It has been a busy month throughout March, in the nature garden for some amazing Forest School sessions. One of our focus stories has been ‘A Stroll Through the Seasons’, where the children have been looking at what the seasons of Spring look like and the difference between the seasonal changes of Winter to Spring. The children had lots of fun making their own versions of bugs and decorating bug houses. They have also been exploring spiders’ webs and making their own using string, paper plates and plastic needles.
We celebrated Red Nose Day, where the children took part in a range of red themed activities throughout the nursery and dressed up in carnival themed clothing. For World Book Day the children also came dressed up as their favourite characters and it was great to see how many fantastic costumes there were.
The children were very excited to see some snowfall during this month and had great fun exploring the different sensory textures.
Physical Development
Show a preference for a dominant hand
Personal, Social and Emotional
Develop their sense of responsibilities and membership of a community
Literacy
Enjoys sharing books with an adult
Baby Unit
Our Babies have been focusing on the topic, with a hop, skip and jump. They looked at the different animals within their core stories Spring and Dear Zoo, where they also learnt about the animals’ features, learnt the animals’ names, and sounds. A favourite activity was carrot painting as they looked at rabbits and what they eat and how they move.
Lots of hand-eye coordination was used while exploring Peter Rabbit while posting carrots into the box. They have also enjoyed rice play, where they have tipped and poured into different containers. The children have loved being out in the garden exploring the sand pit and feeling the textures between their hands. The babies loved their first tummy time PE session and they also tried to catch the balls on the parachute.
Communication and Language
Constantly babble ad use single words during play
Expressive Arts and Design
Start to make marks intentionally
Physical Development
Reach out for objects as co-ordination develops
Personal, Social and Emotional
Develop friendships with other children
Toddler Unit
Our Toddlers have also been focusing on the topic with a hop, skip and jump. They focused on a few core stories which were Stickman and Dear Zoo, where they looked at the different features of the animals they saw in the books. They recreated their own story of the Stickman as this is a favourite book for our Toddlers and especially for World Book Day.
Toddlers got very messy exploring during sensory play in the gloop with ducks, making their own animals out of the playdough and emptying and filling containers with oats as they extended their imaginary play.
Our Toddlers have also shown an interest in Forest School creating bird feeders, where they used their motor skills to mix the seeds together and add them to the moulds. The children then took them to the trees and hung them from the branches for the birds. Lots of communication skills were developed by discussing which birds they had seen and watching them fly over the nursery. The children and staff extended this by flapping their arms pretending to be birds as they moved around the garden.
Physical Development
Explore different materials and tools
Communication and Language
Copy your gestures and words
Literacy
Enjoys sharing books with an adult
Pre-School Unit
Our Pre-School children have been listening to the story ‘Don’t Wake the Bear Hare’ and ‘One Springy Day’. They enjoyed retelling the story to friends and drawing their own bear pictures to display on their story tree display.
They have been exploring the outdoor environments including the forest and nature garden, looking for signs of Spring and identifying different coloured flowers. This then linked to discussing different colours in the world around us and developing mathematical skills when counting the flowers. The children have also been busy using a wide range of mark-making resources to create pictures of farm animals. They have also learnt the names of the baby animals and where they live.
Pre-School’s topic has also been with a hop, skip and a jump but they have focused more on physical skills. The children have taken part in a number of different PE sessions to support their range of movements around the setting and looking at how they can move in different ways. Ball games have been a big focus which helps to develop their hand-eye coordination and supports with throwing and catching.
Physical Development
Develop manipulation and control
Expressive Arts and Design
Join the different materials together and explore different textures
Literacy
Enjoy drawing freely
Understanding the World
Explore different materials freely, to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make.
Mathematics
Notice patterns and arrange things in patterns
