This week the children have been talking about the different seasons, how they change and which season we are now in. They have been discussing all the different signs of Spring, such as buds appearing on trees, plants growing in the ground, baby lambs, birds returning to Scotland and new chicks being born. We have been walking around the school grounds looking at all the new signs of Spring.

We now have a new weather chart to help us talk about changes in the weather. The children take it in turns to update the chart each day as the weather changes.

The children have also been making bird feeders to take home and for our nursery garden. They made a feed mixture with lard, cheese, raisins, apples and oats which they mixed together and then moulded onto pinecones. Some of the children also wanted to make bird feeders by stuffing the mixture into toilet rolls and using sticks to hang them from branches.

The children leading their learning is a crucial element to our ethos in nursery and our children have great ideas, which they enjoy developing together. Some of the children decided to create a drive through area in the garden, which they then developed into a McDonald’s. They used boxes to create seating and a kitchen area. They even made signs for each area. They then took turns to work there and to drive through. Don’t worry, we only promote healthy eating at nursery!

It was very exciting when we had outdoor PE in the school MUGA this week. The children practised balancing by walking along the lines, changing directions, walking backwards, forwards and to the side. They also practised throwing and catching skills with small balls, which they had great fun with.

The children have daily opportunities to practise recognising and writing their name in lots of different ways. This week some of the children were keen to spell out their names with the letter stones.

There are also daily activities to develop fine motor skills. The playdough station has been very popular this week and the children have enjoyed rolling it into different shapes and sizes to create people. They have also experimented with different tools like cutters, rollers and scissors.

This week we have been celebrating World Book Day by sharing our favourite books from home and in nursery. We have enjoyed listening to and talking about these stories in our group times and drawing pictures of our favourite books and the characters in them.

Monday was a freezing cold day and the children found some ice in the garden. They wanted to find out how cold the ice was, so they gathered it into a pile and used a thermometer to measure the temperature. The children noticed that the temperature changed as the ice melted.

We now have a Music Hut in the garden where the children can experiment with the instruments to express themselves. They have enjoyed this so much that they created a musical space inside and started a musical conga around the room.

The children have been busy developing their creativity and using team work to create new areas in the nursery, based on their interests and the ideas that they would like to explore. Some of the children have shown a key interest in nails and have created a nail bar which is helping them to practise turn taking, recognising colours and developing fine motor skills. Another group of children created a large car garage outside in a garden hut. They worked together to problem solve and develop their ideas so they could move the cars up and down the garage, using long tubes and pipes. the children have also experimented with the train track to find ways to connect the dolls house to the house role play area across the room. We also now have a puppet theatre, which the children are using to create shows for each other and to share stories and books. Some of the children are enjoying playing hiding games and they decided to build a den using blankets and play bricks.

The children have been developing their scissor skills by cutting out letters and using them to spell their names. Some children are also practising writing their names on their pictures.

A lot of the children enjoy helping and having jobs to do, to show how responsible they can be. Mrs Thomson even had a little helper to dry the dishes, put them away and clean the cupboards.

This week we have enjoyed playing in the snow. The children have been making snowmen and using stones to make faces. They also had lots of fun sledging and pulling each other through the snow and  showed great creativity and curiosity when experimenting with paints and mark making in the snow. The children have also been experimenting with the tread on their shoes and boots to make different marks and patterns in the garden. They then decided to turn this into a game and  hunted for Big Foot. By talking about the different shapes, sizes and patterns that they had made, they developed their vocabulary and observational skills. All of this outdoor learning was risk assessed by one of the boys, with a bit of help from Mrs Boyle, and he confidently shared with all the children how to play safely outside.

Our quiet group times are a lovely time for the children to share stories and develop conversational and social skills in smaller groups. This week the children and adults have been sharing their favourite books and talking about the different parts of a book, including the front and back covers, the spine, the title and the names of the author and the illustrator. As World Book Day is next week and we will continue to share our favourite books , so please encourage your child to bring in a book to share, if they want to.

The children also used their group times to plan how they would like the indoor space to be set out. They had great ideas and were able to explain their choices and contribute ideas to develop the different areas. We have already started making the changes and will continue to develop them with the children next week.

This week the children have started a self-service snack time. They decide when they would like to come for their snack and collect their plate and cup. They then look at the signs on the snack table to see what the choices are and how much of each they can take. They have even been practising pouring their own milk and water.

To practise their fine motor cutting skills, the children have been cutting out Valentine’s hearts and writing on them who they love. Someone even developed their ideas to stick two hearts together and add a strip of paper to the end to make a butterfly, which she decorated beautifully. We also made a big heart from everyone’s handprints.

The children have also been enjoying circle songs and games. They learned a new song called ‘Sandy Girl/Sandy Boy’. Each child has a go at being in the middle of the circle and at the end of the song they can choose someone that they love. They really enjoyed singing the song and having a turn.

Our Scotland rugby fans have been spurred on after watching the match at the weekend. One  of the boys was the Scotland Coach and he set up fantastic training circuits with his friends. They had a lot of fun keeping fit and developing their ideas. Fingers crossed the Scotland team are as well prepared for their next match!

Even though we have had some cold slushy weather this week, we have all wrapped up in our winter outdoor clothes to enjoy lots of slushy play outside. The children particularly enjoyed  puddle jumping in the muddy puddles. Some of the children set up a role play house in the garden and enjoyed pretending to make cups of tea and hot food to keep warm in the wintry weather. We were joined outside by a very friendly Robin Redbreast.

Our last day of this half term is tomorrow, Friday 11th February. We hope you all have a lovely holiday and we look forward to welcoming you back to Kingsland ELC on Tuesday 22nd February.

The windy weather this week inspired the children to make a kite to fly. They used a black bin bag, sticks from the garden, string and ribbon. Everyone had a go at flying the kite and trying to keep it in the air.

The wintery weather has also encouraged the children to assess risks when they have been playing outside. They all walked around the garden together to check which areas were safe to play in and which were too slippery. They even made up a rule for playing outside to keep everyone safe. To develop their independence, the children have also been trying hard to zip up their own coats when they get ready to go outside.

There has been lots of messy play in the garden this week. The children had fun making gloop and playing with the dinosaurs in it. They also then added shaving foam for some really messy play.  They especially loved putting it onto their hands and clapping!

We have also reintroduced our Snack Helper role this week. At each snack time a different child helps an adult to lay the snack table and give out snacks and drinks. They also call each colour group to the table and help to tidy up and load the dishwasher. They have all really enjoyed being given responsibility and helping with ‘grown up jobs’.

We now have a new self-service painting station, where the children dispense their own paints and collect their own paper, brushes, sponges and other tools for mark making. They also put on their own apron and clean up when they have finished. We even have a gallery area where they can hang their super artwork.

To help the children to practice their colour and shape recognition, they have been building towers with the coloured blocks and then describing them . This has also helped them to develop their problem-solving skills, vocabulary and creativity.

Happy New Year everybody! We are excited to start this new term and have lots of exciting things planned. Please visit our ELC blog regularly to keep up to date with all our play and learning!

This week has been all about celebrating Christmas together. We had a Christmas walk, played Christmas games, watched the Kingsland Christmas Sing-a-long,  had our party and a delicious Christmas lunch. We also had a special surprise when Santa came to visit us and gave us a gift for our nursery.

We had a lovely tea party for Mrs Martin’s retirement. We will all miss her very much, but she has promised that she will come back to see us soon.

Finally, we would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we look forward to welcoming everybody back to Kingsland ELC on Monday 10th January 2022.