Whalsay Early Years Blog 2021/22

The final week of term seems to have passed very fast. We were very excited to show some of our family members, and friends who will start nursery after summer, around the setting this week. Hopefully opportunities like these will become the new normal of our future.

Thank you to everyone who came and who bought delicious home bakes.

We also had a short visit from an octopus this week! We learned some interesting facts. They can change colour so that they can hide, they live in salt water, they have three hearts and nine brains which makes them very very clever. We were very quiet around the octopus so it didn’t get scared.

And now the time has come to wish our pre-school children all the best for their new adventures in Primary school. What a wonderful bunch they are! We will miss them a lot but know that they are ready for the next part of their learning journey.

“Whether you colour the world or light it up blue – you are making a difference, so keep being you.” (Dr Seuss)

Have a super duper summer break everybody!

This week new shovels and buckets arrived which inspired us to get digging! We shared our new resources and our ideas as we created castles, brochs and moats of different sizes. As we discussed our ideas we used our numeracy and literacy skills as we worked together, listened to each other and solved problems such as sand amount, consistency and best digging technique. We used our new buckets to fill moats with water to “stop the monsters getting in”. As we poured water into sand we started to use this in different ways. We made cement and created construction sites. We dug holes as deep as we could, taking turns, giving each other encouragement and advice as we dug, checking how wide and deep our holes were and then filled these holes with water too.

During our digging we often found “treasure” which included “diamonds, crystals, gold and emelllarlds (emeralds)” We found a little pot to clean our treasures so we could see them better. We used a lot of language when discussing and comparing our treasures. “My wan is green and shiny”, “look at dis it’s gotten aa smooth noo”, “I tink dis is a piece o a shell, it has runkled bits.” Discussing the features of our treasures and using, and learning, descriptive words is great for our literacy development.

Our new buckets were well used at the water hose this week too. We quickly discovered that filling them all the way to the top made them too heavy to carry so we used other utensils to scoop water from the buckets and transport it to where we wanted. The water was used to make a selection of soups and hot drinks. It was poured down pipes and through pipes to create “drains” and used to create “waterfalls”, puddles and swamps. Playing with water in these ways increases our numeracy skills as we learn about weight, volume and amount, direction and speed.

Indoors our interest in castle building and pouring was also obvious as we used large and small blocks to create towers and castles and spent time making “sandfalls” using a funnel in the sand area.

As we discussed how moats around our castles outdoors stopped unwanted visitors this interest in boundary lines extended into other areas of our play. We created “stop” and “do not enter” signs, created barriers using natural resources and cones outdoors. Indoors we made bridges and with blocks that could be walked over and also acted as a barrier to movement. Some of us had a great idea of making a domino barrier and, with a little support, created domino paths of different lengths and shapes.

As you can see we have developed lots of literacy, numeracy and social skills through our play this week and have been able to extend our interests throughout all spaces in the nursery. We look forward to sharing more with you next week.

What a busy week we’ve had! Sports day at the start, moving up day near the end and our mid week treat – a day trip to visit the museum in Lerwick!

We enjoyed sitting upstairs on the Linga, seeing the boats at the pier and watching Whalsay disappear into the distance as we got closer to Laxo.

We had a super duper time, learning about the past and exploring interesting objects. We were excellent at listening to our teachers and staying in our “teams” as we explored the whole building. We did our school proud 🙂

After all the exploring we were very hungry. We used the learning room in the museum as our packed lunch spot. We had a sociable lunch, chatting together about what we had seen and liked, and drawing some pictures.

After our time in the museum we got another special treat…a walk to the lifeboat pier, to Bain’s beach and…. a visit to the Lerwick playpark! What a great way to end our day.

No wonder we were tired on the bus journey back to Laxo after such a fun day out!

During the term our love of, and interest in nature, has continued. Now as we near the end of term we have our own tadpole and frog area, bug house, trees growing and even starlings nesting under the peerie house! This week we’d like to share some photos that have not been included in past nature themed blogs to show you how we are becoming responsible individuals who care about each other, nature and our planet.

