We're coming into Spring!!!!



Hello!

We can finally say bye-bye to the winter feel and hello to spring! It is still a bit chilly but the sun as out and ready for Easter celebrations and fun in the sun! We hope you have all been enjoying the sunny days as much as us and the children! We will also be hearing the sound of little duckling feet soon as we will help to hatch little ducklings! (Due April 13th) There has also been quite a few events that the nursery have been celebrating such as Chinese New year and Valentines day!

 The snow!

Arctic Animals in the snow

So we caught a glimpse of snow in early February! And of course we had to let all of the children experience it. Josephine, as she has never seen it before due to being born in Australia, was particularly excited. We were all very excited actually and wrapped the children up warmly and took them to explore it on the Roof Garden. Floor  one set up the Roof Garden in to an arctic themed place for the children to explore the snow. We put little arctic animals on a huge tuff tray that were embedded in to the snow. We also provided the children with buckets and spades so the children could dig the snow and place some in the digger truck toys.  The children also enjoyed throwing snow balls (not at each other) and making snowmen!

Chinese New Year

Jenny making the tofu parcels

Both floors enjoyed celebrating Chinese New Year this year. It was especially special for us as we had a greater insight in to the Chinese culture due to similar cultures and traditions from our lovely Jenny from floor one. Even though Jenny is from Korea, Jenny provided floor one with Chinese lanterns and cooked a variety of Korean dumplings with her mother for the all the children to eat on the day. They were truly delicious, the team enjoyed them also!  The Angels also played some classical Chinese  music in the background when the children were eating. Floor one  also decorated the classroom with lovely laminated pictures of Chinese food, clothing and Chinese letters for the children to explore.

Floor two's Chinese lanterns

As it was the year of the sheep, floor two’s children were provided with a picture of a sheep  to look at and draw their own interpretation of. The children also painted  and decorated these lovely lanterns that they hung up in the classroom. They look beautiful hanging up!

 

 

 

Valentines day

All floors joined in with this heart filled day! Floor one created some beautiful hearts to take home to their mummies and daddies whilst on floor two the parents received some lovely cards with hearts on them. We all hope all our parents enjoyed their lovely surprise!

Cherubs

The cherubs have had a lot of messy play from February to March as their monthly topic. The children have been exploring gloop, which is corn flour and water mixed together to create a sticky, thick consistency. We also provided the children  with pots and spoons. The babies love exploring the texture with their hands and mouth which is great for their sensory development. The cherubs have also been doing a lot of painting using a variety of colours to promote their expressive arts and design development and handling skills with the  brushes!

The Cherubs exploring the gloop

Margaret said ‘We have been doing a lot of sand and water play, the babies loved splashing the water with their hands and exploring the water toys with their mouths and putting them inside the water tray’.

The Cherubs also love playing in the home corner and with the play food, they especially enjoy putting the play food inside the little cooker cupboard! Children enjoy hiding and finding objects which is also a part of their understanding of the world and mathematical development. If you have any little containers at home such as little cardboard/ trinket boxes or pots safe enough for your child to hold,  provide your child with little rubber ducks or something similar and  your baby will love to put the toys inside the boxes and explore the different shapes of the lids.

The Cherub's painting

 

 

 

Angels

Our little Angels have really enjoyed themselves through February to March. We have been focusing on Sea Animals for our monthly topic. Most of the children knew basic animals such as fish and turtles with the help of our nursery rhymes but the children have gained more of understanding of the different kinds of fish and sea creatures such as whales, sea lions and octopuses. In the Angels room there is an underwater sea corner with laminated pictures of the sea animals and words associated with the sea. The children have been enjoying exploring the pictures and of course moving them around the room. We have also put up some beautiful sea blue material to create the ocean feel for the children. Children love hiding and being in dens and under material, if you have any material at home like old bed sheets you don’t use anymore, you can create some dens for your child with cardboard boxes or anything that is substantial to hold the sheet and that is safe, trust me, your child will love it and will probably play in there all day!

The children created some beautiful fish with Josephine, these are hung up around the Angels room at the moment. Josephine stuffed some old newspaper in a brown bag and tied it the end together with string to create a 3D fish shape. The children then painted their fish and decorated it with various shiny collage pieces to create the illusion of scales and to create colourful fishes. The children really enjoyed this and they look really great hung up due to the 3D effect! Katie also did some paper plate fishes with the children using coloured cellophane, paint and bubble wrap, these are also hung up around the room.

