We have seen the welcome return of milder weather this week, meaning we have been able to explore outdoor areas a little more.
In the Nursery Garden, we were geared up and ready to explore our water way resources. The children are able to access the outdoor tap independently, and experiment with the different lengths and heights of pipe to see how quickly or slowly the water flowed. “Dat wan was really quick!”
There was a lot of interest in this experience as well new vocabulary used and lots of exploring and learning opportunities.
The children and staff took a walk to the loch this week, to see if there were any swans to be spotted. Wrapped up warmly and armed with lots of bread for the birds, the group set off. Unfortunately, despite a thorough search, there were no swans to be seen or fed, however the opportunity to get beyond the Nursery and explore the community was not wasted. There was lots of other birds to see, as well as people in the community and a chance to speak about the weather about us.
We look forward to being out and about in groups a bit more, exploring all the things we can see and experience in our outdoor community. Give us a wave if you happen to see us!
The children have spent time exploring magnets this week. They were testing to see how well they could stick to items in the nursery as well and how much weight they could bear without sliding down a surface. There were lots of problem solving opportunities, patterns made and followed as well as following instructions.
It was also a good opportunity to make dens and investigate the properties of 2D and 3D shapes. We have spoken about sides, corners, angles, squares, circles, triangles and even pyramids. We were also delighted to see the reflections on the wall when the sun was shining really brightly.
We found some more instructions in a super cook-book, and spoke about oven temperature as well as ingredients and how the illustrations were helping us to understand what to do next. The instructions were numbered, so we knew which order they were to be completed in. Some children were also able to talk about which numbers they recognised in the instructions.
The children have been making waffles this morning. We followed the recipe, took turns to add the ingredients and then really enjoyed eating them for snack too.
There are lots of opportunities through the week for children to explore fine and gross motor skill development. This week, there has been some junk models made as well as a painting, drawing, gluing, cutting and sticking. This is a super time to make marks, practice holding a pen or pencil and speak about letters too. All the children are encouraged to explore and develop their skills, write their own names on their art work and creations, and extend their writing skills when the time is right.
There has been an interest in writing labels and signs this week. Brilliant!
There has been a lot of digging outside in the chips and pouring water to fill a variety of containers in the water tray. Such a lot of working together and learning through play and nature this week in Tingwall Nursery.
Next week are are planning to speak about taking care of ourselves, each other and our resources, as well as finding out about Up-Helly-Aa.
Have a super weekend and we look forward to seeing you again next week.
