nature | Cunningsburgh Early Years 2023-24 Term 2

(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.

(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 9

Early Years 2023-24 Term 2 Week 5