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Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 9

December 22, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Before our party, the bairns got the table ready for snack by setting out the plates, cups and napkins. We went through to the hall to start the games. The bairns decided we should change up Duck Duck Goose with a seasonal version called Santa Santa Reindeer. We had an exciting round of Pass the Reindeer – keep that reindeer moving because if you’re holding it when the music stops, you’re out! The bairns had chosen characters for the corner game – Santa, snowman, reindeer and elf. Then it was a nursery favourite – musical statues. We got into teams of five for a snowball and spoon race. Our last game was party blower snowballs and it was full of fun and excitement. We went back through to nursery to refuel with our party snack. The games continued with Pin the Nose on the Reindeer.

We set out a mixing/baking provocation and it didn’t take long for the bairns to decide to create their own version of the Great British Bake Off. The Great Cunningsburgh Bake Off was born! A couple of the bairns went round with a clipboard asking their friends if they would like to take part. Once the list of contestants had been finalised, it was time to start baking. The bairns decided to make cookies. During their bake, the judge would come round offering words of encouragement. The bairns created their cookies independently, only needing help to read the steps of the recipe. There were some interesting flavour choices too!

After the cookies had been baked, the judging table was made ready. Mr Clark joined one of the bairns to complete the judging panel. They sampled the cookies one by one. Some of the comments made were “Really love that one with the chocolate in it”, “I think it’s minty, I wasn’t expecting mint” and “I think I need a drink”. As the judges were sampling the cookies, they tested them to hear their snap. When it come to choosing a winner, there was a clear favourite with the judges agreeing which cookie was the tastiest.

The bairns came up with a great idea for our calendar delivery for the residents next to nursery – rustic wreaths. Mrs Smith brought in her collection of dried flowers, berries and foliage and we gathered bits and pieces from the nursery garden. The bairns used wet glue to attach their elements, creating beautiful one-of-a-kind wreaths. Once everything was dry, we photographed the wreaths to make the calendars.

The bairns made up pockets with a tea bag and chocolate biscuit to go along with their calendars. Then it was time to head out for delivery. The bairns sang songs from their concert performance – Jingle Bells, We Wish You A Merry Christmas and Rocking Around the Christmas Tree.

We were delighted to welcome back Eleanor Hutcheon, Local STEM Co-ordinator for a session focusing on engineering. The bairns listened to the information and used the Kapla blocks to build towers, make letters and numbers, create steps and used their imagination to make shapes including a person, a spider and a house. They also used the blocks to make and solve sums.

Our Advent calendar is getting pretty empty now! We had three more boxes to open at the start of the week. The bairns have been coming together to see who will open the next box. We pull out a name from a dish and the bairns sound out the letters to read the name.

We had our Christmas dinner of turkey and all the trimmings followed by apple crumble and ice cream this week. There were crackers to pull, party hats to wear and plenty of jokes to share. What do you get it you cross Santa with a detective? Santa Clues! Between courses the bairns played pass the parcel, trying to unravel a tightly wrapped Santa. Afterwards we gathered in the quiet room for the gift presentation. Each bairn listened for their name before collecting their parcel. We hope you love what’s inside but don’t wait until Christmas Day to open the wrapping.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. We are already looking forward to hearing all your festive news next term from Tuesday 9 January.

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 8

December 15, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

We held our annual Christmas concert this week and the bairns were all superstars. We started by jingling bells as we entered the hall and then sang Jingle Bells, followed by a welcoming Merry Christmas song that included signing. The bairns took to the drums for an African-inspired tune that we learned with Joy Duncan during our drumming sessions. We went back to our Shetland roots next with a rendition of Boanie Tammy. Then the bairns played various instruments for Santa Went Riding with his Reindeer. To finish, the bairns went Rocking Around the Christmas Tree and ended with We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

We were delighted to see so many parents and grandparents at our Winter Stay and Play. The bairns proudly showed off their nursery, taking their grown ups around to see their favourite spaces. We loved seeing how much fun you all had decorating trees, taking tinsel selfies and exploring the outdoor room.

The bairns have continued to open our Advent Calendar this week, with many of them being so patient for their turn. The bairns have been cheering each other on during the unboxing.

This is an overview of the learning and play that took place this week. The bairns have been engaged in making their own village, creating the road, shops, a garage and post office. The bairns put forward their ideas for the name of the village, before deciding by majority vote that Sparkles was the winner.

