Author: gw09grierkirsten3@glow

Sharing our Woodland Experience with Family

This week the children had an opportunity to share what they had learned during their time at the woods.  Our special guests had a great time as you can see from the photos.

“My gran went to the woods with me.  I liked playing on the hammock and my gran pushed me.  I made a wand using a peeler. My gran kept me safe.  I had to hold the handle of the peeler to keep me safe”.

“I loved my papa going to the woods with me.  I played with him.  We played hide and seek.  Papa hid in all different places.  We made a wand and I cast a spell on my papa and Mrs Mair.  I turned them into a horse, a frog and a tree”.

“I liked my mum going to the woods…..I love her.  I went on a tree.  My mum stayed with me so that I didn’t fall off.  My mum played hide and seek with me.  We hid behind a tree.  I had to count to 100 and my mum counted to 10.

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Group 1 – Week 6

This week we shared our woodland experience with mums, dads and grans.  Since they didn’t know how to stay safe in the woods, we told them all the different things that they had to do e.g. stay within the boundaries, step over fallen branches/stumps and not to play too near the burn.

We were all very busy making super dens and we even made a house for the animals.  Each of us had a turn to use a special tool called a rubber mallet.  We had to tap sticks into the ground to create the walls for the animal house.  It looked wonderful and the animals loved it!

It was lots of fun playing Tug-of-War………our mums, dads and grans are so strong!  When we played hide and seek, they were able to find great hiding places but we were still able to find them!

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Some Home Link Ideas

Having letters available for your child to play with is a great idea.   Children will explore the different letters, perhaps try and match them or make words with them.  They will learn lots on their own about the different shapes of the letters. If you are buying letters choose the lowercase ones first. You don’t have to buy them though, you could write letters on cards or stick them onto blocks or cars or anything else you have available.

Children naturally enjoy matching and sorting letters. If your child is interested, you can talk about the different names and sounds of the letters e.g. that is the letter M it makes the sound mmmm. Children will learn much better through natural play and talk. This month we have been busy making play dough letter shapes and lacing letters.

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Literacy Work in Nursery

We have continued to grow in confidence when reciting and performing rhymes here are some of us reciting Incy Wincey Spider, Pat –A-Cake, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, How Much Is That Doggie in the Window, Bah, Bah Black Sheep, Horsey Horsey and Two Little Dickie Birds. Thank you for encouraging your child to select a toy or prop from home. As you can see rhymes are recited indoors and outdoors, the tunnel is Incy’s spout, and the cakes are mud pies. We loved listening to all of you, well done.

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Mother’s Day Rhyme

We spent time this week creating a Mother’s Day Rhyme to share with you. Below you can see us using craft activities and group discussion to share ideas about the rhyme.

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Happy Mother’s Day Rhyme

To the tune of Frere Jaques.

Created for special mums everywhere by the staff and children of New Monkland Nursery.

Mum you’re special

Mum you’re special

I love you

I love you

Come and have a cuddle

Come and have a kiss

Just like this

Just like this

Group 1 – Week 5

This week we had fun playing on a rope trail.  We had to close our eyes and move along the rope, using our hands to guide us while walking very carefully.  As we were unable to see where we were going, we had to tell our friends when they were near the tree by shouting “TREE” so that they could give it a nice big hug.

We played a game called ‘Woodland Jenga’.  Before we started to play, we worked together to gather the sticks that were needed to play.  We had to pile them up to create a tower.  Each of us had a turn at removing a stick.  It was important that we took it out carefully so that the tower did not fall down. It was a little tricky but we managed to do it!

We also took time to look at the environment around us.  Mrs Mair gave us each a card with a different colour on it.  We then had to look around the woodland site, finding our colours on items like leaves, branches, bark, fabrics and plastic cones.  It was fun exploring colour in nature.

We all really enjoyed playing Tug-of-War.  Working as part of a team, we used our big arm muscles to pull the rope…..PULL! PULL! PULL!  We are all so strong!

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Group 2 – Week 4

This week we were busy making a wonderful wind mobile.  We all gathered lots of natural materials such as leaves, pinecones, sticks and grass to make it.  Mrs Magilton helped us to attach the items onto a large stick using ribbons.  It looked super.  When it was finished we hung it between 2 trees and the wind made it move.  We were very proud of ourselves. What do you think of our creation?

We also played a game called ‘Woodland Jenga’.  Before we started to play, we worked together to gather a variety of sticks which were then placed into a big tower,  We each had a turn to remove a stick but it was important that we took it out carefully so that the tower did not fall down.  Sometimes it was a little tricky but we all managed to do it!

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Group 3 – Week 4

We participated in lots of role-play this week as we pretended to be animals.  Mrs Leopard pounced and Mrs Horsey galloped down to the woods.  Mrs Leopard thought it would be a good idea to make a special den for her and Mrs Horsey.  We worked together using a range of resources to create a wonderful den.  Have a look at the photos.  What do you think of it?  It was so comfy that Mrs Leopard didn’t want to come out of it!  She even made a camp fire in it to keep her paws warm.

We were also busy making a gate for the main den.  We gathered lots of big sticks and stacked them on top of each other to make it high.  Some of the sticks were even taller than us!

We learned how to use a rubber mallet safely and used it to tap tent pegs into the ground.

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Woodland Group 3

Week 3

On our walk to the site we continued with our shape hunt.  We discovered lots of shapes – circles, triangles and squares.  We even saw a cat with ears shaped like triangles!  Using natural materials we were able to create our own shapes and talk about them using words such as corners and sides.

We were also very busy making a den.  It was very special because it made us invisible!  The ladies could hear us talking to each other but they couldn’t see us.  We used lots of materials to make it e.g. a variety of ropes, giant pegs and fabrics.  It was lots of fun!

We had a special surprise waiting for us ……….a hammock which was tied to the trees.  We all had a turn lie on it and swing our friends from side to side.  We saw some interesting things when we looked up to the top of the trees e.g. a monkey eating bananas!!

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