The Great Race: The Story of the Chinese Zodiac

This week, we’ve had a fantastic time exploring Chinese New Year and learning all about the Year of the Snake! We really enjoyed using our five senses to discover different Chinese foods, which was a fun and tasty experience. The children had a creative afternoon making a colourful dragon, paper chain snakes, and Chinese New Year lanterns. It was so much fun to get hands-on and celebrate the festivities in a crafty way! In maths, we focused on understanding the concepts of long and short. The children did an amazing job exploring these ideas, especially when we looked at long and short noodles! We also got creative by making our own long and short snakes using play dough, which made for some great hands-on learning. It’s wonderful to see them grasping these concepts in such an interactive way!

That’s Not My Plane

This week in nursery, we started by exploring hot air balloons and even created our own by dipping sponges into paint and dotting them in the sky! As the week went on, we shifted our focus to airplanes and discussed how both of these amazing modes of transport can take us up into the sky. We had a fun discussion about which we’d prefer to travel in: a hot air balloon or an airplane. It was fascinating to see how different methods of travel have changed over time and how each one works. Later in the week, we let our imaginations soar as we “travelled” to our dream holiday destinations in our very own airplane. The children loved taking on different roles, with some handing out boarding passes and others pretending to be pilots. It was heart-warming to hear all the creative places they wanted to visit, from sunny beaches to snowy mountains. A wonderful week of learning, imagination, and fun!

Busy Boats

This week, the children have been exploring the exciting world of boats! They took part in a fun science experiment, designing their own boats using junk materials, and testing whether they would sink or float. The children discovered that adding bubble wrap to cardboard helped their boats stay afloat. They really enjoyed the process of building and improving their boats, using their creativity to find ways to make them float if they started to sink. It was a fantastic week of learning through hands-on experimentation!

Dolly and the Train

What a fantastic first week back we’ve had after the Christmas holidays! The children have settled in beautifully, quickly getting back into our class routines with such enthusiasm. It’s been wonderful to see how well everyone has embraced the return, and we’ve been especially impressed by how welcoming the children have been to our new friends joining the nursery. Everyone is working together so kindly and with great team spirit!

This week, we’ve been learning all about trains! The children had so much fun experimenting with different shapes by dipping our toy trains into paint and creating their very own tracks. It was a creative and messy activity, and the results were fantastic! We also explored the magic of magnets and how the trains could stick together. The children were amazed to see how the magnets worked, and many of them described it as “magic”—such a fun and exciting way to learn about forces!

Today, we had a wonderful time exploring the signs of winter during our forest school session. The children loved looking for clues of the season in the outdoors and discovering how nature changes. After that, we all had a great afternoon in PE, using the climbing frames in the hall. The children showed such confidence and enjoyed challenging themselves on the equipment, demonstrating amazing balance and coordination. It was a lovely end to a busy week!

Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

We have had a wonderfully busy week getting ready for our Christmas fair this afternoon! The children worked hard to make some beautiful star decorations. They started by mixing the ingredients to create salt dough, then rolled it out and used star-shaped cutters to create their designs. Once the stars were dry, we painted them and added a sprinkle of glitter to make them sparkle. The final results look absolutely amazing, and the children showed so much effort and pride in making these decorations truly special. We can’t wait for you to see them!

Our little scientists have been curious and creative this week! We explored why we don’t see stars during the day by creating our own night sky. Using a torch, we discovered how stars are visible in the dark but disappear in the light. The children were fascinated by this discovery! We also conducted an experiment to see how materials change. As a class, we made bicarbonate soda dough, observing how the fluffy flour and soda transformed into a soft dough when water was added. The children loved feeling each stage of the dough-making process. Then, in small groups, we used syringes to drip vinegar onto the dough and watched with excitement as it fizzed and bubbled! It’s been a fantastic week full of creativity and curiosity.

Sheep and their wool

This week, we’ve been diving into the fascinating journey of wool! The children have loved learning about where wool comes from and the incredible process it goes through—from the sheep in the fields to the woolly jumpers we wear to keep warm. We’ve explored shearing, spinning, and knitting through stories, hands-on activities, and even a fun sensory play session with soft, fluffy wool. It’s been wonderful to see their curiosity and excitement as they discover more about this everyday material and its amazing transformation.

