Bells Brae Nursery

Reindeer Food

A reminder that there is Reindeer Food available to buy in our entrance area.  Please leave any donations in the box provided.  Many thanks for any donations already made.

Outdoors

Building on gross motor skills outdoors by kicking a ball around the playground, throwing and catching a ball with friends and moving around loose parts.

Santa’s Beard

Children have been taking turns to ‘cut Santa’s beard’!  We have a variety of types of scissors for children to use to help support the development of their cutting skills and fine motor skills.

“Be careful”.    “I did it”!    “It’s so hard”.

Christmas Crafts

Children have had the opportunity to use their creativity to make various Christmas crafts including decorating Christmas stockings and Christmas tree decorations.  Children used dried sliced oranges to create a Christmas tree decoration, they threaded string through the orange and added glue and glitter to make their decoration sparkle.  Children had to focus, use their fine motor skills and follow instructions from an adult to complete their decoration.

“I’ve got lots of stars”.    “I did it”!    “It’s sparkly”.    “It’s a big sock”!    “All the orange juice has disappeared and it’s all dry now”.    “These were cooked in the oven”.

Advent Calendar

Children helped to create our very own advent calendar for Nursery.  Children have been busy observing the advent calendar, discussing and identifying the numbers.  Children have been learning that not all the numbers can be opened at once and to wait for their turn.  Behind each bauble on our advent calendar is a note of a special ‘treat’ for each child such as getting to choose a game or story, a trip to choose a book from the school library or being the leader on trips out with Nursery.

“That’s 3, my age”.    “What’s it gunna be”.    “It’s your turn”.

Week Beginning: 15th December 2025

Our story of the week is Aliens Love Panta Claus by Claire Freedman.

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

Our song of the week is Santa is His Name O. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Week Beginning: 8th December 2025

Our story of the week is Little Owl and the Star by Mary Murphy.

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

Our song of the week is Twinkle, Twinkle, Christmas Star. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Week Beginning: 1st December 2025

Our story of the week is You Can’t take an Elephant on the Bus by Patricia Cleveland-Peck.

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

Our song of the week is A Big Red Bus. Click on the link below to sing along to the song.

Making Playdough

The children helped to identify the ingredients needed to make playdough for Nursery.  They used their knowledge of numbers to identify the number of cups needed for each item in the recipe.  Each child taking part took turns and used their listening skills.  They measured with spoons and cups, adding the correct ingredients and mixing together.

“Actually flour is very dusty”.    “It’s like something that’s been left in the loft, it’s very dusty”!

Independence and Life Skills

Children are always busy building on their independence skills and life skills through play and becoming familiar with the daily routines at Nursery.  They’ve been helping to sweep up the sand and craft areas, discussing hand washing, tidying up after snack, toothbrushing and helping staff to prepare for lunch by counting out the cutlery.

“I know how to wash my hands”.    “We need to use soap”.    “Bubbles”.    “Helping to keep the nursery clean and tidy, Safe Bob would be happy”.    “We need to clean up any germs”.

Measuring and Estimating

We investigated the length of different parts of the outdoor area using our stride as a measurement.

“The steps are shorter than the grass”.    “I think it will be 10 steps long”.    “My steps are smaller”.

Week Beginning: 24th November 2025

Our story of the week is Owl Babies by Martin Waddell.

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

Our rhyme of the week is Wide Eyed Owl.

Children in Need

Children had the opportunity to come to Nursery in their pyjamas or spotty clothes for Children in Need day and spent time colouring in Pudsey pictures.

Toy and Book Sale

Primary 6 organised a toy and book sale to raise money for Children in Need.  We went for a walk through the school all the way to the top floor to visit their sale.  The children took turns of browsing all the toys and books and donated money.  Children helped to choose some books to take back to Nursery for everyone to share.

“We’re picking books for Nursery in the Primary”.   “We had to pay for them”.   “We have to give some money to the person”.

Pudsey came to visit!

At the end of the day Pudsey was so kind to stop by during his very busy day to say hello to the boys and girls at Nursery.  Everyone was very excited to meet our visitor!

“There he is”!   “He’s yellow”!  “Da bear”.   “Pudsey Bear!    “Pudsey, I love him, he’s so cute”!  “He come to see, he wave to us”.    “Pudsey bear hug everyone”.   “He got a sore eyeball and he need to keep dat on”.

Drumming with Joy

The children have had the opportunity to play the African Drums with Joy.  She engages the children with different drumming activities including copying rhythm patterns that she models for the children and taking turns of repeating a rhythm and saying their name.  The children learn about taking care of their drum, learn to listen to the rhythms and wait for their turn.  Children also danced and sang along as Joy played the drums.

“We going drumming”.   “Banging”.   “Playing on the drum”.   “I drumming”.

This week we have been learning about road safety. At together time, we met a cuddly alien called Ziggy who is the Road Safety Scotland mascot. The ‘Go Safe with Ziggy’ campaign teaches young children about the importance of road safety. We read about Ziggy’s adventure when crossing the road with the lollipop lady. The ‘Stop, Look and Listen’ song reminded us of the rules that we need to follow when crossing the road.

‘I hold my mum’s hand.’ 

‘Cross with the green man.’

‘Stop, look and listen.’

‘The lollipop lady can help us.’

We had a visit from Hannah, one of the school’s crossing patrol attendants. She showed us her Hi-Viz jacket and stop sign. Hannah told us that the jacket helps to keep her warm and dry. She also explained that she can be seen in the dark because the jacket is brightly coloured and has reflective strips.

‘The cars need to see us in the dark.’

‘The sign says – STOP!’  

‘Cars have to wait.’

‘It might be an ambulance or a bike on the road.’  

‘Nee naw, nee naw means cars have to stop.’

The children enjoyed listening to other stories about Ziggy’s road safety adventures on the interactive screen. They played a variety of online games from the Road Safety Scotland website to develop their understanding of how to be safe and responsible road users now and in later life.

‘Red light means stop.’ 

‘Beep, beep – it’s safe to cross.’

‘I hear a police siren.’  

‘That’s a zebra crossing.’

We walked to the front of the school wearing our Hi-Viz vests and waited on the pavement until Hannah was ready to stop the traffic so that we could cross Gilbertson Road. Hannah followed the Green Cross Code by stopping, looking and listening for traffic before stepping into the middle of the road while holding up her stop sign. A car and a van had to wait until we had all crossed the road safely.

‘Stop at the kerb.’

‘We’re holding hands.’

‘Wait on the pavement.’

‘This is fun!’

We spotted the words stop, look and listen while on our walk. Some of the children recognised ‘stop’ on the road as well as on a road traffic sign.

‘It says stop.’

‘S for stop.’

The children enjoyed playing with the resources from our road safety role-play set when playing outside. They had great fun making roads, setting up cones, using traffic signs and walking on the zebra crossing. The most popular activity was taking turns to stop those who were riding scooters while pretending to be the crossing patrol attendant.

‘It’s my turn to be the lollipop lady.’

‘Is it safe to cross?’

‘We are being Safe Bob.’

Click on the link below if you would like to find out more about the early level resources that are available on the Road Safety Scotland website.

Early (ELC, P1) – Road Safety Scotland