What are we doing in Starfish this month?

During July, we will be having a big focus on the sunshine and warm weather.
Many of the starfish are really interested in the process of going outside and preparing for the sun. They are fascinated by the ritual of sun block going on and sun hats having to stay on. They have been spending lots of time in the outdoor play area and loving the daily sand play and activities that really go with sunny days and a relaxed environment.

Some of the activities we will be doing this month will be:
Allowing children to have a turn at putting on sun block and talking about where it goes.
Using a lot of language such as ‘hot’, ‘warm’, sun cream’, ‘hat’, ‘ice creams’, ‘ice lollies, ‘play grounds’,’ shorts’, ‘t-shirts’, summer dress, etc.
Creating seaside artwork.
Reading stories about the beach, playing, holidays, etc.
Eating tea, snack outside

What you could do to support your children at home:
Eat your lunch outside.
Take a trip to the seaside and point to new things, have a new experience.
Make some ice-lollies at home with your children, then sit in the garden and eat them.
Remember to use lots of language for labelling new things.
Go to the library or buy some books about summer time, holidays, etc.
Relax. Have a summer time holiday!

What are we doing in Seahorses this month?

During the months of July and August We will be having a big focus on welcoming, settling and getting to know each other. We have had four new children and one new team member join our old friends over the last month so we will be doing lots of meeting, greeting and sharing smiles. A part of getting to know the new surroundings and each other is by having lots of fun together and trying new things. Summer is the perfect time to explore the everyday and additional activities we do with the children.

Some of the additional activities all the babies will be involved with this month are:
Adding to our ‘messy’ display. This will involve lots of paint and mucky substance exploration.
Beach play- stripping off in the heat and taking part in water and sand play, and using paddling pools and buckets.
Exploring treasure in the outdoor play area new ‘cosy corner’.
Lots of play on the soft play structures to encourage mobility and physical confidence.

What could you do to support the children and reinforce what they have experienced at the nursery?
Encourage cooling relaxing activities in the heat. Set up the paddling pool or play with water in a bucket.
Set up shaded areas outside for your child to explore their usual toys, but in a different environment. When you come into the nursery acknowledge your child’s peers with them and say their name.
Learn the ‘Hello Song’, we sing it a lot at nursery going through the children’s names and acknowledging who they are.

What are we doing in Dolphins this month?
July will see a focus on sequencing, sorting, grouping, and classifying.

This has come from two emerging interests. Firstly, following on from our plants, animals and living things topics, the children have started to really think about grouping, pairing, ordering and sequencing. We have also been talking a lot about sequences of events, such as growing up, metamorphosis, etc. This is particularly topical for our school leavers and those children who are staying at nursery but saying good bye to old friends.

Some of the activities we will be doing this month to support this concept will be:

- Playing games; snap, matching, dominoes.
- make our own sequencing cards with the children. E.g. I get up, then I get dressed, then I eat breakfast, then I brush my teeth, then I go to school.
- Discussions about growing up and the order of growth.
- Ordering sizes of our strawberries and tomatoes we are growing.
- Discussions about the stages and sequence of living things growth.
- Use of matching and sorting sets.
- Using the clay or play dough to make objects of varying size and comparing.
- Going on a walk to collect natural materials to sort at nursery.
- Go to the library and get books out on the topic.
- Lots of small world, sand and water play with objects to sort, sequence, group and classify.

What you could do to support your children at home:

- Talk about sequences of events in your own life; routines, patterns of activity, etc.
- Ask questions like, ‘what happens after we have a bath?’
- Write a story together about sequences of events in their lives and get them to think or talk about what you do in the day, your work routines, when you have lunch, etc.
- Go on a natural materials hunt and collect items to sort at home.
- Talk about size; smallest, biggest, the same as, etc.
- Sort your laundry together; ‘Daddy’s shirt, my shirt, Mummy’s shirt’, etc.