Inveralmond Early Years Centre

This week we have been busy in the garden collecting the fallen leaves from the trees to use at our gluing station. We have had the opportunity to create our own Autumn wreaths using the leaves and glue. They all look beautiful on display in the nursery, well done!

We have been using our problem solving abilities to complete a variety of jigsaw puzzles. We have observed lots of perseverance from some of the children when completing these! Throughout the nursery the children have been listening to story books being read or looking through the books independently or with their friends.

When ordering snack last week some of the children were asking to try some lemon. We cut some up into slices for snack and let the children taste. There were some funny faces whilst doing this!

In the garden a few of the children asked some questions about telescopes and what they looked like. We used the ipad to fact find some information and then we built our own using the duplo! We could see the moon with them!

This week we have been busy making lots of Autumnal crafts. We used some string and paints to display our fine motor and mark making skills to create our own firework pictures. We used a variety of tissue paper, glue and lolly sticks to make our own bonfires. Lots of the children enjoyed telling us they were going to watch the fireworks! Some of the children helped to collect the fallen leaves in the garden and used these to glue, paint and stick onto paper.

In the brick area we have seen some great team work, as some children played co operatively, talking and discussing how they will create their own structures.  We have been learning to move our bodies and stay active showing our gross motor abilities from the exercises on the promethean board. Well done everyone!

This week we have been busy with lots of Halloween activities on offer! We have been developing our mark making abilities by making our own skeleton paintings, we have been exploring our touch senses with slime in the garden and we have been scooping out our pumpkins, discussing the textures and how it feels. A few of the children knew what the pumpkin seeds were and that they eat them at home.

Everyone looked fantastic in their costumes!

We have continued to go out on our local walks in the community. This week we were looking to see if we could spot some 2D shapes within the environment. We managed to spot circles, squares and triangles!

Over the past few weeks the children have been discussing the changes of season in the garden which has taken us onto explore Autumn. The majority of the children have been helping to sweep up the fallen leaves in the garden, having lots of discussions asking and answering questions about why they are falling from the trees.

We have been focusing on our mathematical development, displaying our abilities to match and recognise 2D shapes.

Most of the children have been keen to mark make using a variety of different writing and drawing tools. We used some paint brushes to mark make in coloured sand, we have been painting our own pumpkins and we have also had the opportunity to create our own Halloween witch with different 2D shapes using chalk.

This week we went on a lovely walk in our local community. We were joined by Ladywell nursery and had lots of fun exploring the different environmental print we could find! We identified lots of numbers and letters on different signs, bins, houses and cars!

Some of the children have been challenging their mathematical skills by playing the matching picture game on the promethean board. We have also observed some great turn taking and team work whilst using this. Well done!

Some of the children have been enjoying using the light up boards in the writing area. The children are able to change the colour of the light on the board and they use the chalk pens to mark make and draw some lovely detailed pictures. We have continued to display our fine motor abilities using different objects to make spots and strips with the paint!

Over the past few week we have continued to explore the children’s interest in zoo/safari animals. Using our creativity and fine motor development we have been creating our  own tigers using orange and black playdough. Some of the children have been challenging their problem solving abilities to complete the animal floor puzzle and matching all our animals we have in nursery to the puzzle.

Using the small world animals the children have been mark making and using their fine motor control printing the paw prints of different animals using paints. Exploring a range of sizes, some of the children have been finding out how big some animals feet/paws and comparing them to our own feet.

Some children have been exploring ways to move our body  by listening to music and dancing in our music area!

Over the past few weeks we have been welcoming our new children and families to our setting. It has been so lovely to meet all the new faces and we are excited for  your journey to continue here at Inveralmond!

This week the children have shown an interest in different zoo animals! Following on from our sea creatures topic some of the children mentioned that not only sharks have sharp teeth but lions and tigers do too. Using the play dough a few of the children made their own animals and animal faces. We have created our very own zoo where we have observed lots of role play. Some of the children asked to find some information about different animals on the laptop where they were able to use their mark making skills to draw and write some of the animals names. Well done everyone!!

Some of the children have been enjoying taking part in some cosmic kids yoga which has been a great way to explore different ways our body stretches and how it makes us feel calm and relaxed.

In the garden the children took advantage of the wet weather, splashing in puddles, scooping, pouring and transferring water.

This week the children moving on to Harrysmuir Primary School in August got the chance to meet their new buddy. We went over to the school to join them for a picnic in the Primary 1 playground. The children enjoyed some time chatting and playing with their new buddies.

We have been exploring signs of summer for our topic over the past few weeks. We have been applying sun cream to the children when necessary and children have been talking about holidays and where they go and how they get there. We enhanced our technology skills by navigating the ipad to use the live tracker to track the planes that take off on the nurseries flight path. This brought us on to exploring time as a few children described how long the flight takes for their holiday.

To support the children’s transition to school, most of the pre school children participated in our sports day at Harrysmuir Primary School. Well done all!!

This year we decided to have an opportunity for parents/carers to stay and play with their child that is moving on to Primary 1. I would like to say thank you to everyone that came along. It was such a lovely experience for the children and we had lots of lovely feedback from you and the children!

This week the children have been making the most of the lovely warmer weather, exploring the outdoor area. We have been planting seeds and watering the plants in the garden and have been developing our gross motor abilities using the bikes, building structures and exploring the soft play/ mats.

This week we have began our transitions to primary 1. The children that are going to Harrysmuir Primary will be getting a turn to visit the primary 1 classroom where they will join in for a story and have the opportunity to play and explore the classroom.