We’ve also started working on writing the numbers 1, 2, and 3, and what an effort the children have put in! They’ve done such a fantastic job, with everyone giving it a really good try. We’ve been using creative methods like tracing, finger painting, and sand trays to make it fun and engaging. It’s been delightful to see their enthusiasm and progress, and we’re so proud of how well they’re embracing this important early skill.

Old McDonald Had a Farm

This week at the nursery, we’ve been singing and learning through the beloved rhyme Old McDonald Had a Farm. Using the song as inspiration, we explored farms, discovering the fascinating sounds of animals and discussing the various amazing jobs that happen on a farm. It was lovely to hear the children share which farm jobs they’d love to do and their personal experiences of helping out on farms. Their enthusiasm and creativity brought our farm-themed activities to life!

We’ve also been working hard at our counting skills this week, focusing on counting the animals we might see on a farm. It has been a delight to see how much progress the children have made with their counting abilities and how their confidence in maths is growing. From chickens to cows, the children have eagerly counted their way through farm life.

Finally, we’ve had a magical time enjoying the great outdoors. The snow provided endless fun as we built snowmen, made snow angels, and embraced the winter wonderland. In our forest school area, the children worked together to create a leaf maze and ended the adventure with warm cups of delicious hot chocolate. It’s been a week full of laughter, learning, and unforgettable winter memories.

Wishing you all a cozy weekend!

Five Little Ducks

This week in nursery, we’ve had an exciting time focusing on the much-loved nursery rhyme Five Little Ducks. The children have been thoroughly engaged in creating their own stick puppets to act out the song, bringing the story to life in such a creative way. It’s been delightful to see their imagination at work as they sang along and made their puppets waddle and quack during playtime.

The children also amazed us with their descriptive skills during an activity where they described a duck. Rather than sticking to one-word answers, many children expressed their ideas in full sentences, using some wonderful descriptive words. It’s been a joy to hear them use words like “soft,” “feathery,” and “yellow,” showing their growing confidence in communicating their thoughts.

This week’s experiment had everyone excited as we explored what floats and what sinks! We tested various objects, including a rubber duck and a rock, to discover what would float and what would sink. The children loved predicting what would happen and were thrilled to see the rubber duck stay afloat while the rock sank to the bottom. It was a fantastic hands-on learning opportunity that sparked a lot of curiosity.

Lastly, we explored the lifecycle of a duck in a fun and interactive way. The children worked with a toy duck, an egg, and a duckling, arranging them in the correct order. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm as they pieced together this natural sequence. Hands-on activities like these are great for helping children connect with the world around them, and they all did a fantastic job!

Thank you for your continued support, and we can’t wait to share more adventures with you next week.

Five Little Speckled Frogs

This week, we’ve had so much fun singing the classic nursery rhyme, Five Little Speckled Frogs! Not only is it a delightful tune, but it’s also a fantastic way to practice counting to five. The children did brilliantly using their fingers to count down the frogs as they “jumped into the pool.” Singing along together helped reinforce their understanding of numbers and counting, and it was lovely to see everyone so engaged and enthusiastic!

In addition to singing, we’ve been exploring the fascinating lifecycle of a frog. The children were captivated by the different stages—from frogspawn to tadpole, and finally to frog. They were especially curious about frogspawn, describing how it looks just like jelly! Through hands-on activities and colourful visuals, the children deepened their understanding of how frogs grow and change, sparking excitement about nature and the amazing transformations in the animal world.

The Colour Monster

We’ve had another wonderful and busy week at nursery! Our focus this week has been on the story The Colour Monster by Anna Llenas. This delightful story has given us the perfect opportunity to explore and talk about our feelings. Just like the Colour Monster who sorts his emotions into different colours, we’ve been thinking about our own feelings and discussing how we can manage them when we feel upset or angry. The children have been fantastic at expressing themselves, and it’s been lovely to see them recognize and understand their emotions!

On Thursday, we had a special Wear Yellow Day to promote positive mental health. It was such a bright and cheerful day with so many of us wearing yellow! We talked about the importance of feeling happy and the different things that can help us maintain a positive mindset. During our class discussion, it was heart-warming to hear all the lovely things that make the children feel happy, from playing with friends and cuddling their favourite toys to spending time with their families.

Thank you all for your continued support, and we look forward to another exciting week of learning and growing together!