Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 5

November 24, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

We were invited through to the gym hall to have a shot on the apparatus including the climbing bars, rope swings and trampoline jump. The bairns listened to the instructions before setting off to explore all the equipment. They climbed, jumped, took turns, assessed their own risk and had fun. We are excited to see how their confidence has grown next week.

The bairns noticed that lots of little birds were eating our hens’ food and they thought they might need something for the winter. We set about making some bird feeders using pinecones, wild bird seed mix, mealworms, raisins and lard to stick it all together.

This week our visit to the Salvation Army polycrub included taking geranium cuttings and planting them to take home, planting lettuce, feeding the hens with crushed egg shells and old vegetables, visiting the goats and cows and shaking off the soil from some dead plants.

The bairns have been engaged in volcano play, particularly in the sand pit. We discussed the active volcano in Iceland and how far it was from Shetland, finding some photos on the iPad. The bairns were keen to try a volcano experiment, sourcing the ingredients of vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, dish soap, warm water and food colouring. After building the volcano from sand, we added the ingredients to make the volcano erupt. While the bairns were waiting they decided to count, getting all the way to 100.

After the Halloween decorations came down, the bairns were asking about decorating for Christmas. We got the tree down from the loft and after some discussion about how small the box was, we set it up in the quiet room. We added the lights first and then the bairns searched the boxes of decorations to find items to make the tree look beautiful. They placed on tinsel, baubles, nutcracker ornaments and pinned up a Santa sock. Finally it was time to add the star.

Here’s a snapshot of the rest of our week and the learning that’s taken place.

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 4

November 17, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

This week has been World Nursery Rhyme Week and we have enjoyed taking part in games and activities as well as learning and revisiting this years focus rhymes. The Magical Rhyming Tray also made an appearance building their knowledge of the sounds within words and rhyme.

At our music session with Mrs Garrick the christmas show preparations have gone up a notch and the instrumentalists have been learning their parts.

The soft play equipment is always a temptation for the bairns while at the village club for music so we stayed down for a play.

On our way to visit the Salvation Army polycrub this week, we discussed the size and speed of the cars and how we could remember the distance between the nursery and the polycrub. We spoke to the new pygmy goats and the noisy cows in the shed. The bairns planted their own strawberry plant, making sure to give it some water before taking it back to nursery to take home. Then it was on to planting spinach by loosening the soil, making a hole and placing the seedlings inside.

We were very lucky to be able to offer a placement as part of the ‘Modern Apprentice for a Day’ programme. The bairns took full charge of showing them around the setting and introducing everyone.

It was so great to see so many of our families at the pasta and pizza night. Thank you all for coming out to have your tea with us!

Children in Need. We joined the school for an assembly and had some Pudsey fun and games!

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 3

November 10, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

This week we started our music lesson by moving to the beat and warming up our muscles. We did lots of practicing for our Christmas concert and then finished off with a super fast Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.

The bairns made use of the soft play area, building structures to jump from and making an ice cream shop.

A couple of the bairns went on a trip to the Salvation Army polycrub with some of the school bairns. They took up the strawberry runners and replanted them. There are a number of strawberry plants in the nursery honesty cupboard for sale. The bairns sampled some raspberries which was a highlight of the trip. The hens were fed too with handfuls of crushed egg shells.

We were delighted to have a visit from Miss Irvine and her baby. The bairns were keen to find out more about their little visitor and noticed that she had four teeth. The bairns read lots of stories to the baby making sure she could see the pictures.

We’ve had another busy week and here are just some of the learning that has taken place.

We listened to a short story called Poppy’s Day which follows a little girl finding out about Remembrance Day and why we wear poppies to honor those lost to war. The link below is a two minute video containing the experiences of animals on a WW1 battlefield. After listening to the story of Poppy’s Day, the bairns were keen to make their own poppies.

(1) CBeebies | Poppies animation – YouTube

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 2

November 3, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

There were some spooky goings-on in nursery this week. Lots of the bairns dressed up and we even had a monster truck and an orca. The bairns engaged with the seasonal provocations and took part in a Halloween treasure hunt, finding icons around the nursery. We also danced to Halloween music and a nursery favourite Scary Spooky Skeletons. Afternoon snack was a little different because the bairns had to dook for their apple! They also tried to catch an apple on a string with no hands.

Following some indoor play, the bairns were keen to build a den outside. The discussed the best location, taking into account the wind and how they could attach the tarpaulin. The explored different resources to attach the tarpaulin to the fence and found that the cupboard was the best solution. Once the den was completed, the bairns used cable drums to climb high enough to touch the tarpaulin from underneath.

The bairns noticed that it was time to pull up some more carrots and add them to our honesty cupboard offerings. They selected the carrots which had the biggest stalks and then watered the remaining produce. The bairns took their carrots to the honesty cupboard and are hoping that the pennies they receive in return will pay for something fun.

We tried out a new game this week The Sock Game. We filled two large stripey socks with lots of little items including a car, hair tie, cork and bouncy ball. After being told what they were to find, the bairns had to put their hand inside the sock until they found the item. They used their listening skills to know what to feel for and then their cognitive and fine motor skills to determine what was the right item.

The bairns were engaged in several activities this week using seasonal vegetables. A few of the bairns spent an extended period of time at the work bench figuring out how to get inside a pumpkin. They used all manner of methods including nails, hammers, awls and finally squeezing in the vice. Another group used the vegetables with a set of scales, comparing their size and weight. Then they used child-safe knives to cut them open and find out what was inside. There was rich discussion about the texture of the vegetables (hard, soft, squishy and slimy) and how they were all different inside – “this one doesn’t have any seeds.”.

We visited the playground and the bairns explored all the equipment, using their gross motor skills to climb, swing and balance.

Here is the rest of what’s been happening at nursery this week.