What are we doing in Sea Turtles in October?

The leaves are falling around us thick and fast and the days are getting dimmer and windier. The children are loving picking up leaves and sticks that have fallen and there is so much beyond our nursery that can be tapped into as well.

 

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Exploring new environments, objects and changes whilst checking in with familiar adults.  PD: Picking up and manipulating objects using fine motor control. C&L: Selecting and collecting objects by name. learning new names.

Specific areas:

M: recognising big and small objects in meaningful contexts. UW: Looking for dropped objects from the environment.  EA&D Exploring and experimenting with a range of media through sensory exploration and using their whole body.

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

·         Tasting seasonal vegetables and fruits . Sarah G will be carrying on with tasting of new fruits from last month and extending it to all of the delicious seasonal vegetables out now.

·         Excursion to collect autumn fall. Laura and Sarah G will be organising excursions to the local park to collect autumn fall and bring it back to create seasonal sensory treasure baskets.

·         Autumn leaf art. Laura  will be  supporting the children in making some art using falling autumn leaves.

·         Sorting and matching autumn leaves. Laura will be setting up some sorting and matching activities with the older children to draw similarities in size and shape of autumn fall.

·         Making a tree out of autumn fall. Latoya will be working with the children collaboratively to create a tree out of bark, leaves, and sticks.

·         Hand printing in autumn colours. Cristina will be making an autumn tree using hands prints of the children for the leaves.

·         Threading and leaf matching. Cristina will be setting up some threading activities for the children to thread trees and leaves and also colour matching using leaves.

·         Conker rolling. Alice will be collecting conkers and making art with the children by dipping the conkers in paint and rolling them around on paper for effect.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Take some time out and go collecting. Collect leaves, conkers, sticks, bark, pinecones, etc to create sensory baskets to explore. Sit down together and look at them, talk about them and play with them.

·         Label what you are exploring and extend and build on language; spikey, smooth, soft, sharp, rough, big, small, flat, long, brown, orange, red, green, leaf, conker, stick, bark, etc.

·         Find a leafy area and run through the leaves, kicking them up, throwing them, scattering them.

·         Cut a pumpkin and explore it together. What do the seeds feel like, where are they, what does the flesh feel like, what colour is it.

·         If you’re a member of Kew, don’t miss out on all the amazing pumpkin installations at the moment.

·         Be careful with babies and toddlers. Acorns and even small conkers are a choke hazard. They are soft and smooth and children love to put them in their mouths. Save these for children over three- there is plenty of time to explore them later.