Courtyard – block play
Building bridges, tunnels and friendships! This week the children have been exploring different ways to play the game โthe floor is lavaโ when they discovered how to build bridges with the blocks so lots of people can get on at one time! This transitioned very well into obstacle course construction and the ideas continued to expand! Through teamwork, the children decided to construct a large tunnel which was completely made by themselves! This was amazing to see! The ideas are limitless and the children are really beginning to see that! Fantastic work builders! ๐
Courtyard – Gross motor skills
This week in the courtyard we have been trying out our new bowling set, the children have been practicing their counting, shapes and patterns when trying out different ways to set the pins out.ย They have showed great control and coordination when rolling the bowling balls ๐ณ
STEM area
This week in the STEM area we have been exploring science and the changing state of water. The children have been discovering that ice is frozen water and when ice melts it produces water again. We have also been using salt and hot water to speed up the melting process.
During the experiment our mini scientists have been discussing whether we think ice will melt with no help at room temperature and whether we thought our room was warmer or colder than a freezer.
When we melted our ice the children then used their creativity and imagination to make love potions using the water, glitter and sequins. ๐งชโค๏ธ๐๐ The children enjoyed this so much the next day we continued making lots of magical potions ๐งช ๐ธ adding glitter and some rose petals.
๐๐ ๐ Magnifying Experiment ๐ ๐ ๐
This week in the STEM area we have been exploring magnification. The children have had lots of opportunities to use magnifying glasses and also microscopes. We have magnified small pictures and practiced our positional language and direction skills by telling our friends how to find our favourite objects.
Later in the week children were keen to use the microscopes and magnifying glasses to look at bugs so we moved our STEM area outside and found lots of worms to take a closer look. This focused on the childrenโs senses and them describing what they saw. It was also an excellent opportunity for them to get outside and enjoy nature within our nursery garden.ย ๐๐๐
Snack
PANCAKE DAY!
This week in the snack are we have been celebrating pancake day by making and trying pancakes. The children helped to cook the pancakes using the hot plate. The children developed their risk aware skills by being safe when cooking. We created banana and blueberry pancakes. The children had the option of lots of toppings!
The Garden
With the sun finally starting to come out, our little gardeners have been very busy! In our lovely allotment area, the children have decided to plant some blueberries and blackcurrants! And to help protect the young plants, we have built a fence out of twigs which we have collected from all around the garden ๐ชต๐๐๐น๐
Fine motor area
In the fine motor skills area we have been copying patterns using the foam shapes and laces. The children have been threading the foam shapes onto the laces following the pattern cards. This has been developing their fine motor skills, shape recognition skills as well as colour recognition and counting skills.
The children then created their own patternsย for their friends to copy.
Home Corner
The children have been exploring the kitchen area using real food. We have especially been enjoying pasta! Exploring the different textures and types of pasta. The children have been building on their fine motor skills by using the tongs and cutlery.
Acorn Room
This week in the acorn room all the children took part in making home made pancakes ๐ฅ. They all took turns in mixing the ingredients together and then adding the pancake mix onto the pan.
We had the pancakes with a selection of fruit and sauces at snack time ๐๐