It’s been another busy week of learning through play at nursery. Here are a few of the things we’ve been up to.

Lottie, Alfie and Harry spent time at the beginning of the week building with blocks outdoors. During construction there was a lot of discussion about what each of us were building. “I’m biggin’ a road” (Alfie), “I am making a garage for the cars.” (Harry), “I’m biggin’ something wi dis shapes on tap.” (Lottie). Creating in this way develops our language and communication skills as we discuss our structures and what they represent. We also developed numeracy skills during building such as pattern making, learning about 3D shapes, comparing size, using positional language and problem solving.

“I hae two triangles noo. One of them is lower doon”

“I need to pit on annider bit at the front.”

“Noo the cars can park at the front!”

“Dis bit is at d front and dis bit is at d back so that the top piece canoo fall ower.” Harry made sure his garage was sturdy and functional.

Alfie realised his road was too narrow. He solved the problem by widening the end of his road. “I can fit more cars on noo!”

We have also been developing our strength, balance and sensory systems outdoors this week, all of which are essential for being able to sit, write and focus later on in our school journey.

At the start of the week some of us wanted to climb on the wall and jump off. We discussed height and how the wall got higher as we moved along. It was important to balance, take our time and assess how safe we felt.

We agreed that a safer place to practice climbing would be on the grass area. We chose planks of wood and placed them at different heights to walk along just as we’d explored on the wall. Moving up and down the angled plank helps develop our linear sensory system.

“I can jump fae dis height and land on my feet!” (Alfie). “It’s a bit wobbly and bouncy” (Sophie)

Placing a tray underneath the middle of the plank helped solve the  bouncy wobble a little…

A sturdy step underneath solved the bouncy wobble completely. “I can walk the whole way across the lang een and the short een.” (Lottie)

Ali noticed the plank was very close to the edge. “Hang on! It’s going to fall aff!” Stanley helped to fix it. Creating places to climb together and working together to solve problems helps us develop our co-operation and team work as well as our awareness of risk.

On Thursday the very windy day made it even harder to balance! This was great for developing our sensory systems even more as we needed to adapt and adjust our centres of gravity and balance skills to stay on our feet and on the planks!

“It’s blowing!” (Lottie)

“I’m flying backwards!!” (Harry)

“Push into the wind Sophia!” (Thea)

“I’m blowing away yeeeee!” (Sophia)

“I’m going backwards fast” (Lottie)

 

It was so windy that our long plank looked like it might blow and move. Ali and Thea agreed that it would be a good idea to put something heavy on the end. We moved a pallet to secure it.

We noticed the pallet had left shapes on the ground. “Two rectangles!” (Thea) “Why is dis bits broon?” wondered Alfie. Alfie’s question led to some discussion about sunlight and what grass needs in order to grow.

Even though the long plank was secure it was still very difficult to balance on it as the wind kept blowing us off but it was great fun to keep persevering!

Thea realised it was easier to balance sitting down.

Elsie noticed that the wind was blowing some dust around. She solved the problem of dusty eyes by finding some goggles. Thea and Annie thought this was a great idea. They then explored the best body stances to use to push against the gusts of wind.

After exploring the effects of the wind Miss Stewart told us a story about tornadoes and “The wizard of Oz.” Some of us drew tornadoes after hearing her story and imagined that we were blowing all the way to Oz when we stood on our tornadoes! Playing outdoors in all weathers stimulates our imaginations and helps us to connect language and words that we hear in stories with real life experiences.

On Wednesday we walked to the polytunnel to see what was growing and to think about things that we would like to grow as we continue to be very interested in our food and where it comes from. Growing things is good for learning. It encourages healthy eating, helps us become responsible citizens who can take care of things and develops our problem solving skills.

We look forward to trying to grow some of these things and to explore where some of our favourite food comes from.

We spotted an apple tree. “Look! It’s apples!” (Lewis), “See them all!” (Millie). Some of the apples had fallen off. That meant they were ripe and ready to eat so we gathered some to take back to nursery.

 

We also noticed pears, carrots and some pretty flowers growing. Sophia decided she would like to grow some pink flowers.

On Friday morning there was a lot of discussion about the apples we had brought back. “Dis apple is bruised”(Jim), “It will taste yukky” (Elsie). “We could make apple cranberry juice” decided Jim. Miss Stewart found a video on the iPad with instructions on how to do this. Ali and Annie came to help too. Making the juice was great for developing our independence, confidence, turn taking, risk awareness, literacy and numeracy skills.

First step: chop up the apple.

Second step: Take the cores out.

Third step: put the chunks into a pot. “We need water too” reminded Elsie.

Fourth Step: Boil the apple chunks. “It’s steaming and getting hot noo. It’s ready to mash. ” (Jim)

After mashing Elsie and Jim had a taste, using seperate spoons and only putting the spoon in once. It’s important to learn hygiene rules when baking and cooking. “mmmmm it’s good” (Elsie) “Yes it is!” (Jim).

In other areas of the nursery we have been using other resources that we have found outdoors to enhance our play. The “treasures” that we collected at the beach last week have been using in water and sand for imaginary play, re-living real life experiences, counting, sorting, learning about shapes and building shell pyramids which taught us about gravity.

This week we had a very special visitor…Henrietta! Mrs Williamson took Henrietta the cat into nursery for a visit as many of us had been talking about animals and pets. Learning about animals and pets, and how to look after them, is good for our health and wellbeing. We become more thoughtful and aware of feelings, more aware of non verbal communication and the importance of gentleness towards creatures and each other. Sharing time with Henrietta enhanced our curiosity as we asked questions about her and found out some interesting facts.

Some of us were not sure if we would like Henrietta. Mrs Williamson explained that Henrietta is a very special cat called a Ragdoll cat which means she doesn’t scratch or bite and she likes cuddles.

Once Henrietta had had some time to settle in we got to gently pet her. “She is so saft and her eyes ir blue” (Alfie).

“See her tail” (Jim)

“Can I brush her?” asked Lottie. We learned that Ragdoll cats get brushed against their fur instead of with their fur which was an interesting fact.

Some of us wanted to hold her. “She is warm and fluffy!” (Sophia)

“I like her” (Ali)

And a big well done to Stanley who wasn’t sure he liked Henrietta at first but her gentle nature helped him feel at ease and before she went home he petted her softly.

And finally we celebrated a big happy 4th birthday to Thea who requested tattie waffles for her birthday snack. Happy birthday Thea!