When playing outdoors we often discover little creatures sharing our space. We’ve welcomed spiders (and learned how they make webs), slugs, snails, slaters and centipedes with lots of legs….and the starlings with their nest of eggs.

We’ve made a wormery, collected tadpoles to give them a home and rescued tired bees by feeding them sugar water. We’ve grown our own trees by keeping them sheltered and giving them water and we’ve explored other trees through our play.

Our adventures with nature has inspired our play as we have pretended to be tadpoles swimming, frogs hopping and balancing on logs, hopping bunnies, worms rolling, flies buzzing in spider webs and spiders spinning sticky and non-sticky silken threads.

Thanks for visiting our blog this week. As summer days set in and we naturally spend more time out in nature we are excited to continue our learning and deepen our knowledge.

Over the past few weeks we have been learning about the queen by looking at books and the internet and having lots of discussions. This week we have celebrated her reign in lots of different ways. Have a look at some of the things we’ve been doing.

We made our bunting and chose where to hang it up in the setting.

We ate some traditional British food for snack, such as crumpets and scones with strawberries and cream.

We decorated picnic boxes and enjoyed our jubilee picnic experience.

Outdoors we used red, white, blue and purple paint to create some lovely big pieces of art.

We learned about some London bridges and made some bridges of our own, inspired by what we had seen.

The queen came to visit for a short time.

Some of us were keen to make, create and decorate crowns and became princes, princesses, kings and queens.

To complete our celebrations before the long weekend we joined the Toddlers on their “Big Toddle”. The fire engine followed us too which was VERY exciting.

And on Wednesday afternoon we welcomed our families into the setting. It was so lovely to be able to show our families around!

Happy platinum jubilee to everyone and we wish you all a great long weekend!

We’d like to share some of our brilliant building with you this week. Every week we explore, investigate and construct using a variety of resources and materials. Constructive play helps to extend our ideas and imaginations and helps us to use, and develop, lots of skills such as: planning, drawing, cutting, assembling, moulding, stacking and testing!

Before we build we often use paper and pens to plan our creations. This week we included propellers, masts and portholes in our plans and used photos of familiar boats to help us notice detail. Discussing our drawings and what we see in pictures is a great way for us to develop talking and listening skills and extends our vocabulary.

We used the big blocks and woodwork bench to build piers, harbours, mazes, mouse homes, cruise ships and lifeboats and worked together to stack single unit blocks and large blocks to cover a window. By working together in pairs and small groups we learn to listen, take turns and co-operate with each other. Actions such as passing each other the correct pieces and listening to each others ideas allows us to engage with each other and to contribute towards a shared goal. Through building we also use many parts of our bodies as we crawl, stretch and pull large blocks which develops our muscles for sitting and writing.

Outdoors we built roads, ramps, sand castles and boats. We had to use a lot of problem solving skills as the weather affected our building materials. The wind blew masts over and the rain made building areas squashy. As we built we learned to adapt our approaches, take advice, test ideas and reassess our options. Using smaller bits of wood helped develop our fine motor skills and precision.

This week some of us used connecting blocks to build cranes. Some cranes became very very tall!! As we built we began to use vocabulary linked to spatial reasoning such as below, on top, next to, besides and above. We measured our cranes and spoke about how big and long they were.

We tried to build a crane outside but quickly became much more interested in how the wind affected the string. The crane developed into a wind sock instead! We found tarpaulin in the shed and asked for help to build a “bairn shelter”. When experimenting with different materials and discovering new uses for these the possibilities for building and for developing creativity become endless.

We hope you’ve enjoyed a peek at some of our constructive play this week and look forward to sharing more learning with you next week.

Last term, and this term, many of us have shown an interest in fire engines and fire officer play so Miss Stewart organised a trip for us to visit the local fire station on Wednesday. We were all very excited to hear that Peter Walker was going to meet us there and open the station so we could explore the fire engine!

