What are we doing in Sea Turtles in May?

The children are loving being outside and exploring all of the different things happening around them. They have enjoyed all the sensory play and started adding in pieces that they have found naturally such as the buds falling from the over hanging tree. So we will be extending our sensory and textural play to welcome in the discoveries of the changing natural environment.

The activities this month will be based around the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning:

Prime areas:

PSED: Interacting with children and adults to share an interest.  PD: Fine motor skills, picking up, selecting, separating different pieces to investigate. C&L Gesturing, facial expressions, demonstrations of emotion in sharing an interest.
Specific areas:
M: Identifying same materials, gathering lots, little, etc. UW: Noticing detailed features in their environment.  EA&D exploring and experimenting with a range of materials.

Some of the activities we will be doing this month will involve:

·         Exploring natural materials used to create a real insect home. Sarah G will be leading the children in finding different materials from their environment. Holding them, feeling them, looking at them and then using them to make an environment for them to rehome insects they have found in their garden.

·         Play small world environments. Laura will be using mud, soil, water, sand, stones, ice, etc to create little worlds for the children to play with their toy animals while having a multi sensory experience.

·         Close up investigation of insects and other interesting discoveries with Ella. Ella will be taking children on little exploration walks to look at different textures, corners of interest, insects, plant life, etc.

·         Feeling different seed types, shapes, quantities. Picking them up with fingers, separating them, moving them, placing them in different trays. Planting some real seeds to grow with Sara.

·         Exploring fragrances of different flowers and leaves. Cristina will be setting up with a variety of different flowers and leaves to look at, feel, smell, and ‘fiddle with’! And discuss.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Take some time out and sit in your garden or a park to look at the ground. Touch the grass with them, show them how to poke a hole in the ground. Pick up stones and roll them around in your hands, pick up insects and watch them run on your skin and put them on your child’s, rub soils between your fingers.

·         If you have a child in the real ‘everything in the mouth stage and you feel anxious about exploring the natural world, collect some safe sized rocks and sterilise them, add some leafy greens, use flour instead of soil, salt in different textures. Use similar textures with materials that you know are safe and you feel more relaxed with. 

·         Language: smooth, rough, sharp, soft, scratchy, wet, slippery, slimy, sticky, etc. Use a lot of descriptive words, even when they can’t use them yet, it builds up language experience and underpins forming communication and literacy.