What We’ve Been Up To!
Younger and Older Babies enjoy outdoors and getting Christmas-ready
The weather may have turned chilly but that hasn’t stopped our littlest members getting out and about. Wrapped up warm and toasty, one of the high points of the babies’ schedule is visiting the park to feed the ducks and swans. The riverside is home to lots of birds and animals, and we spend time spotting the wildlife, as well as collecting pretty leaves to take back to our friends at nursery.
Naturally, the babies have been getting in the Christmas spirit. As well as practising songs for their Carol Concert, they’ve been playing with musical instruments. A real favourite is shaking the jingle bells which sound just like the arrival of you know who!
The older babies have also been getting creative making multicoloured paintings of fireworks for Bonfire Night snowy winter scenes dotted with glue, glitter and cottonwool.
Making snowy igloos
Toddlers jump around and get ready for the Big Day
The best play time is usually outside play time. As the weather has turned colder it’s important our toddlers still get plenty of fresh air and spend time exploring outdoors.
As well as playing on the nursery equipment, we set up an obstacle course. The children love climbing through the tunnel and jumping over blocks. Obstacle courses are ideal for developing physical skills, such as strength and co-ordination, as well as key social skills, such as taking turns and teamwork.
Alongside using our bodies, we’ve been learning about how they work, in particular, our five senses. Learning about the different senses through play helps toddlers store information, develop language skills – there is an amazing amount of excited chatter at the sensory play tables – and practise motor skills by picking up small and tactile objects.
Exploring sound – the children discovered which objects make loud sounds (dog barking) and quiet sounds (cotton wool)
Jump in! Our obstacle course
Pre-Schoolers learn about the world and get festive
Our pre-schoolers have been extremely busy bees this term, carving pumpkins, making vibrant firework art and crafting Christmas goodies their families (you’ll see these soon).
Pre-school age is an ideal time to learn about the wider world we live in. In class we’ve been talking about, and looking at, pictures of different continents and countries. Playing helps the children recall information and dotted around the room are creative play stations. These help to stimulate little ones’ imaginations and store information.
For example, this sensory tray shows the shape and name of different continents, the type of animals that live there and their national flags. There’s also different colour clays the children can squish and mould representing the continent’s environment and climate, e.g. blue for ice-covered Antarctica.
Our continents and countries sensory play
Our pre-school children often have a good idea of what happens at Christmas, and this year was no different! Alongside playing Christmas songs and party games, the children have been excitedly darting in and out of our Father Christmas grotto hoping to catch a glimpse of the man himself.
Merry Christmas!
