Really, we had 'free plans' over May and April. There were so many bank holidays and children's holidays coming up over the two months, that we let our planning for lifecycles run for two months and were pretty loose in the interpretation of it, allowing children who were coming and going from holidays talk about what they had been doing and what they had been seeing.
Lots of discussions as expected and planned for were about all the flowers, plants, insects, etc. But the children also became really fascinated in weddings due to the royal wedding- of which we did no activities based around it at the nursery, but the environment saw to it that we were not going to miss out on thinking about weddings. Children found tiny pictures of William and Kate in magazines and papers and cut them out on the collage table like they had found treasure! There must have been a lot of wedding album sharing going on at home too, because the children loved telling teachers about their parents wedding photos and photos of them when they were small.
This led on to an interest in adults when they were younger. Laura Z asked all the teachers to bring in photos of them when they were young, which they did. The children have had so much fun and amusement trying to guess which pictures are of which teacher. The teachers had fun with this as well, mostly from a generation guessing perspective as we laughed at the clothes and quality of the photos!!
In April mostly, we did a lot of collage and work around flowers. Probably the most interesting and fun activity was dissecting a bunch of real flowers. We looked at and talked about the differences in their petals, leaves, stamens, anthers, etc. Then after they had all been taken apart, we collaged them onto some big pieces of paper.
In late April some of the older Dolphins children took a trip to Homebase to buy some plants, soil, hanging baskets and seeds to their garden. They chose some plants that they could eat and some plants that they could admire. This year, we have experimented with plants that grow up (peas and beans) and plants that grow upside down (we ha
ve some tomatoes growing upside down from hanging baskets) and then there are our flowers in the flower baskets that the children are watering (when they are not watering the teachers) and our strawberries that are a raging success this year, but for the constant hungry attacks from children’s wandering fingers and insects.
Children loved the gardening so much that once the plants were planted and we needed to end the digging, they just wanted to go back for more and this is not helpful for the plants survival! So we have set up a free gardening tray in the outdoor sand tray. Children have been digging, scraping, burying, hiding and discovering in the tray. We have plastic insects, and other natural materials in it to play with and the children have had a blast.
Football is a real success. The children who do it love it so much that we have had to add in another class to reduce the number sizes and ensure the children are having lots of opportunity to kick those balls. The other great thing about it is that it has really encouraged children's interest in lots of different physical activities and we have been kicking and throwing all sorts of objects about! Kicking- only balls, but throwing has seen Frisbees, bean bags, balls, tennis balls and scoops and quoits.
Sensory play has been a relaxing part of our days. We have a
sensory tent that reflects light and we play with glowing balls, torches, funny feeling objects that have weird names we always forget, things to squeeze, pull, twist and things that slip through your hands and are really hard to hold on to! Also different textures, temperatures and sizes.
Oh and the Spring Tea Party at the start of April was massive. That is really the best way to describe it. We expected half the numbers of families and children, planned for a civilised bonnet parade but unseasonably hot weather brought out everyone at the eleventh hour and we were pretty unprepared for it and amazed. Still, we had a great time, children loved their bonnets, Peppa Pig (well, most children- not all), tea, prizes and of course the bouncy castle. It was hot and fun and we raised £621.80 for Wellchild which was great!
And, back to the garden, we have also been looking at insects through magnifying glasses. We have found lady birds, snails, ants and little odd bugs that we are unfamiliar with around the playground sparking off a major insect interest that is running through the nursery at present.
Lots of discussions as expected and planned for were about all the flowers, plants, insects, etc. But the children also became really fascinated in weddings due to the royal wedding- of which we did no activities based around it at the nursery, but the environment saw to it that we were not going to miss out on thinking about weddings. Children found tiny pictures of William and Kate in magazines and papers and cut them out on the collage table like they had found treasure! There must have been a lot of wedding album sharing going on at home too, because the children loved telling teachers about their parents wedding photos and photos of them when they were small.
This led on to an interest in adults when they were younger. Laura Z asked all the teachers to bring in photos of them when they were young, which they did. The children have had so much fun and amusement trying to guess which pictures are of which teacher. The teachers had fun with this as well, mostly from a generation guessing perspective as we laughed at the clothes and quality of the photos!!
In April mostly, we did a lot of collage and work around flowers. Probably the most interesting and fun activity was dissecting a bunch of real flowers. We looked at and talked about the differences in their petals, leaves, stamens, anthers, etc. Then after they had all been taken apart, we collaged them onto some big pieces of paper.
In late April some of the older Dolphins children took a trip to Homebase to buy some plants, soil, hanging baskets and seeds to their garden. They chose some plants that they could eat and some plants that they could admire. This year, we have experimented with plants that grow up (peas and beans) and plants that grow upside down (we ha
ve some tomatoes growing upside down from hanging baskets) and then there are our flowers in the flower baskets that the children are watering (when they are not watering the teachers) and our strawberries that are a raging success this year, but for the constant hungry attacks from children’s wandering fingers and insects.Children loved the gardening so much that once the plants were planted and we needed to end the digging, they just wanted to go back for more and this is not helpful for the plants survival! So we have set up a free gardening tray in the outdoor sand tray. Children have been digging, scraping, burying, hiding and discovering in the tray. We have plastic insects, and other natural materials in it to play with and the children have had a blast.
Football is a real success. The children who do it love it so much that we have had to add in another class to reduce the number sizes and ensure the children are having lots of opportunity to kick those balls. The other great thing about it is that it has really encouraged children's interest in lots of different physical activities and we have been kicking and throwing all sorts of objects about! Kicking- only balls, but throwing has seen Frisbees, bean bags, balls, tennis balls and scoops and quoits.
Sensory play has been a relaxing part of our days. We have a
sensory tent that reflects light and we play with glowing balls, torches, funny feeling objects that have weird names we always forget, things to squeeze, pull, twist and things that slip through your hands and are really hard to hold on to! Also different textures, temperatures and sizes. We can’t forget the bike and scoot days. They are so much fun and it is amazing how good the less confident children have become on their bikes or scooters. They just watch each other and want to hang out like big children together and just do it. It is brilliant to watch as they dish out instructions to each other and direct each other. They love the whole experience. Even the rolling down of the tyres to set up the space provides as much fun in the anticipation of the ride than the ride.
Oh and the Spring Tea Party at the start of April was massive. That is really the best way to describe it. We expected half the numbers of families and children, planned for a civilised bonnet parade but unseasonably hot weather brought out everyone at the eleventh hour and we were pretty unprepared for it and amazed. Still, we had a great time, children loved their bonnets, Peppa Pig (well, most children- not all), tea, prizes and of course the bouncy castle. It was hot and fun and we raised £621.80 for Wellchild which was great!And, back to the garden, we have also been looking at insects through magnifying glasses. We have found lady birds, snails, ants and little odd bugs that we are unfamiliar with around the playground sparking off a major insect interest that is running through the nursery at present.
