2-3: The Discovery Hub

We have had a lovely week welcoming everyone back after the holidays. The children have enjoyed sharing their experiences of going to the farm, park, on a walk, seeing a bus and being with family.

Holi Festival

The children have enjoyed experimenting with powder paint as we were learning and exploring at the Hindu celebration of Holi. During group time, we looked at photos of the celebration which is an Indian festival that celebrates colour, love and Spring. We looked at the powder and discussed how it looked different to the paint we have in nursery. As we asked how will we make the powder wet, some of the children answered “need water”. During our explorations the children dipped their paint brushes in water before putting some powder paint on. Then the children dapped, flicked or stroked the paint onto the paper to create their pictures. We also explored using the powder paint outdoors as the children explored creating marks on the ground and fence.

World Book Day

It was amazing to see all of our children involved in World Book Day. The children were so excited to show staff and their friends the costumes and pyjamas they were wearing. During group times the children had the chance to show their books and costumes and showed confidence standing up in front of everyone or sitting on the chair.

We explored many stories across the day including Elmer, 3 Little Ducks and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The children enjoyed creating their own Elmer the Elephant using coloured materials to stick on the patches. It was lovely to observe the children using the ducks to move along the river as they sang the rhyme hiding each duck.

As the children discussed books they enjoy, some of the children read The Gruffalo and begun to describe the story to the staff without any prompts! It has been amazing to see the progression the children are making and engagement with our core texts over the last few weeks!

Communication and Language

This week our core text has been The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The children have engaged with this during our group times and are beginning to show an understanding of the story. As we have repeated the book across the week with props, the children have begun to join in with repeated parts such as “trip trap” and “who’s that on my bridge” while acting out the story indoors and outdoors. In the garden, the children have explored creating bridges using the cork blocks for the animals to walk “across”, “under” and “over”.

Outdoor Learning

It has been lovely having some time in the garden with the sunshine. We have been exploring creating an obstacle course in the garden exploring various physical challenges. Within the obstacle course the children had a go at jumping in hoops, walking across stepping stones, walking up and down the steps and crawling under the tube. The children were very engaged with the obstacle course as they waited for another turn. We adapted the course adding more obstacles and challenging the children to explore a new physical challenge.

Parents as Partners

Over the next few weeks, some of our children will be having transition visits to the Investigation Hub with staff in preparation for their transition after the Easter Holidays. If you have any questions about the transition or if you wanted to visit the Investigation Hub please speak with a member of staff or message Kelly with questions around funding.

We would like to invite you for a ‘parent consultation’ with your child’s key person. This will be to discuss how they are settling back/ into the nursery environment, to share their learning (both at nursery and home) and discuss individual next steps. It’s a lovely opportunity for a short (10-15 minutes) chat in an informal way with your child’s key person, face to face, to talk about their interests and to support their learning across both nursery and home. Dates will be posted on the entrance door for the weeks commencing the 23rd and 30th March. Please sign up with your key person or send them a message via Famly to arrange a meeting. 

The Nursery Team