanted some to take home. So we decided to create large baubles with tissue paper, glitter, pens and we used scissors to cut them out when they were finished. They explored patterns and shapes whilst making the baubles and developed their fine motor skills throughout

Malleable Area

This week in malleable the children have been looking at positional language like under, over, beside and behind the children used the different animals and characters to show their understanding of the new language. The children were using the blocks and playdough the children were building houses for the ginger bread men and showing exactly where they would be at the house the children were also beginning to use the correct language for this.

Baking Area

This week in the baking area we have been focusing on experiences based on books! The children listened to a variety of stories and we discussed the roles of the author and illustrator and explored the events within the story learning about ordering and sequencing. The children made gingerbread men, forming the dough and then rolling and cutting them followed up by mark making them using icing exploring pattern. 5en the children chose to read Michael Rosen the chocolate cake and follow instructions to bake their own cake discussing their favourite flavours of cakes and learning how to ice the cake using piping bags.

STEM area

The children spoke about decorating Christmas trees so we decided to use pinecone and pom-poms to make our own tree. They used their fine motor skills to spread the glue and added the pom-poms onto the pinecone. We spoke about colours throughout the activity and the children expressed their favourite colours.

This week we have been celebrating Maths Week at Oakburn Nursery. The theme this year has been maths through stories and we have focused on money, pattern and shape.

Malleable

In the malleable area we were looking at patterns, the children used the spaghetti and beads to make their own patterns. While creating their pattern they were also developing their fine motor skills by threading the Bead onto the spaghetti. Following on from this the children created their own pattern paper chains, they designed their own paper strips and then linked them together to make their pattern chain.

we then used different coloured playdough to make patterns. The children were able to look at the beginning of the patterns and identify which colours came next .

Outdoors

The children were focusing on shape this week in the garden for Maths week.  To relate to the story “The Perfect Fit”, the children used the shape stencils, searching the garden for shapes that “fit” and “matched”  the shape drawings.

 

Gross Motor Area

The children took part in number yoga on the smart board where they had to move their bodies to make themselves  look like each number.

Home Corner / Fine motor Area

In the home corner the children helped to create a shop. The children helped to collect and price up items to sell in the shop. They demonstrated great role play as they pretended to be the shop keeper, using the till and exploring the money by giving customers change and placing the money in the till.

At the fine motor table we used magnifying glasses and paint brushes for the children to explore the shape and colour of the money 

Snack Area

In the snack area we focused on pattern for numeracy week. The children demonstrated good control of their fine motor skills when cutting the peppers. The children practised colour recognition, pattern and ordering. The children demonstrated 1;2;3 step patterns through the use of the different coloured peppers.

Courtyard

During Maths week  the focus in the courtyard cosy area was data handling. The children wanted to find out how everyone got to nursery, whether it was by walking,  by the car, bike or scooter. To do this  we made  charts to ask questions, gather information  and then display this data in different ways.  We used tally marks and also made a  bar chart. The children found out that most people travel by car , some people walk but only one person comes to nursery by train.

Small World Area

in the small world area we have been exploring the story “Simon sock” the children were able to use their fine motor skills to peg the socks into pairs on the washing line – matching the patterns together.

STEM area

in the STEM area we have been exploring origami. We talked about the different shapes we made as we folded the paper into triangle and squares. We made some cool animals!

This week at Oakburn has been ‘chilled vibes week’.
On Monday it was pyjama and movie day.

On Tuesday it was Ice Cream Day. We had our own Oakburn ice cream parlour where we chose our own toppings and sauces.

On Wednesday it was “Oakburn Spa Day’ where the children participated in activities such as face masks, foot spas, painting nails, hairstyles and jewellery making.

Thursday was Smoothie and Milkshake day. We created our own by selecting lots of different fruit then adding cream and marshmallows.

Friday was Oakburn Bake-off where the 3-5 room and 2s room went head to head. We gathered together in the afternoon where our 5 judges  made some difficult decisions about which cake was the best!

 

Outdoor Week

This week the children took part in numerous outdoor activities and the rain did not stop us! ☔️

On Tuesday we took part in different camping and den building experiences. Indoors we built dens for the animals using loose parts in the small world area. Outdoors we used tarp and rope to make dens in the trees. The dens kept us sheltered from the rain!

On Wednesday we had a water slide and water fight in the garden. The children enjoyed sliding down and soaking their friends and staff with water pistoles

On Thursday the children had lots of different experiences relating to a teddy bears picnic. We sat in the courtyard and had an all together ‘teddy bear’ snack with our favourite teddies. Indoors we made our own teddy faces using rice crackers and chocolate. We created our own design of teddy bears using pens and pencils. The children were very creative

 

This week at Oakburn has been Summer Festival Week.
On Monday it was Crazy Hair Day! Some of the children came in with some fanatic hair styles and we took part in a range of crazy hair experiences.

On Tuesday we toasted marshmallows by the fire. We learned all about how to keep ourselves safe around the fire. We made bonfire biscuits and bonfires out of loose parts.