During our walk to the station we discussed what we know about fire engines and what we might see there. “They put out fires,” “there’s a water hose”, “the hose is really big”, “it makes a loud noise”, “the lights might flash”. We could see the fire station in the distance when we got behind the school. Walking to local places is a great way for us to connect with our community and develop awareness of where important places are such as the fire station. On our walk we were careful to be quiet near the sheep and lambs and to stay far away from bird nests too. Being respectful towards nature around us is very important for our social and emotional development and helps us become responsible citizens of the future.

Once we got to the station we enjoyed some time playing in the long grass while we waited. We noticed bees, insects and different coloured flowers as well as experienced the sensory sounds, smells and feelings of the grass as we rolled, ran, sat and lay in it together.

Before Peter opened the big doors of the station we posed for some photos and looked around us to see if there were any signs that could show us that we were at the right place. We saw the fire station sign and some of us recognised some of the letters, “I hae a S in my name,” There is the fire sign”, “I see a big sized C”.

We were all very excited when the big doors opened and very eager to walk around the big huge truck. Peter kindly showed us equipment such as the water hoses, the controls inside the cabin and the flashing lights! We took turns to explore all of these things. Some of us wanted to try on the fire officer hat too! Seeing the fire engine in a real life context helped us link what we had seen in books and on the Smartboard with reality and to learn more about the role of a fire officer. We also used our numeracy and literacy skills as we counted a lot of hoses, saw a lot of different gadgets and were amazed at how high up we had to climb to get into the driver seat. We noticed letters and numbers on the fire engine too.

At the end of our visit we thanked Peter, posed for some more photos and enjoyed some puddle splashing time before walking back up the hill to nursery.

What a wonderful morning. A HUGE thank you to Peter for being so kind as to show us around and spend time with us. THANK YOU PETER!

Every day, through our play, we learn and develop our mathematical knowledge and skills. We’d like to share some examples of what we have been learning this week.

Our interest in playing with water never ebbs and the weather has provided us with natural changes in quantity, flow and direction of water this week too which has been great for deepening our numeracy learning. Using jugs to pour small quantities of water allowed some of us to explor how water runs down hill, how fast/slow it moves and how we can change it’s direction. Through this play we also explored gravity, force, speed, time and direction.

A volcano at the water tap taught us how air inside water creates bubbles. We discovered the right amount of pressure to exert on the tap to get the best bubbling volcano and listened to words such as “clockwise” and “anti-clockwise”. As the “lava” poured out we noticed that the water was having an effect on the cardboard too. Through our play we learned about changing materials, absorption and how long it took for water to soak through as we peeled back the layers of cardboard. Of course our “litter” needed to be taken away for recycling which included giving each other instructions and ensuring the right quantity was being transported!

As we filled jugs, containers and buckets we discovered how water can affect weight. We can carry small jugs but not large buckets when they are full and our diggers can carry more weight than we can. We used words like “heavy”, “light”, “heavier/lighter”. The large red bucket was used for many things this week. We stirred in different directions and in circles, we filled it “nearly to the top” so babies could be bathed and discovered how the water would spill over the side when more than one baby was in the bath.

By exploring the effects that rain had we noticed how the angles of the pavement directed water, we discovered drainage routes and had lots of opportunities to explore puddle depth and length as well as water displacement in another context.

Indoors the water tray was also used as a baby bath. We shared the babies between us, sometimes having one each and sometimes having one baby between more than one person. We explored the effects of large and small sponges on the amount of water that would clean the babies and took turns wiping them clean using counting as our timer. As we played in the water we explored pouring from different sized and shaped containers and how we could affect the speed and direction of the water. Some of us wanted to make cement in the sand. We used our knowledge of measure to get the right consistency by adding water or sand to our container. We explored the ratios through counting scoops of sand and water as we mixed.

There has also been a lot of mixing mathematics at the mud kitchen this week. We made “bolognaise”, “soup”, “cups of tea” and “pasta”. As we created these delicious meals and drinks we counted ingredients and how many scoops, we compared size and experimented with measurement, volume and capacity as we emptied and filled pots, pans and cups.

