Pumpkin Fun

The bairns have been using a large pumpkin to build on their fine motor skills.  They have hammered in golf tees, nails and pegs.  When there were no more items to hammer in, the bairns used tweezers to pull them out and start again.  One of the bairns decided that the pumpkin looked like a dinosaur body and added a cardboard head with sharp teeth.  The bairns also used different sized pumpkins for sorting and patterns.  “Peerie, bigger, bigger, biggest.”  “Little, medium, big, massive.”  “Peerie, small, big, giant.”  “Peerie, big, peerie, big.”

Special Visitor

We had a very special visitor to nursery this week.  Her big brother was so proud to show off his new baby sister.  The bairns were keen to find out about the baby – “How many poops?”  “Does she sleep?”  What food does she eat?”  “Does she have a bath?”  The bairns saw the baby being fed and changed, and had some more comments – “Was she drinking?”  “Is she going to cry?”  “Aw, she is so tiny.”  “I was a baby and I used to poop in my nappy.”

Tesco Trip

We took a small group of bairns up to Tesco to get some vegetables to give to the sheltered housing residents before the end of term.  The bairns used the self-scanner for their items.  They noticed that Tesco had no loose carrots or broccoli.  “Da boat didn’t come in.”  However, when they got to the tinned goods aisle, the bairns saw that they could buy cans of carrots.  They also found “freezed vegetables” in the freezer aisle in bags.  After checking out, the bairns looked at all the information on the receipt.  On the way home, they met Brenda the nursery cleaner on the bus.

Harvest Delivery

The bairns decorated paper bags with drawings and cut-outs of vegetables.  We discussed how the vegetables grow in the ground.  We added the vegetables that the bairns brought back from their Tesco trip and made up gift bags for the sheltered housing residents. “Dat smells nice.”  “We were at Tesco’s on da bus and get dis things.”

The bairns also watched an educational film about harvest which described the meaning of harvest, gathering up crops, sharing with the community, sharing a feast at home and different types of harvests – eggs, grain and fish.  The bairns also learned how to make a scarecrow.

We went for a walk around the sheltered houses and dropped off our bags of vegetables.  The bairns wished the residents a Happy Harvest.  The bairns made roast tatties to use up the leftover tatties.  They peeled the tatties, we par-boiled them and then air-fried them for our lunch to go with the roast chicken dinner.

Suits

The bairns have been practicing how to put on their suits before heading outside, now that the wetter weather seems to be here to stay.  We encourage them to try the steps that they find tricky first before offering help.

SHINE and Morning Routine

Our school Charter for learning and teaching uses the acronym SHINE, which stands for successful, happy, independent, nurtured and engaged.  We have examples of how the bairns’ experiences fit into each of these.  During the first term, we have updated the wall to include quotes and photos.  “I do sharing with my new friends, sharing is always caring.”  “I’m helping my friend on da mushroom.”  “I put things at my peg.”  “Mam no come a nursery, just me.”  “Bairns get cuddles if dey are greetin.”  “I did all da bits.”

As part of the Zones of Regulation, we use the 3R’s of Regulate, Relate and Reason.  The bairns use their peg people to let us know how they are feeling when they arrive in the morning and can change zones at any time, depending on how their day is going.  We support them through co-regulation and find ways to discuss what happened when they are regulated again.

Learning through Landscapes (Thursday)

There were plenty of muddy puddles to explore down at the burn this week.  We set up our ticks and crosses for our Risk Assessment to show where was safe and unsafe.  We gathered mud to make paint and then used an old roll of wallpaper to create a natural masterpiece!  We used paintbrushes to draw shapes, characters and crosses.  Then we splattered with the watery mud across the paper.  We tried printing with leaves dipped in the muddy paint and watched the drips travel down the paper.  During free play, we went on a spider hunt, threw rocks into the burn and watch sticks travel with the current.

Light Box (Wednesday-Thursday)

We added some sea glass to the light box and the bairns created fantastic designs, including families, shapes and landscapes.

Outdoor Play (Monday-Friday)

Our outdoor play focused on using natural resources to make star wands, sand pit digging and muddy puddle fun.

Block Play (Monday-Friday)

The bairns use the large hollow blocks and smaller blocks inside for so many creative ideas.  This week they have used the large hollow blocks to create a stage, perform a concert and travelled to lots of different planets on a spaceship.  The bairns discussed how their planet had no water and they would have to find some on another planet.  They watched a video about how astronauts have dried food packets and how they have to use water to make it edible.  They were interested to find out that food floats inside the rocket in space.