Learning focus at the moment
Babies With the year coming to a close, we have been exploring The Gruffalo and enjoying a wonderful range of themed activities. The children loved creating paper plate Gruffalos, eagerly putting their artistic skills to work to make their very own creature to take home. Our story-themed sensory tray offered sand, shaving foam, and cornflour to explore, along with favourite characters from the book. During story time with puppets, the children enjoyed looking closely at the pictures, exploring the puppets, and engaging in lots of rich communication and language. We also opened our very own Owl Ice Cream Parlour, where the children scooped, filled, and emptied cones using shaving foam and biodegradable glitter—an imaginative activity that supported the development of important fine motor skills. Winter & Christmas in Babies
This term, our babies have been exploring the season of winter and the excitement of Christmas through a range of stimulating, frosty activities. They loved exploring pretend snow, created with cornflour and conditioner, which they could sprinkle, mould, and scoop. Our shaving-foam snowman activity offered a lovely opportunity to explore the sense of touch. The babies have also enjoyed getting creative with Christmas crafts, making cards, clay baubles, and paper plate wreaths, as well as preparing their very own reindeer food to sprinkle on Christmas Eve. Throughout the term, the team has set up a variety of festive tuff trays, including Christmas-jumper decorating and messy seasonal play, adding to the magic and excitement in the baby room. Toddlers This term in Toddlers, we have been excitedly preparing for Christmas. The children enjoyed decorating the Toddler room with lights, baubles, and their own beautiful crafts, including stockings and snowflakes. We have also been developing our early mark-making skills through daily drawing sessions, where each child has their own art book to create marks and begin giving meaning to their drawings. We have continued to explore a range of textures—from the frost on the ground in the garden to ice in trays, where the children even had to rescue polar bears trapped in the ice! Our investigations have also included natural objects such as fir tree leaves, holly leaves, pinecones, and more. In addition to this, we have been working on regulating our emotions using The Colour Monster story, which helps children understand and name their feelings. Our puppet, Oscar the Orangutan, has been a wonderful support in helping children talk about their emotions in a fun and engaging way. It has been a wonderful term full of creativity, sensory exploration, emotional learning, and festive fun. Preschool What a wonderful and exciting term we have had in Preschool! Our classroom has been buzzing with creativity, curiosity, and joyful learning. We have especially enjoyed spending time in the kitchen, making gingerbread and Gruffalo banana cakes. The children loved measuring, mixing, and exploring all the different smells and textures. Cooking together has been a fantastic way for them to practise turn-taking, counting, and following instructions. During circle time, the children have been using their name sticks to vote for the story they would like to hear each day. This simple activity has been a brilliant opportunity for them to recognise their names, build confidence in making choices, and contribute to group decisions. We have also immersed ourselves in a range of Julia Donaldson stories, including Room on the Broom, The Gruffalo, and Stick Man. The children delighted in creating their own Gruffalo characters, describing his features in wonderful detail, and making their very own Stick Men using sticks collected from our garden. Their imagination and storytelling skills have truly blossomed. Phonics has been another important part of our learning. We have been identifying the letters in our own names and the names of our friends, exploring early reading skills through songs, games, and our daily routines. And just like the elves, Preschool has been very busy preparing for Christmas! We’ve enjoyed a variety of festive arts and crafts and embraced all the excitement this season brings. The children have loved singing Christmas songs during circle time, continuing with their much-loved French lessons, and joining in with our lively music sessions every two weeks. It has been a magical and productive term—full of curiosity, creativity, and countless happy moments.
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