Lots of photos for families to see this week, as we have been so busy! What an engaging week the children have had as the routines of the nursery day start to become more familiar.

Again we have had visitors in to the nursery, Elizabeth from Childsmile has been in this week, reminding us about how to have healthy teeth and gums, and the importance of good regular tooth brushing.

We have had music and gym this week.  There is no need to bring short for gym at the moment, the children can just wear clothes that are easy to move around in (as they do most days).  We are often climbing, running, jumping, visiting the park and using the equipment there, and sometimes follow some stretches on-line too.

In number work this week, we have been making our own dice games and seeing if we can recognise dice patterns.  This has also allowed us to look at double and near double numbers in our counting.  We have been adding how many spots all together on two dice and collecting the correct number of counters to match.

We have been exploring our fine motor skills to pick up small things and place accurately, we have been drawing and painting picture with paints as well as pens, pencils and chalks.  We are lucky to have a variety of materials and surfaces to practice on.

We have been exploring shapes in the blocks and in the construction area too.

In the water tray, the children have been using their imaginations, and exploring the properties of water.  There has been a coffee machine, which made so many different types of coffee in the indoor outdoor cafe.  The same resources were used to make a shower for the divers.

Our creative ideas and thinking extends through all areas of the nursery.  On Tuesday, “The ewes escaped” and some of our bairns spent a long time trying to round them up again.  It was hard work and a bit frustrating at times, but thankfully the quad came out in the end and they were all safely back in their park before we went home.  We sand about “Old MacDonald” and Lee helped us to sign as we sang.

Snack time is a super opportunity to take time to chat as well as progress our skills in spreading and using cutlery.

We enjoyed a rainy walk on Wednesday, then were singing “I hear thunder” before our lunch.  We investigated the rose hip on the rose bushes, and have spoken about the seeds we are starting to see at this time of year.

Playing, learning and growing together has been great fun at Tingwall Nursery this week.  We are looking forward to more of the same next week.

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

It has been so lovely to welcome back both our returning children and some new starts this week.  The older children have helped to show the younger ones where things are kept, and around our environment.  Children have explored the blocks, painting, the new workbench and tools, numbers, making marks and of course all the skills that going along with being in a larger group play environment.

We have also welcomed our newest member of staff Rachel Morris to our team this week.  Rachel is a Practitioner, who has replaced Linda after her retirement.

There was a very friendly visitor this week to the nursery, who had beautiful blue eyes, as well as being soft and fluffy.  We were delighted to meet Anya’s new cat.

It has been super to be outside together playing and learning.  We have discovered raspberries growing in the garden, as well as taking the opportunity to measure some of the wild flowers growing.  “Which one is the longest?”  “How does this flower smell?”

Both of the outside space have been explored and developed with the changing play this week.  We have had window washing, that developed into a car wash!  We have rediscovered the mud kitchen, that developed into a “clear out” of some of the things needing to go to the “recycling bins” before we could make dandelion soup!

We have had quiet time relaxing outside, as well as time to jump, run, chase, throw and catch.  We have been very busy.

We have heard a lot of “big questions” this week.  Whilst 2 boys were outside playing in the water area, one of them commented “I wonder where the water comes from?”

It is such a privilege to work with this age and stage of learners, as they are so curious, enquiring and they have so much they want to communicate to the noticing adults around them.  We will continue to capture these big questions and the learning opportunities that arise, in the children’s learning journals.

These will be sent home each term for parents to see what they have been working on.  We will also be sending home some “more about me” sheets, so we can work in partnership with parents and carers about what features in their bairns’ learning and development at home too.  The children’s “personal plans” will be updated again, so this is another area that we work closely with parents and carers on.  Please be in touch if you have any comments or questions about any aspect of Nursery life.

We look forward to working well within our community in this new session.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!