This week at Iveralmond Early Years and Ladywell nursery we have been displaying some great problem solving abilities and team working skills when using the guttering in the garden. Children have been working together to find different things that can roll down and using the balls to race down together.

The children have also been role playing with the jungle animals at our jungle area in the garden, introducing a story line into their play whilst playing alongside and co operatively with their peers.

Children have been exploring the properties of 3D shapes whilst they use their team working skills to build some great structures!

To support the children at Inveralmond and Ladywell nursery’s transition to Primary 1 we have been using the school playground at Harrysmuir Primary. The children have enjoyed exploring the outdoor environment, displaying great gross motor and co ordination skills whilst balancing and playing a variety of ball games.

Today the morning children at Ladywell and Inveralmond Nursery went for a walk to the field beside the school. Demonstrating good large movement skills while rolling down the hill then running back up. The children were laughing and giggling as they rolled down the hill watching too see who got to the bottom first.  Some children practiced their throwing and catching skills with the balls. Before heading back to the nursery the children sat together and enjoyed a healthy snack.

With the lovely weather the children at Ladywell and Inveralmond Nursery have been enjoying picnics outside in the garden. To extend their interest we decided to create a “Teddy Bears Picnic” display. The children showed lots of interest in the display and used their imagination to create their own “Teddy Bears Picnic” with their friends. Staff read the story “Once upon a Picnic” to the children and sang Teddy Bear Songs. The children have demonstrated very good sharing and communication skills during this activity.

The children in Ladywell and Inveralmond Nursery have been learning about jungle animals. Through discussions, the children shared their own knowledge while an adult recorded by scribing the “child’s voice” in the floorbook.  Children then contributed to the floorbook through mark-making.

With the interest growing about jungle animals staff added animals and natural resources to the water tray and created a jungle display in the nursery. The children have been enjoying a selection of books about animals and using their problem solving skills and fine motor skills to complete the big jungle jigsaw.

The children at Ladywell and Inveralmond Nursery have been demonstrating very good problem solving skills as they discover different ways to use the guttering. The children worked well together planning different ways to roll the balls down the gutters. The children were able to describe how the balls travelled down the gutters by using a range of mathematical language such as fast and slow. This activity was very popular with both sessions. Most children engaged well and revisited the activity each day extending their learning and interest.

The children at Ladywell and Inveralmond Nursery enjoyed having a picnic snack in the garden today.  We all sat down together and enjoyed developing are social skills while eating a healthy snack.  After our picnic we listened to a story called “Shark in the Park” and sang some songs.

This week the children have been creating a jungle in the water tray using lots of natural resources. The children chatted about their favourite animals and how they survive in the jungle.

Some children asked if they could make a car wash so they could wash all the wheeled toys.  The children demonstrated good turn taking and sharing skills throughout this activity.

This week at Inveralmond Early Years we have been exploring different materials to make patterns. Some children used their fingers and others used the patterned rollers to create different patterns.

We have also been using our imagination to create different junk models using a variety of resources.  Children have been displaying some good fine motor skills when using the scissors. Children have also been showing some good team work as they help each other with their creations.

This week the children at Inveralmond Eary Years and Ladywell Nursery have enjoyed role playing with the babies. We have been giving the babies a bath, dressing and putting them to bed. Children have been seen displaying good turn taking skills and have been playing co operatively using their imagination throughout their play.

With the sun shining we took the opportunity to take some children to the field outside Inveralmond High School. The children showed some great gross motor and turn taking skills as they ran, kicked the balls and rolled down the hill.

This week Ladywell nursery have transitioned over to join us at Inveralmond Early Years Centre whilst work gets carried out over a period of time at Ladywell nursery.

All children have adapted very well to this change and have enjoyed exploring their new environment and getting to know new staff members and children.

Some of the children displayed some good gross motor skills whilst dancing and copying the moves from just dance on the promethean board. It was great to see the children having lots of fun!

We have also been enjoying using some natural resources form the garden to have at the gluing area, play dough table and water tray. Children have been creating some lovely pictures and models using the play dough, including ‘islands’ and trees.