What are we doing in Dolphins in January?The Dolphins group have continued to be interested in Christmas cards and been talking about cards coming through their letter boxes, etc. So we plan to extend this interest in to writing cards and letters and posting them, talking about the postal service and how it works and giving the children the opportunity to take part in the process.
What are we doing at the nursery to support this:
• Setting up a post office in the nursery where children can write letters and cards, put them in envelopes and post them in a post box.
• Making 3D postal vans out of boxes and talking about what the postal vans are for.
• Making cards using stencils.
• During circle times we will be reading Postman Pat stories and talking about how the post service works.
• Taking some of the children on an excursion to the Post Office.
• Designing our own stamps.
What could you do to support the children and reinforce what they have experienced at the nursery?
• Write some letter with your children to family and friends. Pop it in the post box and ask them to call your child when it arrives.
• Take letters to the post box to post with them. Talk about where they are going and how they will get there and how long it will take.
• Take your children on a trip to the Post Office and talk about what you are using the services for.
• Point out the postal service in action when you pass it. Post deliverers, post trucks, post vans collecting from the post boxes etc.
• Talk about the colour of the post service being red and how it can be recognised.
• Talk about the colours of stamps and what they mean. E.g. gold for a fast delivery, blue for a slower, big stamps for big letters, etc.
What are we doing in Starfish in January?
The Starfish group have been taking an interest in the sensory experiences such as water play, the sensory bag and tactile bags and so we will be extending and supporting on this.
• Setting up a post office in the nursery where children can write letters and cards, put them in envelopes and post them in a post box.
• Making 3D postal vans out of boxes and talking about what the postal vans are for.
• Making cards using stencils.
• During circle times we will be reading Postman Pat stories and talking about how the post service works.
• Taking some of the children on an excursion to the Post Office.
• Designing our own stamps.
What could you do to support the children and reinforce what they have experienced at the nursery?
• Write some letter with your children to family and friends. Pop it in the post box and ask them to call your child when it arrives.
• Take letters to the post box to post with them. Talk about where they are going and how they will get there and how long it will take.
• Take your children on a trip to the Post Office and talk about what you are using the services for.
• Point out the postal service in action when you pass it. Post deliverers, post trucks, post vans collecting from the post boxes etc.
• Talk about the colour of the post service being red and how it can be recognised.
• Talk about the colours of stamps and what they mean. E.g. gold for a fast delivery, blue for a slower, big stamps for big letters, etc.
What are we doing in Starfish in January?
The Starfish group have been taking an interest in the sensory experiences such as water play, the sensory bag and tactile bags and so we will be extending and supporting on this.
What are we doing at the nursery to support this:
• We will be using words to explain properties of things, such as soft, hard, warm, cold, rough, furry, etc, with the children to build on their word repertoire.
• Manjit will be setting up some cooked corn flour play.
• Bea will be setting up some clay experiences.
• Sarah will be setting up some whipped and set soap flakes play.
• Sarah will be setting up a range of wet sand activities.
• Bea will be setting up some clay activities.
• Manjit will be making play dough and using it with the children while it is warm.
What could you do to support the children and reinforce what they have experienced at the nursery?
• Explore textures with children and talk about the properties of them. Help them run their hands over bricks, wood, grass, trees, fur, etc.
• Use describing words to build their repertoire of language and using it to relate to the experiences they are having.
• Have a go of doing some finger painting at home, use play dough, set up some bubbly water play, etc.
What are we doing in Seahorses in January?
The start of each year always means welcoming new babies into the seahorses room, getting the settled and supporting them in learning about the room, their neighbours in Starfish and the different faces in the nursery.
What are we doing at the nursery to support this:
• Making a display of children’s pets so that they can feel that important and familiar parts of their home can give them comfort at the nursery as well.
• Asking parents to bring in pictures of the babies families so that they can see them during the nursery day.
• Lots of use of names so that the babies can become familiar with who is in the room with them and start to become aware of their peers.
• Introducing children to explore sensory activities like feeling paint, corn flour and water, water play, etc that they may not have had a lot of experience of at home, but that is and will become very important parts of their nursery experience.
• Introducing the new babies to a range of other activities to encourage the impulse to explore.
What could you do to support the children and reinforce what they have experienced at the nursery?
• Use the names of the staff and the other children in the group when you are at home to keep the links between nursery and home active.
• Sing songs with your baby and use the names of people s/he is familiar with at nursery.
• Talk a lot about nursery while you are at home in a positive and relaxed tone to demonstrate that it is a special place in their lives and that you acknowledge what is important to them beyond your home and family.
• You could even try to extend some of the activities we do at nursery into your home if you are game enough. Finger painting (with non-toxic paint of course), corn flour and water are great at home too. Just as a team member for a recipe if you are keen to create a bit of mess and explore.
