Winter Days
Over the past couple of weeks we have been talking about how the weather is changing and what to wear as it goes colder. We saw the snow fall, explored our icy polar bear tray and read a polar bear story. We went on a snowy walk and wore our warm coats and hats.
Nursery Rhyme Week
Nursery Rhyme week has been a fun week of singing lots of different rhymes during play. We have been making animal footprints in the paint singing ‘Old MacDonald’, making spider webs in the glue and singing ‘The big ship sails’ with large boats in the water. There were bugs found outside so we sang ‘there’s a worm at the bottom of the garden’. Through child’s interest of water we also sang ‘5 little ducks’. More photographs are available linked to events on the website.
Three Currant Buns in our Tales Toolkit bag
As part of 'World Nursery Rhyme Week', children in Nursery 2 made a story about a baker who cooked some currant buns, the children in Nursery also baked some currant buns with Kelly. A picture of Betty our school dog was in the problem bag and the children said that she ate all the currant buns! Der! Der! Der! Luckily, in the solution bag we found flour, a mixing bowl and a spoon which the children decided we should use to make more buns.
A Funky Monkey Tales Toolkit Story
A group of Nursery 2 children made a fabulous story about a monkey, that they called 'Baby'. He went to a party where he blew up some big balloons. There was a HUGE spider at the party which was a big problem for Baby as he didn't like spiders. The solution was a net which caught the spider and threw it outside. Baby the monkey was happy again.
Story Time with Betty
The wonderful Betty Healey joined us in class for another lovely story time session, whilst Kelly read 'Peace at Last'. Then of course we ended with lots of opportunities to give Betty a stroke.
Spooky Play
This week the children have explored pumpkins, we planted the seed and we will keep checking to see if they are growing The children made potions and fizzing monsters by adding Milton tablets to water and watched the bubbles appear. We have been drizzling glue to create spider webs and got a treat when we went trick or treating in Nursery.
Story time with Betty
We had a very special group story time with Betty, our dog mentor. The children showed Betty how we do 'good sitting' and 'good listening' whilst we listen to a story. Betty was a superstar and sat beautifully on her bed for Kelly's story. The children are really enjoying having Betty involved in their learning.
Water Play
3 new fish have arrived at Nursery and we have been singing '12345' and made a blue collage for the water. The children have been exploring in the water tray, counting fish, and singing '5 little ducks'. The children have been sat in a large box and pretended we are in a boat, the children also sang 'row your boat'.
Hedgehogs- Autumn
We have been talking about Autumn and singing a song about the leaves falling from the trees. The children have been learning about Hedgehogs and have been making them in different ways, we molded clay into the shape and added some wooden sticks for their spikes. We also used lolly stick in play dough and pine needles with glue and paper. The children are very proud of what they have made.
World Animal Day 2024
Meeting Betty - Hoyle's Dog Mentor
Now that Betty, Katy and Lesley have completed their Dog Mentor training, Betty is now able to work more closely with our children. This week we began some gentle first introductions. Some children preferred to look at and wave to Betty through the glass. Other children were happy to sit beside Betty and give her a stroke, a brush or a treat. We are all looking forward to spending more time with Betty.
Independence and Golden Rules
The children are learning to become independent and are shown how to pour their own drinks, using child knifes to cut and butter their own snack, a variety of choice is offered for them to decide what they would like. We offer our brush bus to the children and join in brushing our teeth at group time. We also support each child when putting coats on and encourage them to try and achieve it themselves.
Each day within play we are learning to take turns and share with each other. We learn to work together and help others when at Nursery. We role model walking inside and running outside, listening in group times when others are talking. We encourage the children to follow our rules and are supported throughout the day.
Sensory Play
We offer lots of sensory play within our activities. The children have been exploring and tasting the jelly and looking for minibeasts. We have made shaving foam ice creams and play dough cakes. The children mixed corn flour and conditioner together and made cloudy slime. We have decorated the trees outside as we created a clay motif using feathers, shells and twigs. The children joined in with ‘Kids Rock’ and listened to different music and created their own sounds with shakers and tambourines. We made a calming entrance into Nursery 2 where the children can turn their own lights different colours and relax in a quiet space.
Exploring
We've welcome new children to our Nursery. The children have been exploring lots of different activities and encouraged to join in with support from all staff.
Physical Skills
Nursery 2 have been getting very physical going under, up, through and on different equipment.
Walking Through the Jungle
The children have enjoyed listening to and joining in with the story. They talked about what they could see and what they might hear. They created their own movements and sounds like the animals in the book. The children then created some wonderful pictures using the colours of the animals and the jungle.
Tales Toolkit - Introducing our Shuffle Book
This week Katy introduced the Tales Toolkit Shuffle Book to the children. This is a fabulous resource that the children can use as an alternative to our Big Bags for creating their own stories.
In our first story the children chose a dog as the character. The setting was a birthday party for the dog. The problem (der! der! der!) was a crocodile who came to spoil the party by tipping things over and breaking them. The solution was Elsa. She used her magic powers to freeze the crocodile and stop him.
Well Done Nursery 2. We can't wait to hear some more of your Shuffle Book stories.
Learning New Skills and Learning Together
Our children in Nursery 2 have been learning how to take turns and share with their friends. They have enjoyed working together and having fun exploring different learning opportunities.
Bird themed Tales Toolkit Story
To coincide with the RSPB Big School's Bird watch, the children have been creating their own Tales Toolkit bird stories. We had a robin in the character bag, a nest as our setting, some eggs were in the problem bag and a blue tit was the solution. What story do you think you could make using these props?
Christmas has arrived in Nursery. The children in N2 have made gingerbread men to decorate the tree in the entrance, made Christmas pictures, worn Christmas jumpers, decorated bicuits for our Christmas Fair and explored new language to describe different winter animals, colours and textures.
Making Friends
Building relationships in Nursery is an important aspect of our day. Our children learn how to respect, understand the needs of others, control their emotions, build empathy and develop positive social interactions.
Tales Toolkit - A Mark Making Story
This week we created a special Tales Toolkit story where the children were encouraged to mark make in response to what was happening in the story. The children use their felt tips to show the big jumps or little jumps the frog was making. They made marks to show him dancing at the party. They drew circles that got bigger and bigger just like our balloon until it went ....bang!
Tales Toolkit
We have introduced 'Tales Toolkit' in both N2 and N3. It is a fabulous resource which supports the children in creating their own stories. We used our 4 big bags to introduce the children to the 'Character', 'Setting', 'Problem' and 'Solution'. As you can see from our photographs the stories are lots of fun! There are songs, actions, silly voices and exciting resources to engage and motivate the children.
Road Safety
We have continued learning about Road Safety and have made marks with the cars to create road marking. We talked about holding hands to cross the road and made a path outside in our garden. We had a green man light and walked across safely. We drove our bikes along the road which we made and waited when we saw a red light and set off again when we saw a green light.
The children have had a lovely week in Nursery - learning all about how to care for our ducklings, joining in with music sessions, problem solving and early maths skills, mark making, building, role play, using tools, Forest School sessions and having lots of fun.
Spring Term
What a busy fun filled half term we have had. We have been reading lots of different stories and learning new words, building, counting and sorting shapes, being creative in many ways and developing independence and social skills.
What a fabulous half term we have had and so much learning!
This week the children have enjoyed painting on tin foil, listened to the story of 'Spot the Dog' and used props to recreate some of the events, looked at different shapes and explored making different marks.
AUTUMN TERM
Welcome back to our Nursery 2 children who have had a lovely week.
They have enjoyed playing outside, climbing, playing with the dough, role play, looking at books, making marks and making new friends.