This week’s activities

The children have loved exploring the playdough this week, using it in a variety of ways, for example, earlier in the week it was used to create nuts for the squirrels and spines for the hedgehogs. The following day it was used to create cakes. It was one of the children’s birthdays, so lots of children got involved with making a birthday cake, with sticks for candles, which the birthday child subsequently blew out as the children sang ‘happy birthday‘. It was also used to see what footprints the wild animals make as they walk, slither and creep through the undergrowth.  Playdough is such a wonderful resource and is very easy to make from very simple ingredients. It is great for gross and fine motor skills, sensory stimulation and calming (we added lavender this week for an olfactory experience too) and for imaginative play.

In their mark-making the children used the chunky chalks outside. Noticing the different effects made by chalk, as opposed to pencils and crayons and how, when it rains, the chalk washes away.  By using chunky chalks, those children who are still developing their pincer grip have the opportunity to make marks in an accessible and developmentally appropriate way.

In their construction play, the children used the wooden blocks to design, through trial and error, a brilliant road for the cars and trucks to use to transport goods to the depots and supermarkets. We are talking to the children about how goods get from one place to another. For example, wheat is grown on a farm, it gets harvested and is transported to the factory where it is ground into flour, from there it is transported to another factory where it is turned into bread, from there the bread is transported to the supermarket, where we can buy the end product. This discussion around how things are produced and how they get from one place to another links to our Education for Sustainable Development Award and helps the children begin to understand, in very simple terms, the meaning of economics and how links are made between processes and products.

Whilst outside, the children have continued to channel their energies into their large motor play by running, climbing, digging and constructing with the large wooden blocks. As the weather changes, the children are beginning to understand the different clothes they need to wear depending on the weather. Whilst getting on your waterproof trousers, coat and wellies, can seem a big challenge at first, you will be amazed at how quickly children learn to manage their own clothing with the help of modelling and patience from our lovely team.

Whilst outside, they built a train using the milk crates. They set them in a long line, one in front of the other. They purchased their ‘tickets’ and set off on magical adventures; visiting Eynsford Castle, the seaside and Dinosaur Land, to name but a few.

To help support them with their listening skills, a vital component of concentration, some of the children played a ‘sound lotto’ game. The children had to listen very carefully to the animal sounds and see if they could identify the animal from the sound. Lots of lovely animal noises and some really great knowledge from the children.

As always, this is only a snapshot of some of the activities carried out by the children this week.

Thank you.

The Pre-school Team