This week’s activities

Investigating our growing garden

One of the members of the team took small groups of children to look at how our allotment garden has been developing over the last couple of weeks.  They discussed what vegetables and fruits are growing, using the labels the children have created to identify which plant is which.

The teacher explained that some fruit and vegetables grow the edible part on top of the soil and some underneath, for example, strawberries on top and potatoes below.

They used a garden magazine as a reference to show the children what some of the fruits and vegetables may look like when we are able to harvest them.(fingers crossed!). They discussed the meaning of harvest and how different foods are harvested in different ways; strawberries are carefully picked from the plant and potatoes are dug up.  None of our produce is ready to be harvested yet and so the children are learning that food takes time to produce and needs care and attention to keep it healthy.  This helps children make connections with what they see in the supermarket, in their fridge and on their plate.  We hope that they will become respectful and considered consumers, realising that food is a precious resource that should not be wasted.

They discussed what the plants need to thrive and survive – sun, water and healthy soil. We have a compost bin that the children contribute to on a daily basis through the food that is left from snack and their lunchboxes – banana skins, orange peel, carrot peel, apple cores, etc. The children are learning that it takes time for these leftovers to rot down and how lots of lovely insects help in this process and how important insect life is to our world.

As you will know, April has been a particularly dry month, so to supplement a lack of rainfall, we collect rainwater in our 3 water butts.  This rainwater will be sparingly used to water our plants over the coming weeks when rain is in short supply.  We talk to the children about conserving water – not only in our water butts, but when they are washing their hands in the bathroom, or playing with water in the water tray.

We are hopeful that through simple, easy to understand activities, we will be helping the children who will be dealing with the consequences of climate change to be responsible citizens who respect and care for their planet.

May Bank Holiday Weekend

Don’t forget that the Pre-school will be closed on Monday 2nd May 2022.  Have a wonderful long weekend.

The Pre-school Team