Early Years Term 3 2022/23 – Week 13

March 31, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

We continued our transition for the preschool bairns with more trips to the school play park for break time. The nursery bairns met up with their P6 buddies again. There were many games of duck duck goose, flying high on the swings, catchy and a kick around in the multi-court.

On a hunt for Easter eggs, the bairns found a set of elastics “what are dese?”. After a demonstration from Mrs Meadows, Mrs Smith and Miss Brannan, the bairns took turns to try their jumps. They added rhymes using Alexa to jump in time with the words.

The bairns asked for some Easter books so we gathered a few from the library to add to our bookcase. One of the bairns took in a goose egg. We talked about where it came from and how it might taste, comparing it to our hen’s egg. We prepared hard boiled eggs ready for decorating and rolling. The bairns used paint pens to add their drawings and writing to the egg shells. We headed out to the playpark and found a good hill for rolling. Ready, Set, Go!

The bairns asked if we could visit the houses next to nursery soon. They made Easter cards to deliver to each resident. At each house with someone home, the bairns gave a loud ‘Happy Easter’. It was break time when we came back to school so we headed into the staff room to give cards to Mrs Dade, Mrs Johnson and Miss Hunter.

We were invited, with the school, to the local kirk for an Easter service. The bairns were asked lots of questions about what Easter means to them and what it means to Christians. Then it was time to see who could balance an Easter egg on their head for the longest. It’s almost as tricky as it sounds! We listened to a song on the big screen called God’s Not Dead. Afterwards one of the bairns asked if the kirk had a magic wall! We ended with a short prayer.

We were delighted to have Miss Irvine in for a visit so that we could meet our latest addition to the nursery family. The bairns were really keen to have a hold too. There were lots of smiles and then it was time for a nap!

Early Years Term 3 2022/23 – Week 12

March 24, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Transition started this week with visits to the playpark during morning break time. The nursery bairns buddied up with the Primary 6 pupils. This gives them someone else to go to if they have a question or need help. We’ve already seen great collaborative and imaginative play between the nursery bairns and upper primary bairns.

For the last few months, the bairns have been engaged in water play using baby dolls and imaginative play in the home corner caring for the babies. “You look after the baby, I’m going to work.” This led to a special visitor at nursery. We were delighted to welcome one of our parents and their baby to the setting. The bairns helped to bath and dry the baby and then it was time for snack. The bairns also sang nursery rhymes to the baby.

Beads are a great resource for developing fine motor skills and can be used to support the trajectory schema with the pouring of beads from one vessel to another. We’ve also been working on picking up the beads from the floor to keep it safe. One of the bairns made a shaker instrument using a pot with some beads inside, sealed with a piece of paper which they cut to size before adhering with tape.

While our garden is still under renovation, we headed to the school playground one sunny afternoon. The bairns explored all the equipment, trying new things, making up their own games, assessing their own risk and revisiting play from previous trips. It was great to see the bairns helping their friends on the swings.

We are still immersed in Viking play and today it was the school galley burning for SMUHA. We were lucky to have some of the South Mainland Up Helly Aa squad join us for the burning. Earlier in the morning, the bairns had built a galley using the big blocks in the outdoor room. When we returned to the setting, the bairns revisited this imaginative play by building and burning their galley several times. They also added safety cones to keep everyone watching safe. Three cheers for SMUHA!

Risky play encourages resilience and problem solving and gross motor development. The wall of the outdoor room is often used as a climbing area. The bairns are supported to climb within their limits, thinking ahead to assess how they will get down.

Early Years Term 3 2022/23 – Week 11

March 17, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

There was a theme for this week’s music lesson – Easter chicks! The bairns used hula hoops to pretend they were chicks inside an egg, moving their limbs in time with the music to hatch out of their shell. Next, they moved around the hall in time with the music while doing the actions for various Spring animals. There were some epic moves during the Everybody Do This song! We had another opportunity to practice using the beaters, alternating between right and left hands and then beating with both hands together.

We got back on or bikes this week to practice starting and stopping. The bairns also spent time maneuvering between cones. It’s great to see their confidence building with each session.

During play in the sand pit, some of the bairns decided to take off their shoes and socks to feel the sand between their toes. This led to a beach day. Everybody was doing something different – having a picnic, digging, building sandcastles, sunbathing, paddling, looking for beach treasure, burying feet and taking turns to become a mermaid.

There are always opportunities for games and we love to see the bairns imagination, team work and problem solving happening during these fun activities. Games which have small pieces such as counters, are especially helpful for developing fine motor skills.

Week 10 – 10.3.23

March 10, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(4 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Nursery Up Helly Aa! Everyone has contributed to the ideas, plans and what the Nursery UHA would look like over the last few weeks, the excitement has been building and it has finally come…….

It was great to see so many parents and families lining the pavements and cheering the bairns along at our procession and burning. The singing wasn’t as enthusiastic as it has been in the setting, maybe a bit of stage fright with the audiance. The snow made the occasion even more exciting!

It was fantastic to join the school bairns to welcome the Jarl Squad and musicians into the Hall, the bairns joined in with the singing and cheered loudly. We all enjoyed the song the P1/2 class did for the Jarl and his squad and it got all our toes tapping!

Some of the Jarl squad came into nursery so we could have a close up look at the suits, have a go at holding the shield, axe and trying on the helmets and ask any questions to find out more about their day and night ahead.

Three cheers for SMUHA! Have a great weekend.

Early Years 2022/23 Term 3 – Week 9

March 3, 2023 Mrs Malcolmson Leave a comment

(3 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

Preparations for SMUHA have ramped up this week again! The bairns have made lots of decisions about their galley, shields and torches, developing their language and communication skills. They decided to have a vote to choose the shield background colour and blue was the favourite. Rehearsals for the big day are coming along nicely and we are definitely seeing some galley builders and torch makers of the future.

Thank you so much to everyone who came along to our reading breakfast on World Book Day to help us celebrate our love of books, sharing stories and rhymes. We enjoyed a story filled day using books, story CDs, online stories, puppets, props, QR codes and more, the bairns spent time using the story props to recall familiar books and rhymes and of course add a bit of their own imaginations to the stories to give them a bit of va va voom!