This week’s activities

Collecting resources for craft

Last week we told you about the children collecting natural resources from the woodland area to use in their craft. This week, the children asked if they could go and look for more. To make it a different experience, they went for a walk around the School grounds. Alongisde the opportunity to name and explore what they found, going for walks in their immediate environment gives them a sense of place and where they fit in their local community. They also discussed how they get to Pre-school – whether walking or in their car, who brings them, who comes with them, etc. Discussing the connections between their home and Pre-school helps them make sense of the world and their place in it.

Thinking about emotions

As you know, young children can demonstrate extremes of emotion – one minute super happy, the next completely inconsolable. This is all perfectly normal. Helping young children to understand and name their feelings gives them some tools to deal with situations in a more socially acceptable way as they negotiate life’s complicated social interactions. This week, the children have been exploring our emotions resources, naming the expressions they see in the resources and looking in the mirror to see if they can replicate the expressions themselves and give them a name. Through stories and discussions, they have thought about what might make them feel a certain way and how we can deal with really strong emotions so that we feel like ourselves again.

Role play

Children love to re-create and re-enact their own experiences through role play. That is why you will always find a ‘home corner’ and ‘small world toys’ in every Early Years setting. They use their imagination in very creative ways when they are given open-ended resources. We do not have ‘dressing-up’ outfits. Instead we provide a range of materials for the children to create their own role-play costumes. This week the children have used them to make superhero capes and wings like a bat! Lovely.

Safeguarding

Every week, we ensure that we are supporting the children with strategies to help them keep themselves safe, or to know what to do in situations where they feel something is wrong. This week we have shared the NSPCC ‘Pants’ video with them. This explains, in simple terms, what is and isn’t ok when thinking about their own bodies. The video, with the friendly ‘Pantosaurus’ dinosaur, for you to share at home, can be found at https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/support-for-parents/pants-underwear-rule/?gclsrc=aw.ds&&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqPuzltG3-gIVicLtCh2plASiEAAYASABEgIQovD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds.

Using the tablet leads to discussions around keeping safe online. Every household and every family have access to the internet, so it is important to teach your children how to use devices and access the internet in as safe a way as possible. We tell the children that if they see something on their tablet/phone/laptop that they don’t like, they should close the lid, or turn it over and tell an adult.

Outside role play

The children have access to our outdoor space for the majority of the day. Being outside gives them opportunities to move in different ways and use their imaginations in different scenarios. We have some large digger toys that the children have been pushing along (using big motor skills) up the ramp and down to the large wooden blocks, where they collected smaller blocks, then carefully pushed the trucks all along the garden to their final destination. They told the teacher that they were “digging a road”. There are lots of skills involved in this role play – sharing resources, planning their route, avoiding obstacles, having a purpose in mind, working collaboratively and using lots of muscles in their arms, legs and building-up their core strength.

Improving our environment

You may have noticed that, at the side of the ramp leading up to Robin Room there is a small patch of overgrown land. We are attempting to turn this into a sensory garden. The children are getting involved by helping to dig the soil over (once we had removed the stinging nettles). They learnt that tools need to be used safely, as well as using their fine and large motor skills to dig and pull out the weeds. Wearing the right clothing is also important. We encourage the children to be independent with their dressing skills and it is amazing how quickly they learn to take their own shoes on and off and change into wellies. The gardening gloves were a little trickier but they persevered. Giving children time to practice these skills is really important in helping them with their life skills as they move through education.

We hope you have a lovely weekend and enjoy the School Fair.

The Pre-school Team