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This week all families arrived motivated and excited to engage in some new opportunities to learn within Shotts Nature Park . The addition of the new trolley proved a huge success with all parents/ carers  and children taking on the responsibility of pulling , pushing and at times jumping in the trolley.  Walking to the learning circle allowed the families to explore a new area of the park , exploring the Gruffalo woods with torches as there was lots of discussions and questioning  as to  what creatures might live in the woods.              Who knew what amazing chefs we have as we all worked together to make pizzas on an open fire , this was a first for many of the families and proved a huge success for hungry tummies. There was always time to visit the cafe for hot chocolate and toasted marshmallows and  was great to observe the independence skills of the children as they prepared their own drinks.   I am still not sure who won the game of hide and seek as the families found very interesting places to hide and certainly used up all the space available to them.    Looking  forward to next weeks session where we will be using hammocks and ropes , I wonder what we could possibly do with these resources.??  Nicola , Pamela & Elaine x Continue reading Nurturing Nature Family Forest School sessions →

As a lot of our children prepare for the upcoming festivities they have been using their fine motor skills in a variety of forms to creatively make cards and gifts to give to the special people in their families, I’m sure you will be delighted with their creations!  These opportunities are allowing them to develop their hand-eye coordination and grip control which are fundamental to early writing skills.

With the excitement of Christmas in mind, most of our children are becoming more and more skilled at recognising their mood and feelings and are taking the opportunity to visit our mindful room when they feel they need a change in pace, relaxation or simply some quiet time.

Within the Rainbow Room our children have been developing their emerging literacy and numeracy skills with a range of experiences from cooking pizza, cookies and macaroni cheese where they have had to measure and determine volume.

They also have chosen to mark make in the sand and small note pads or indeed Christmas cards, using their creativity to compile list for Santa or shopping.

Some of our children have also began transitioning to our other playroom, where they are building relationships in a nurturing environment.