We had the bikes out in the hall for the afternoon. The bairns took turns on the bikes, following the white lines, practicing stopping and using the bell when they spotted a hazard. In the other end of the hall, we played ball games including Garden Scramble, Flush the Toilet, Follow the Lines and Escape the Crocodile. We had to take a walk outside afterwards to cool down!

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 7

December 8, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

One of our lovely neighbours donated a whole box of wooden train track pieces. The bairns have been building different tracks all week, connecting the pieces in a variety of shapes and making good use of the space in the quiet room.

We encourage the bairns to look after their nursery by picking things up and putting them back where they belong. We’ve seen lots of great helpers this week. The bairns also help themselves to water during lunch by filling up the jug at the sink. Although, it’s not always tidying – “I’m not tidying up, I’m getting ready for mums and dads coming.”

Here is a summary of the rest of our learning and development for the week. There has been lots of interest in small world play, building and role play.

We’ve been opening our advent calendar each day by picking names out of a hat. The bairns have been keen to see what will be in the box.

One of the bairns asked for a large piece of paper to draw around her friend. We found a roll of wallpaper and the bairns secured it at the corners with heavy items from around nursery. The bairns took turns laying down or drawing. We extended this by comparing the length of the drawings and adding our names.

We have been exploring the gym equipment in the hall and the bairns have been increasing in confidence, trying more adventurous moves and climbing higher. The rope swings have been a tricky piece of apparatus to master but the bairns have persevered and their swinging skills have developed, allowing them to swing with one or two ropes at a time.

The bairns have been engaged in lots of Christmas activities this week. They’ve made cards and pictures, decorated a large Christmas tree with loose parts embellishments, created pin pictures and found out how to cut out Christmas jumpers on a Cricut paper-cutting machine.

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 6

December 1, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

After our music practice, we headed through to the soft play area and the bairns used the gross motor skills for climbing, jumping and balancing. They also explored the role play area and made models using the magnetic bars.

We headed down to the Salvation Army polycrub on the bus and when we arrived there were lots of jobs to keep us busy. The bairns trimmed the geranium plants and repotted their cuttings to take home. They made room for some new geranium plants and had a smell of garlic. The bairns even found some loose parts (plant pots) to make a telephone! They fed the chickens and visited the goats in their new home inside the second polycrub.

The bairns have been engaged in building structures using Magna-Tiles, such as houses, castles, garages and a spaceship. They incorporate their imaginative play and have spent extended periods of time creating their own settings.

The Library Van came back for a visit and the bairns headed aboard in small groups. Each group chose a book to take back to nursery. In their groups, they discussed why their book should be chosen and we ended up with a great variety from Sir Scallywag and the Deadly Dragon Poo to a factual book about giant machines.

A bairn with a keen interest in ice cream wondered about how it was made. We found a recipe on the iPad and after watching a video, we wrote out a shopping list and gathered the ingredients. The bairns added the sugar, cream, vanilla and milk to one bag and the salt and ice to another and got to shaking. After the ice cream had formed it was time to have a taste “yummy”, “it’s very cold”, “it’s a bit icy”. If you fancy making your own, it only takes 6 minutes!

How To Make Ice Cream In A Bag – My Fussy Eater | Easy Family Recipes

Here are the rest of our photos of learning and fun from this week. The bairns have been playing lots of different games and making up their own.

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.

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 1

October 27, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson 1 Comment

(2 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

We were delighted to welcome the bairns back this week after our October break. It was an exciting first morning with a trip to Lerwick on the service bus to see Paper Moon, an interactive adventure show featuring Poppy and her dog Peppy. We meet Poppy and Peppy and find out they love all things space. Poppy dozes off under the bright light of the moon. This is just the start of the adventure. Suddenly, Poppy wakes up to discover that MoonMoo (the cow that jumped over the moon) has got stuck on the Moon! Poppy and Peppy begun their mission to rescue MoonMoo and with the help of the bairns they walked on the moon, fought off a meteorite and found MoonMoo. After the show we went on a quick walk which took us around the water’s edge at North Ness. The bairns were curious to find out what was inside the big red squares on the wall. We had a look and found life rings showing the words Lerwick Harbour. We spoke about how these could be used to help rescue someone who had fallen into the sea by helping them float and be pulled back to shore.

The bairns have been engaged in various fine motor activities this week. This has also involved imaginary play in the small world area and playdough station.

Childsmile visited this week and the bairns brushed their teeth following the directions.

The bairns have settled back into the nursery routines which has supported their play. We’ve noticed how much collaborative play has taken place this week already. The bairns have discussed the best way to include their friends, how they want to continue their imaginative play and worked together to build.