On Wednesday it was Oakburn’s festival! We had a festival rave, face painting, made our own masks and made our own tie dye t-shirts.

On Thursday we had a BBQ. We enjoyed cooking our sausages on the fire and having hot dogs for snack

On Friday we hired a bouncy castle to round off the week! The children thoroughly enjoyed bouncing and sliding down the slide.

This week in our summer plan it was Movement Week.

On Monday it was ‘Oakburn Euros’ . Where we played football and took part in a range of different ball games.

On Tuesday it was Danceathon and Gymnastics Day. The children used the soft mats to practice forward rolls and handstands. We then did some Danny Go workouts in the courtyard!

On Wednesday it was bring your bike or scooter to nursery day. It may have been a cold wet day but that didn’t stop us from racing around the garden.

On Thursday it was Obstacle Course day. The children took part in an obstacle course upstairs in the village where they had to jump, run, hop and skip to complete the course.

We look forward to seeing you all next week for Oakburn Festival Week!

rt Area 

This week in the art area we have been focusing on symmetry after creating beautiful butterflies last week. The children have used different materials to create symmetry on the table 🦋🤩👏

Outdoors

Over the past few weeks, the children have been very busy developing our tree area at the top of the garden! Using tools and risk assessment skills, the children have offered a hand practically using hammers and screwdrivers, as well as, offering their opinions about what should be added and the how to make it as safe as can be! We have added a balance bridge, an obstacle course, a den, tree swings, and so much more! This wouldn’t have been possible without the fantastic ideas from the children and now our gross motor development has no limit! Outstanding work everyone!

Baking Area

We have been very busy in baking area. This week we have made smoothies and banana bread. The children have been practising chopping the fruit, demonstrating good fine motor skills and safety using knives. The children have also been exploring technology while using the smoothie machine.

Courtyard

This week in the construction area the children were talking about boats and how big they are in the water, the children then used the water tray and the blocks to build their own boats. This then led on to the children talking about how boats float in the water even though they are very heavy. The children then made their own chart using tally marks to see what different object they thought would float or sink the children made their predictions and added a tally to the right column, we then used the water tray to see what was going to happen with the objects. Once we had tested all the objects the children then spoke about what happened and if they had made the right choice and why they thought the objects did either float or sink.

Story Corner

We have been practicing our rhyming this week. We have been matching crayon 🖍️ colours with other words e.g glue with blue, bed with red, bite with white and bean with green.

In another activity, the children have been choosing an item from the Rhyming Basket and then trying to find another item from the basket that rhymes with it.

We have also been looking at the books Oi Frog, Oi Puppies  and Oi Duck-Billed Platypus by Kes Gray and Jim Field where all the animals sit on something that rhymes with their names. We have then been thinking about what our names would sit on!

For Mental Health Awareness week we have been talking about our emotions in the small world area. We have talked about what emotions are, how we feel and what makes us happy, sad, angry etc. We also took our activities outside and drew how we were feeling  and we spoke about why we felt like that.

Woodwork

This week in the garden the children have been using different types of wood and learning the different names. We discovered some wood was easier to hammer than others. We then  used the iPad to look up the different wood types as well this was great work well done boys and girls

Fine motor area

In the fine motor skills area we have been exploring flowers. The children demonstrated great numeracy skills as they measured flowers by counting cubes and matched the correct number of beads to the stem of each flower. The children also demonstrated their mark making skills as they drew flowers in the sand.

Construction

This week in the construction area we have been looking at castles and bridges 🌉 🏰. I have been encouraging the children to plan what they are going to build first, by drawing their ideas and planning what blocks they are going to need to make their ideas real. The children started with castles using a box cardboard box and the blocks to make it bigger we spoke about the different things castles have like turrets and a moat and a child said some have a draw bridge as the door. We began looking on the iPad at different types of bridges such as pedestrian, car and rail bridges. The children created their own bridge that even had an underground tunnel! The children then used a number pallet to measure their Bridge to see how tall it was and if it was big enough to have a river underneath.

Art Area

This week in the art area we have been focusing on the very hungry caterpillar 🐛. We used different coloured paper and pens to create and cut out all of the food that he eats and then added them in order into green paper plates.

Woodwork

In woodwork this week the children have been making a box.  We have been working together following the steps on what we need to do to build our box. First we started off by making sure we had the right amount of pieces then went onto cutting them to correct sizes. After this we were able to stick the pieces together and put on our door hinge. The children showed good use of fine motor skills during this.

 

Baking Area

We have been very busy in the baking area this week with Mairi.  The children have made soup, flapjacks and cornflake cakes. This has allowed the children to build lots of different skills such as food hygiene, safety when using knives, measurements and following a recipe. ❤️

This week Sarah has and the children have been baking freshly made rolls and bread to enjoy with our lunch. Cooking covers all areas of the curriculum, the children read the recipe, counted, measured and estimated the ingredients.  They used tools and utensils to mix, pour and cook the bread in the bread machine.  Cooking gives the children a chance to explore texture, shape and form of the cooking process and provides endless opportunities for conversation and development of language.

