Our 2 year old’s  celebrated world book day by reading together. As you can see, the children enjoyed selecting some of their most loved  books at nursery.  Books are a magical experience for children of all ages. Regardless, if you are reading books or creating your own story from the imaginative pictures, children will treasure this experience. Spending time with a familiar adult and learning together. Books are also a fantastic addition to routine at home and can be a perfect way to relax your child before bed.

 

 

Five ways you can help your child enjoy stories and rhymes

• Take time to look together at the words and pictures in a story
• Use your hands and face as well as your voice – your child will love to see you smiling
• Use animal sounds like woof, growl and hoot – this will really help to bring the story to life
• Stories and rhymes can be shared with the whole family so why not invite siblings or other family members to join in?
• Don’t be shy, relax and enjoy – if you are having fun so will your child.

Follow this link and discover why stories and rhymes are so much fun…..Click on me!

Today Peep 1 focused on movement and to do this, they engaged the babies in soft play. Lots of resources that encouraged both small and large movements.  As you can see every baby had a personal achievement developing a movement.  Lifting, pushing, crawling, rolling, sitting, stretching, balancing and more.

How can I develop my babies movement at home?

Why not come along to one of our many parent/carer and baby groups we have at Knightsridge Early Years Centre, you will receive lots of support, advice and top tips! (Please see the link on our home page to the groups we have at the centre.) You can also try some of the suggested activities listed below at home…..

Tummy time

Tummy time is time your baby spends on her stomach while she’s awake. Having tummy time from soon after birth helps your baby build neck, head and upper body strength. Your baby needs this strength for learning other movements later on.

At first, your baby might not like tummy time. If this sounds like your little one, you could try getting down on the floor with hi/her. Let him/her know you’re there by singing, talking, stroking his/her back or tickling his/her hands. You can also start with short periods of tummy time, and build up as your baby gets used to it.

Tummy time might make your baby vomit. If this happens, you can try placing her tummy down on your chest or lap. This changes her position slightly and can help with problems like reflux. It still gives him/her the chance to build  muscles.

Always remember every baby is different and you should  ask for  guidance and consult your  health visitor or GP if you have any concerns.

Play ideas to encourage movement

From 0-6 months, you could try the following ideas:

• Place your baby on his tummy on the floor. Try a range of surfaces, such as blankets and carpet.
• Encourage moving to music and sound by making the hand movements to songs, stories and rhymes, or by shaking rattles.
• Promote your baby’s eye movement by looking at colourful books or pictures, blowing bubbles or dangling objects in front of her eyes.
• Get down on the floor with your baby and make funny faces.
• Roll objects in front of your baby to encourage him to lift his head.

Babies aged 6-12 months might like the following activities:

• Use simple toys to encourage touching and holding.
• Place toys just out of your baby’s reach to encourage reaching.
• Make noise with objects, such as banging wooden spoons on pots and pans, or shaking sealed containers with beads inside.
• Use push-and-pull toys such as block wagons or carts.
• Make sure you have sturdy furniture for pulling to stand.
• Make crawling and moving fun by making tunnels out of chairs or cardboard boxes.

These ideas are good for babies aged 12-18 months:

• Try ride-on toys from 12 months.
• Get your baby to practise fine motor skills by putting small containers into larger containers or turning the pages of a book.
• Sing songs that have simple actions for your baby to copy.
• Use different play spaces, such as swings, tunnels, ramps, slides – or even puddles!
• Use toys or props that get your child throwing, kicking, running, jumping, dancing, digging or splashing.
• Allow time for your baby to crawl or walk gradually longer distances, rather than always being strapped into a stroller.

The fun of play is that it can be noisy, messy and dirty!

Knightsridge Early Years Centre offer a weekly group that specifically meets the needs of parents who’s first language is Polish. The group provides parents the opportunity to gain friendship and support from others.  In addition, children and parents will gain many valuable learning experiences and discover ways to develop children’s learning at home. The group is lead by Louise MacDonald our Family Support Worker, alongside Ola Krowinska. Ola is a Nursery Practitioner, who is covering in our Nursery at the moment and speaks Polish.

If you or anyone you know would benefit from attending this friendly and fun group. Please come along to Knightsridge Early Years Centre to discover more or contact us on 01506 444970.

On Wednesday 2nd March,  the children and parents had lots of fun exploring paints and glue, creating mothers day cards. Each week Polish Peep provides opportunities for, activities, songs and stories.

 

Today at Peep 4, we may have had a small group but we had huge learning experiences and fun.

The children engaged with a small water based activity. Lynn (our family support worker) brought out a small tray and the children used containers to fill the tray with water.  They then added ducks to the water, the children counted the ducks and role played with the ducks in the water.  Everyone enjoyed singing songs, circle time activities and listening to a  short story.

Our Peep 1 group, enjoyed a teddy bears picnic today. It was a wonderful experience for our young babies, providing a simple activity, with such valuable early  learning experiences.  Exploring the colour, smell, texture and taste of the food , was a highlight for our young learners. Joining the picnic, was some friendly teddy bears, another visual stimulation for our babies to enjoy. The babies enjoyed musical instruments, songs and a short story. It was perfect way to relax our babies after their morning adventure!

 

Click on this link and sing along: If you go down to the woods today…

We have enjoyed an amazing few months at Peep 1. We have have been learning our colours with sensory play. Children have had colour themed weeks using water , sand , paint and treasure baskets. We have focused on the shape “Circle” learning how the shape feels and looks. We have explored balls of all sizes and textures. The most popular stories read, during this session was,  “Hooray for fish” and “Sharing a shell”.  We discovered that rhyming books are a great way to gain interest from young babies at story time, listening to the sounds and pace of our voice.  The babies where introduced to a new circle time song “I am tapping on the drum”. The song involved a drum being passed around the group, identifying the child by name, tapping on the drum  and repeating the song for each childs turn. It took no time at all, before our babies tapped/banged on the drums. For some babies, this was the first time they have used this type of skill. It was clearly demonstrated that routine is an extremely important part of children s learning! We have ended this session with a Christmas craft session, making our own Christmas decoration and tree.  We also enjoyed a puppet show, baby photo booth and party music!!!