Week Commencing 19th October 2026

The Nest

As we approach Halloween, pumpkins have been thoroughly explored within the Nest this week, with some fantastic sensorial experiences shared between staff and children!

As the days get shorter, we have made cosier spaces and added lights for the children to create a snug environment..

Physical Development:

As the days are getting shorter, duskier and darker earlier we have created some cosy den spaces adding colourful lights for the children to investigate, they amazed us with their skills as they pressed the buttons to change the colours and observed the colours changing. The children babbled with delight as they explored.

Our recent sensory activity invited children to explore pumpkins, encouraging them to engage with the objects through sight and touch. The children displayed great curiosity as they observed the pumpkins varied textures, colours, and shapes, demonstrating a natural instinct to investigate their contents. This hands on experience fostered an environment of discovery and engagement. The children were sat side by side, intently examining the pumpkin’s contents. They all demonstrated good hand-eye coordination while scooping. The adult supported the children’s exploration by offering the materials and allowing them time to observe and engage at their own pace. Some were initially hesitant, observing from a distance before tentatively reaching out to explore the texture. The children spent a considerable amount of time exploring this activity, as they were fully engrossed in what they were doing.

Another sensorial experience we created was adding green spaghetti into a pumpkin and letting the children explore this texture! Some children showed a little uncertainty but after watching staff demonstrate touching and holding the spaghetti, they themselves reached out to hold the spaghetti. Some children were really keen to explore the spaghetti in the pumpkin and approached the tray pointing to it. They used their pincer grip to pick up the spaghetti and moved it around their fingers, then held it up at height and watched as it fell back down into the pumpkin, the tray, the ground or onto their feet or toes! This activity had the children fully engrossed in what they were doing and therefore spent a considerable period of time exploring.

We introduced some Halloween sensory bags on our light panel this week – bags filled with coloured oats, pasta stars, rice, chia seeds and cotton wool – which sparked lots of curiosity and eagerness to explore from our children! This curiosity was demonstrated as the felt the bags – squeezing them, shaking them and patting them. The children showed lovely interactions with staff as they passed the sensory bags to adults to share their experiences with a familiar adult. Further exploration was created by the children as they explored by sitting on the light panel, to look at the sensory bags further.

Communication and Language:

We have explored edible paint using yoghurt and food colouring with pumpkins and squashes. The children thoroughly enjoyed getting involved. They showed no hesitation and curiosity took over. The children grasped the paint brush using their whole hand grasp and looked at in so intently. Also they experiment with dipping the paint brush into the yoghurt which they took to their mouth to taste. The children showed good control in creating marks on the pumpkin, moving the paint brush to create different strokes. The children were incredibly engaged throughout this activity, showing lots of focus, movements and exploration. The children showed awareness of one another as they looked to each other while exploring, inviting each other into their exploration as they babbled together and exchanged facial expressions.

To create another sensorial experience for our children we have made some cinnamon scented playdough for the children to engage with. This activity had the children engaged for an extended period of time as the children developed their fine motor skills in manipulating the playdough, alongside some heuristic resources such as lollipop sticks, rolling pins, pinecones and other wooden tools. The children experimented with their hands exploring the playdough, as they patted, squeezed, poked and felt the playdough, as well as using the tools to have an effect on the dough – pushing the lollipop sticks and other tools into the dough and then observing the marks this left behind as they tested their own strength by pulling to remove the sticks from the dough. Staff modelled language such as “press” “pull” “poke” “squash” “smell” as the children engaged with the playdough, with the children making babble sounds in response.

Staffing Updates

Following half term, Mercy will be moving from the Nest to the Discovery Hub as a key person to support the children in there, to further gain some experience of working with children within that age range. Laney (who is currently based in the Den) will be joining myself and Sarah in the Nest and has been spending periods of time in the Nest, getting to know the children in preparation for her room move. We are really looking forward to Laney joining the team and know that you will join us in giving her a warm welcome to the team. We would also like to thank Mercy for all her hard work in the Nest and wish her the best of luck on her transition to the Discovery Hub.

Parent Partnerships

As some of our children are off Nursery next week for October half term, we would like to wish you all a lovely half term! If your child attends Nursery all year round, we look forward to welcoming them next week as normal and engaging in more Halloween activities.

Please continue to share your parent observations with us, the staff really enjoy seeing what the children get up to at home, and all of the special times you share together creating special memories as a family.

If you require any support to complete a parent observation, please speak to a member of the team who would be happy to help!

Wishing you a lovely weekend!