What better way to develop our maths knowledge and skills than through playing shops. This week some of us found a money jar in the resource cupboard and decided to create a shop. We cut our own shopping lists into rectangles and made signs to advertise our shop and it’s opening hours. We discussed why the shop was open through the day time and not at night. We took turns at being customers and shop assistants, talking about the price of our goods, how many things we wanted, what could fit in our baskets and bags and looking for numbers on the calculator “till”. We dialled phone numbers to order goods and some of us “baked” biscuits and sausage rolls for the shop using playdough. Throughout our shop play we deepened our awareness of how money is used, what it is used for and how exchange works. We talked about big and small numbers and had a go at writing some numbers. We learned words such as “expensive” and “cheap” and how that links to money and number. As we decided on what to buy and sell we categorised, sorted and matched and when we baked for the shop we compared shape, size and amounts. So much maths and so much fun!

We hope you’ve enjoyed seeing some of the ways we’ve been developing our numeracy skills this week and look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week.

This week we’d like to share our love of, and interest in, frogs and flowers with you 🙂 We have been keen to visit the pond this week as some of us remembered that there had been frogs there last Friday.  Before we went to the pond on Tuesday Miss Sandison read us a short book about the lifecycle of a frog, what they like to eat and what likes to eat them! Learning about biodiversity at an early age helps us to become responsible citizens. This means we develop respect for nature and for other people and are more likely to participate in political, economic, social and cultural life as adults. During the week some of us have chosen to look at non fiction books about frogs and other amphibians.

Each time we walked to the pond and back we looked at flowers and insects and talked about what we could see and hear. Being aware of what we can see and hear around us is one of the ways we develop listening skills which we need to use for learning. We asked questions like “Whar did dis flooers grow fae?” and compared colours and shapes of petals and leaves, “dis leaves ir zigzag”, “yun een is no opened yet”, “dir is a fly on it”, “I hear a bee!”. We took turns at using the camera to take photos which is a good way to develop our skills in using technology.

Back in the setting we have explored and learned more about frogs through play at the water tray. Miss Sandison created “frogspawn” using water beads, flies and tadpoles too to enhance our play. There was a lot of discussion during out frog play and a lot of learning. “Froogs go in the water”, “I saw a green frog”, “tadpoles turns into froogs”, “They stick oot dir tongues lik dis”, “Oh yum I’m catched a flea!”, “The flies go in dir bellies”, “I had tadpoles, dey growed into froogs”, “Dey sook up flies. I sook up noodles”, “we need to weet wir hands afore we touch the frog”, “people hae lungs so dey can breathe. Frogs hae lungs”, “his tail is disappearing”, “dis tadpole is breathing under water”, “dis is whar the mam frog is sitting, up on d log”, “5 little speckled frogs…”, “Let’s collect lots of frogspawn”, “I’ll help fill dee jug with frogs eggs”, “They need water,”, “The eegs need to bide in the water to grow”, “my froog jumped right high up”, “ok my frog splashes in d pond when he sees dee,” “it’s squishy”….and so much more interesting play and discussion!

Exploring our interests together in this way is fundamental for our literacy and numeracy development and helps us to understand our world as we learn about where living things come from and how they grow and change through our play, we talk and co-operate with each other, share ideas and thoughts and explore quantity, pattern, number and amount in meaningful contexts.

Our interest in flowers has also been deeply explored this week. We used paint and rolls of wallpaper outside to create flower pictures and many other interesting designs. Rolling paint across large surfaces is a great way to develop our shoulder stability and wrist strength which helps us write in the future. There are many interesting sights and sounds outdoors which can inspire us to draw and paint in new and different ways too. Through this type of play we learn how to express our ideas, thoughts and feelings as well as discover new ways to create images. Real flowers have been a source of creative inspiration indoors too. Some of us practised our scissor skills by cutting parts of the flowers before using the parts on our pictures or to make decorative bouquets. Exploring the parts of the flowers in depth, through dissection and printing or painting develops our scientific understanding as well as our literacy and numeracy skills as we learn about the parts of flowers, use new words and vocabulary, count, compare and contrast.

We hope our blog post has put a spring in your step for the weekend and look forward to sharing more of our learning with you next week.