The Hungry Caterpillar
We have been watching our caterpillars grow and then make their cocoons which they lived in for a little while. We waited for them to change into butterflies and we let them fly away in our garden. The children have also been reading the story of the hungry caterpillar and talked about all the fruits that was eaten. At our picnic we tried the fruits that the caterpillar had eaten, they were yummy.
Water Play
The children enjoyed their water day so much, lots of fun and laughter. They explored the large water trays splashing their feet, giggling when using the water squirters and water balloons on the adults.
Bee Keeper
We had a Bee Keeper visit Nursery called Mark. Mark offered for us to try on the protective bee suit and gloves. He explained how he looks after the bees and how honey is made. We were able to explore the pretend bees and bee larva, smokers (used to calm the real bees), the hive and beeswax. We had a little taste of the 'Lancashire Honey' on put it on toast.
5 Ducklings
Over the past 2 weeks we have been watching the duckling hatch from their eggs and grow bigger each day. 5 ducklings hatched and the children have had the opportunity to stroke and hold them. We have enjoyed watching them swim in the pool.
Lambs visit Nursery
At Nursery this half term we had 2 10 day old lambs come to Nursery, they are called ‘Curly’ and ‘Surprise’. The children were able to stroke them, have a cuddle and feed them their milk from a bottle.
Play and Exploring
Play enables the children to develop independence, perseverance and turn taking skills. Exploring through play supports them to co-operate and build relationships. Play provides a safe space for children to explore, helping them to build strength, and learn to manage their feelings.
World Book Day
We have all enjoyed reading stories, the children have been sitting in the teepee, book area and in the cozy corner with pillows and blankets sharing each others books. The children have listened to the story 'Going on a Bear hunt' in group time, we then acted out the story outside.
Using different tools to create an effect
The children in Nursery 2 have been actively exploring various tools and are becoming more confident in using them correctly. The adults have introduced a range of objects for cutting, spreading, fixing, mark-making, scooping, stirring, rolling, and mixing, allowing the children to develop their skills further.
Betty
Betty our School Therapy Dog joined Nursery 2 and had a little walk in the garden. Betty let all the children greet and stroke her, she 'gave paw' and sat for treats which the children offered with their hand out. During our group story Betty sat with all the children and listened to Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Sharing Books
One of our curriculum goals is sharing a book or story with others. We encourage our children to develop of love of books through offering a selection of books to look at independently or with others and opportunities to make up stories together during Tales Toolkit sessions where we make stories fun through silly ideas, funny voices and unusual settings.
Gingerbread Man
The children have been listening to a story about the Gingerbread Man, we have been joining in with "run run as fast as you can, you can't catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man". We made gingerbread biscuits mixing and measuring all the ingredients together. The children enjoyed tasting them when they were ready, we also reenacted the story and placed the gingerbread man in the water to see what happened.
Festive Fun
The children have had lots of fun seeing what the Elf has been up to in Nursery. We have explored with ice and used hammers to chip it away. The children have helped to decorate our Christmas tree with the baubles and their own decorations.
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.
