Bells Brae Nursery

Sports Stay and Play

What a fabulous morning of sunshine we got for our recent Sports Stay and Play!  The children had been busy practicing previously and were keen to show their families the skills they’d learned.  Children moved around 5 different activity stations in small groups with staff members.  Children learned to line up and wait their turn at each station.

“We do jumpy”.    “The egg and spoon race”.   “Jumping”.    “We was doing 5”!    “We doing da beanbags in da hoops”.

“We throwed it over our heads”.   “We also did tiny balls and hold it by running, when we done it we throw it in the basket”.

“We put our feet on the line and we jump”.    “Da long jump”.

“It’s Sports Day”.  “My Mammy and Daddy at Sports Day with me”.    “I did jumping”.

“Throwing da bean bags”.    “Sports day”!    “I jumped like 5 metres”!

“Run with an egg”.    “Throw”.    “Run”.

It was lovely to welcome so many families to the stay and play and into the setting afterwards for a well earned snack after all the busy sporting activities for the children!

Week Beginning: 1st June 2026

Our story of the week is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is Caterpillars Only Crawl. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Karen and Martha welcomed the pre-school children to the library yesterday for an engaging Bookbug session. We sang lots of action songs and rhymes together and also learned a new song called Shake and Stop, which we are keen to start singing during our together time at nursery. The children had great fun teaching Karen and Martha Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar, a different version of the well-known nursery rhyme.

Martha read the story Never Take a Bear to School, which is a rhyming book about the experience of starting school. The children listened very attentively and responded well to the story. Bookbug also joined the session, helping everyone with the Hello and Goodbye songs. The children were delighted to see Bookbug and excited to receive a Bookbug sticker to take back to nursery at the end of the visit.

One of the highlights of the visit was taking part in the bubble machine activity during the song I Had a Little Turtle. There was lots of laughter and excitement as the children chased and popped bubbles while singing the final verse:

Bubble, bubble, bubble,
Bubble, bubble, bubble,
Bubble, bubble, bubble,
Bubble, bubble, pop!

On the walk to the library, we met a workman on Cockatoo Brae who shared an interesting story about the area’s unusual name. He explained that many years ago, a resident kept a pet cockatoo, which is how the name originated. A picture of a cockatoo beside the house helps preserve this local story.

Some of the children’s reflections included:

‘Popping the bubbles was great fun.’

‘I like going to the library.’

‘Look at my Bookbug sticker.’

‘My mum takes me to the library sometimes.’

‘There are hundreds and hundreds of books.’

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the library. It provided a valuable opportunity for the children to enjoy stories, songs and rhymes while also developing their social skills in a welcoming environment.

The pre-school children enjoyed a visit to the Lerwick Methodist Church this week. We received a very warm welcome from Reverend Steve Charman. He spoke to us about the different things that happen in a church. He explained that churches are special places where people come together for weddings, christenings, funerals and services.

The children were encouraged to look around the church and ask questions about what they could see. Steve responded to their questions and spoke about the features of the church, including the pulpit, organ pipes, paintings, symbols, screens and stained-glass windows.

He also shared a Bible story about building a house on a firm foundation. He explained that just as a strong house needs a solid foundation to remain stable, people should build their lives on good moral values. The children listened very attentively and joined in enthusiastically with a lively action song called Build Up, which they thoroughly enjoyed.

On returning to the nursery, the children were keen to share what they had seen, heard and done during their special trip. We look forward to seeing Steve again next session, as he will be visiting the nursery to share another Bible story and song.

‘Our visit to the church was good fun.’

‘Steve was really friendly.’

‘My favourite part was the singing.’

‘I liked watching the story on the screen.’

‘Can we visit the church again?’

Week Beginning: 25th May 2026

Our story of the week is Pantosaurus and the Power of Pants by Rebecca Gerlings.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is The Pants Song. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

The children have been learning about clocks.  They have been practicing using an analogue clock and putting the numbers in the correct place.  We have spoken about the number patterns – 12 + 6, 3 + 9 and about the numbers going in clockwise order.  The children were enthusiastic and keen to learn.

“3 and 9 are partners”.    “1, 2, 3, 4 is next”.    “12 goes at the top, then 1”.    “12 and 6 are number partners”.

To extend learning about clocks staff provided clock templates for the children to make up the clock faces.  Children made the clocks independently by sticking each number down in the correct place, the children also chose what time they wanted their clock to be and staff supported by modelling the chosen time on a clock for the children to copy.

“1 O’Clock”.    “I’m flying through this”.    “5 O’Clock”.

Children have had the opportunity to take part in story sequencing, retelling the story of ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’, which was our story of the week recently.

“Then she went into the house and ate all the porridge”.    “Saying get out of my house”.    “She runs away and never comes back”.

The children have been using picture boards and whiteboard pens to trace over the lines, practicing their fine motor skills.

“I was just doing Goldilocks things”.  “I was doing some stripes and hulas”.

The children showed great excitement whilst observing the changing weather outdoors through the big window.  Lots of children spent time watching the huge snowflakes fall from the sky.  They engaged in conversations about weather and how it changes throughout the day.  Children used a Nursery Ipad to scan our “What’s the weather day”? QR code to check the online weather forecast.

“It’s snowing”.    “It’s all on the floor”.

The children have been practicing and tracing numbers, allowing opportunities to develop their number recognition and the order of numbers.

The messy play sensory tray was filled with oats and staff added bowls and spoons to scoop and fill.  The children used their imagination and communication skills during play by retelling the story of ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’.

“Dis is Dad’s one”.    “Daddy bears porridge”.    “There was the bear porridge, it was in the story”.

Week Beginning: 18th May 2026

Our story of the week is Jack and the Beanstalk retold by Iona Treahy.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is Fee-fi-fo-fum. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Week Beginning: 11th May 2026

Our story of the week is Night Monkey, Day Monkey by Julia Donaldson.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is Day and Night Opposites Song. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

The children took part in sports day practice, trying out 5 different activities.  They listened to instructions and took turns at each activity.  The children used their gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination, trying over arm and under arm throws, balancing and running.

“I throwed really high”.

We have recently purchased an outdoor magnetic board along with magnetic numbers and letters suitable for outdoors.  Children have been busy using the magnetic board in a variety of ways including trying to make their names using the letters and playing guessing games, quizzing their friends on each letter.

“M is my letter”.    “I could make my name”.    “My turn”.

Groups of children have been using their imaginations whilst playing outdoors in the mud kitchen and whilst digging in the quarry area.  They’ve used their fine and gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination during play whilst scooping and transporting gravel between areas.  In the mud kitchen children have used their creativity and gross and fine motor skills whilst mixing mud, sand and plants together.  They’ve played a variety of imaginative games in the mud kitchen, including families.

“It’s an excavator”.    “I’m making a house”.

Children took turns to make big bubbles outdoors and enjoyed observing and discussing the different sizes of bubbles they could create.

“It’s a massive one”!

Week Beginning: 4th May 2026

Our story of the week is Goldilocks and the Three Bears retold by Nicola Baxter.

Click on the link below to view and listen to the story.

Our song of the week is When Goldilocks Went to the House of the Bears. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.