This week’s activities

A briefer summary this week due to staff shortages.

The children worked collaboratively in the garden to create a ‘dinosaur land’.  They used the crates and a tarpaulin to build mountains and valleys, plus a deep, dark cave, where the dinosaurs became trapped.  Some of the crates then became a bus to take the children to dinosaur land, where they turned into dinosaurs who went into a cave to keep safe (our pop-up football nets!).  Some of the children then went on to draw their own dinosaurs using chalk on the large chalkboard. This became a very popular activity, so they then went on to use individual chalkboards. They named their dinosaurs – some real names and some creatively made up, such as Kindasaurus and Elasmasaurus. A fantastic activity for all sorts of development; turn-taking and sharing, working collaboratively, showing a can-do attitude, problem solving, shape, space and measure, large and fine motor skills, mark making, literacy and communication and language. Fantastic.

We have continued to focus on the weather. We are recording the weather each day so we can look back over time to see how the weather changes with the seasons. We are learning why we get different weather patterns at different times of year and how our weather is becoming more extreme, with some very wet and windy days this week.  To help the children understand the wind, we have talked about how it moves the trees, the children’s hair and clothing, the leaves that have fallen from the trees and the large pieces of material we have tied to the fence. The children are learning about the world around them through real life, hands-on experiences.

Again, we have drawn on the season in our arts and crafts, by creating still life artworks, painting the pumpkins we have been exploring. We then went on to use the pumpkins in a variety of ways, including using tools safely, learning about what the inside of the pumpkin looks, feels and smells like.  We scooped out the seeds and flesh.  The flesh has been left in the garden for the squirrels and birds and the seeds have been washed and left to dry in the sun.  We will plant the seeds in the garden when we return after half term.

Whilst there are always construction resources available, the children have gone a step further in their construction by using the ‘junk’ modelling resources to create wonderful structures this week. They chose suitably shaped boxes and then added silver-foil milk bottle tops to add wheels. Lots of mathematical exploration, as well as problem solving and creativity.  Some children were more focused on the decorative elements of their creations, adding varying resources to make their boxes look beautiful. Lots of lovely self-expression here.

PLEASE REMEMBER THAT WE ARE NOT OPEN TO CHILDREN TOMORROW AND RETURN FOLLOWING HALF TERM ON MONDAY 1ST NOVEMBER. HAVE A GREAT BREAK!

The Pre-school Team