The Angels have also been showing a keen interest in the circle time songs at the moment. The children really enjoy  our nursery rhymes, especially Roly Poly. We have also spiced up our turtle song with little miniature turtles for each child to hold during the song. The children love this idea and aside from making the song more fun, it also allows children to learn about putting them away in the box when the song is finished to help them understand about tidying up.

We have also been promoting the children’s language development with the sea animal flash cards.

Painting

Angels balloon painting

Aside from our monthly topic on sea animals, the Angels were also given the children the opportunity to explore different ways of painting and creative thinking. Josie did a lovely activity with the children called ‘Balloon painting’. The children were provided with various coloured paint and a small blown up balloon. The children then dipped their balloon in the paint and then dipped it on to their paper. This created a lovely effect and was a unique way to create beautiful colours.

The Angels Car painting

The children also did ‘Car painting’. This is a brilliant activity, especially if your child loves cars! The children were provided with big sheets of paper and white paint in dishes, the children then dipped their car in to the paint to create lots of lines and patterns on to their paper. If you would like to try this at home, make sure the car is washable i.e plastic and the bigger the wheels the better!

 Floor two- Stars

February to March the Stars have been exploring fairy tales. The children have been doing some lovely activities to do with fairy tales. The children have  explored countless traditional fairy-tale stories as well as not so well known tales. Such as the classic ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ and the ‘King and his son’. 

Castle Printing

Katarina did some lovely creative activities such as making a castle print which is currently on the wall on floor two. The children painted over the top of a cardboard cut-out of a castle using pinks, purples, greens and blues and when the cardboard was taken off it created a lovely castle picture. Katarina said ‘ Cutting the castle and sticking it on the poster was great fun for the children, the  children came up with their own ideas on the animals that lived in their castles, such as foxes and horses and the children are very proud of their work!’ 

'Mirror,  Mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?'

Katarina also provided the children with shiny silver foil to create their own mirrors to symbolize ‘Mirror Mirror on the Wall’, associated with the classic tale ‘Snow White’.  The children used various colours of shiny foil such as silver and gold to create a reflection, and also various other coloured cellophane. The children thoroughly enjoyed exploring the shiny foil as it was a new type of media most of them have not used before.

Shooting Stars (Preschool)

Pre-school blow painting

Shooting Stars have also explored ‘fairy tales’ as their monthly focus topic. Avalon came up with some wonderful ideas to expand the children’s areas of learning and development, yet doing so in a fun and magical way! Avalon said ‘"We have looked at the story of ‘The three little pigs’, and we made ‘huff puff’ pictures by blowing paint with straws and modelling with clay". The children made beautiful blow paintings that are displayed in pre school. The children used a variety of colours such as green, pink, red and orange which created a beautiful effect! Avalon also said ‘"We also explored the story ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ through role play and also looked at what’s fact and fiction’". The children also explored the story ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’ and sorted hard and soft objects as well as the opposites. Avalon also created some bean pictures using marbling inks  with the children, relating to the classic story of  ‘Jack and the Bean Stalk’. The children also had the chance to talk, discuss and compare ideas on what it takes to grown their very own magic beans in pre school!

As the spring holidays are coming up, I have put some links and ideas below to share with you some Easter Activities for your children to do to keep them busy!

Easter Egg hunt

Going to Easter egg hunts arranged in the community can be expensive sometimes, and it doesn’t have to be! Why don’t you hide some eggs in your very own garden or in the house, and  provide your child with little plastic baskets for them to find them. If you don’t like the idea of chocolate, hiding pretend eggs or little fluffy animals such as rabbits and chicks can be just as fun!

Strawberry Carrots!

I came across this adorable idea to make mini looking carrots out of strawberries. Mix orange food colouring in a bowl of melted white chocolate and then coat the strawberries to create a carrot looking effect. Great for if you're going to have an Easter party!
 

There are so many other  ideas at www.pinterest.com Type in ‘Easter’ in the search box and there are loads of Easter related at activities to get involved in.

That’s it for now!

Keep enjoying the sunshine!

Katie Mcgraffin