Wow it’s great to be back! We are so delighted to see the children back in the setting again and, considering the length of time they have been away, they have all settled back in so well and seem very pleased to see each other and to get learning through play.

This week has been all about settling in, re-establishing friendships, starting to make new friends, re-discovering the nursery areas and getting back into the routine.

The outdoor space has provided us with so many opportunities for group play and co-operation.

We did a lot of digging in the big sand area, sharing tools, taking turns and talking about what treasures and objects we might find. Annie asked for her legs to be buried under the sand. Harry and Elsie worked together to make this happen.

Our new outdoor water tap has proved to be a big hit. Children took turns to fill different sized containers with water and then used it in their imaginary play. Maggie, Joanna and Emmie painted the decking of their house and Freya, Harry and Maisie painted pictures and made marks as part of their police play.

Harry and William spent time catching and cleaning dinosaurs together.

Building obstacle courses to stay out of “the lava” and “the water” helped us work together and share our ideas. Freya discovered that the See-Saw was nice and long to shuffle across but when placed on a slope gravity pulled everyone off and they splashed into the ground giggling!!

The boat has also been a great place to share play, ideas and space. James and Freya caught a lot of fish. Ali rowed to the pier so that the delivery person could take the “cheese” on board.

Snack and lunch times help us to learn and to follow daily routines, to sit down together and to share personal space. Pasta was very popular this week and we all tried hard to use our forks to stab the single pieces!

We have shared personal space and our thoughts and ideas when building using Lego blocks, Duplo blocks and the big blocks this week.

James and Ertie worked together, deciding where to put the blocks and discussing what they were building.

Jackson and Jordie took their time to balance blocks when making “a human”. They took turns to put a block on top. James, Lewis, Harry and Max built a long road to the ferry terminal and discussed what time the ferry was leaving. A lot of cars missed the boat and had to wait for the next sailing!

 

Harry and Sophia shared Lego and played alongside each other building their own designs.

Working together and solving problems in the water and sand trays helped us to ask each other questions and give instructions. James and Jackson explored how to twist and screw lids to keep the water inside and then listened to each other and worked together to fill containers.

Ertie wanted to build a sandcastle and asked Sophia to help knock it into place.

During pretend play in the home corner Max and Freddie discussed phone numbers so they could call different people. Micah waited for them to dial her number so she could chat.

Freya taught Elsie how to make a volcano using playdough. There was a lot of discussion about the shape it needed to be.

And Maggie decided to design boxes for her “insects”. She explained her ideas to Joanna who then decided to design a box as well.

Finally, we welcomed Thea into nursery this week. She drew a lovely picture to mark her first day 🙂