Outdoors

This week in the garden we have built a den! Using old pallets, the children used their amazing risk assessing skills to secure the pallets to the trees using cable ties which displays their strong fine motor skills! They then tested each pallet by giving it a wee jiggle to ensure it was steady and safe. Then to make it more “home-like” the children asked for a door and a window which we then cut out! This den now creates limitless opportunities for imaginative play and supports each child’s social skills. What an excellent job you have all done! This area is becoming more and more impressive with all your fantastic ideas! 🤩💡

Gross motor Area

This week in the gross motor area we have developed the gross motor area. We have added goals for football and created more space for the children to do obstacle courses and gross motor activities. This week the children participated in an obstacle course practising their hand eye coordination and balance skills. We also done the limbo lowering the rope to make it more challenging.

Small world

In the small world area we have been looking at the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”. The created caterpillars with our names on them, developing our writing skills and pencil grip. We also made transient art butterflies  using different coloured wooden shapes , the children were able to make the wings symmetrical.  We then used the story cards to be able to retell the story in our own words developing our language .

 

 

Outdoors

Spring is here and the garden is getting prepared! 🌺 The children have helped create a nice wee quiet space to relax and watch the world go by from the top of the garden. Using key skills such as gross motor skills, design, and communication, everyone worked very hard and contributed loads! With only a few finishing touches needed, the children have impressively created their own area in the garden to grow and develop. Always impressed by these wonderful minds 🌱🌈

Fine motor area

This week in the fine motor area the children have been exploring families and self portraits. The children drew their own self portraits, they used mirrors to identify their features on their face. The children then explained who was in their family and drew a picture of them.

Malleable Area

In the malleable area we have been using the book “there’s a monster in your book” we created our own monster using playdough and added pom, poms, pipe cleaners and googley eyes. We used our fine motor skills manipulating the dough into different shapes.

Woodwork

In woodwork  the children’s choice was to follow what they were drawing on their pictures and then designing them onto the wood. We then cut out the pieces of Wood sanded them down and then covered them with colourful buttons and sparkly gems.

 

Art Area

This week in the art area we have been creating our own Elmer elephants using tissue paper. We have been using the elephant to trace or draw round and then added lots of different coloured tissue paper. We have spoke about what we like about the story and what shapes and colours we can see too 🐘

Acorn Room

Pool party in the acorn room the children had fun splashing and exploring the props. The children laughed and sang songs.

STEM

This week in the stem area we have been exploring space. The children helped to make and melt ice and explore the colours that looked like the galaxy. We also used balloons and paint to create planets in our solar system that we found in a space book. As the week came to an end we made spaceships to fly around all of the planets 🚀 🌍 🪐

 

 

 

Courtyard

This week in the courtyard we have been looking at patterns. The children have using lots of different materials to copy and create patterns. We used the numicon to create patterns which the children were then able to recreate by themselves.

Art Area

This week in the art area we have been drawing characters from “Also an octopus” book. We have been talking about the author and illustrator and adding lots of the same details to our drawings.

STEM area

In the stem are this week we have been exploring light and shadows. Using torches the children explored how to make shadows and different colours and shapes we could make with the light.

Snack Area

The children have been using fruit to 🍎🍇🍌 explore patterns.  We used the fruit to create our own patterns making predictions about what fruit would come next.  Some children explained what they thought a pattern was, “ it’s one thing, then another thing that is the same as before”.   This supports logical thinking and reasoning skills. 🤔

Woodwork Area

In woodwork this week, the children have had to chance to explore patterns. Children were asked to select their own pattern to copy and some of these patterns had a missing colour which they had to figure out. This was an excellent way to get them thinking about colours and pattern recognition. This activity also combined their fine motor skills (to select the correct coloured bead) and their gross motor skills (to hammer the bead and nail in). There was so much learning present and it was all displayed perfectly by these hard-working children!

Malleable Area

This week in the malleable area we have been focusing on health and well-being. On Monday we used the big teeth to practice how we brush our teeth at home by using toothbrushes and toothpaste. The children explored their fine motor skills as well as discussing the importance of brushing our teeth twice a day before bed and when we wake up. We also sung along to the child smile song together.

Construction Area

This week the children have been looking at numbers, we creating a bowling game for this. The children rolled the cylinder down the ramp to knock the blocks over! They then counted how many blocks had fell and what numbers were written on them. During this the children were developing their number recognition skills.

Story Corner

The new Author of the month is Julia Donoldson. This week the children chose superworm as the first Julia Donaldson book to focus on. I read the story to the children, after the children participated in a mark making experience choosing their favourite parts of the story and re drawing it. I then added to this learning by introducing rulers to measure the length of the worms created. This encouraged number recognition from 1-20.

Small World Area

In the small world area we have  been looking at story books about Dinosaurs including “ Old MacDino had a farm”. The children were counting the dinosaurs on the pages. We then used our toy dinosaurs to add and subtract numbers. The children counted out the dinosaurs and then added them together or took them away.  This was developing their number recognition skills, their 1-1 counting skills as well as addition and subtraction skills too.

We also were putting the dinosaurs in  size order from smallest to tallest.