What Dolphins will be doing in November and December 2014

With the children getting excited about Christmas and learning new Christmas songs, we have decided during November and December we will look at different celebrations from around the world. This includes Fireworks, Remembrance Day, Hanukkah, Thanks giving, St Andrew’s day, St Lucia and Christmas.

The activities this month will be based around

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning:

Prime areas:

PSED: Adapt behaviour to different events, social situations and changes in routines. PD: Show increased control over an object in pushing, patting, throwing, catching or kicking it. C&L Show interest in play with sounds, songs and stories.

Specific areas:

L: Ascribe meaning to marks that they see in different places. M: Realise not only objects, but everything can be counted. UW: Recognise and describe special times or events for family and friends.  EA&D: Join in singing favourite songs,

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

·         Poppies. The children will be making poppies for Remembrance Day.

·         Advent calendar. Marie Claire will be supporting the preschool children to make an advent calendar using pictures and numbers and learn more about advent.

·         Thanks giving. Marie Claire will be making finger paint turkeys with the children in celebration of thanks giving

·         Salt Dough decorations.  Christine will be working with the children to create salt dough decorations to decorate and take home to hang on the Christmas tree.

·         Box decorating. Abongi will support the children as they decorate boxes using paper fabric, tape and other resources,

·         St Andrew’s day. Abongi will be making Scottish flags and tartan patterns with the children in celebration of St Andrew’s day.

·         Menorah. Victoria will be assisting the children to create a menorah and learn about Hanukkah.

·         Hand print Wreaths/Reindeer. Using their own handprints, Victoria will help the children to make wreaths and reindeers to hang up.

·         St Lucia. Emma will be helping the children celebrate and learn more about St Lucia, by making paper candles, head dresses, sing songs and making buns to share.

·         Christmas songs. In preparation for Carols by candle light we will all be practicing our favourite Christmas songs and learning a couple of new ones.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Practice for Carols by candle light. With your child practice some of the songs that we will be singing at carols by candle light. (song sheets available by email or in reception)

·         Get wrapping. Get your child to make their own wrapping paper or gift tags, and get them to help you wrap presents for people special to them, this can help them develop their hand eye coordination as well as their self-confidence through selecting and using resources.

What Sea Turtles will be doing in November and December 2014

To follow on from last month’s topic of changes around us, the big change of the year will be Christmas with decorations, carols, presents, a total change in the environment. We will also take a look at some of the other celebrations that go on around this time of the year such as thanks giving and Hanukkah

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Explore new experiences & environments with security from a familiar person. PD: Develop and use fine motor skills to explore and manipulate textures and objects new to them. C&L: Enjoy rhymes and songs, listening and trying to join in with actions and vocalisations.

Specific areas:

L: Handles books and printed materials with interest. M: Gaining an interest, know that some things exist, even when out of sight.  EA&D: Use a range of media to create festive works of art and decorations. UW: Observe changes as the festive world starts to emerge around them.

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

·         Christmas stories. Manjit will being telling Christmas stories using story sacks, puppets and props.

·         Music and movement. Afia will encourage the children to move their bodies in a variety of ways such as trotting like a reindeer, stretching as tall as a Christmas tree and making themselves round like a Christmas pudding.

·         Flash cards. Using different medias, Christina will be assisting the children to make their own festive flash cards and then use them in circle time to help extend their vocabulary.

·         Christmas Grotto. Alice will be making a Christmas grotto for the children to explore and play in.

·         Hanukkah. Amina will be looking at Hanukkah with the children and making paper Kippahs/ yarmulkes and Menorahs and decorating them

·         All things Christmassy. Hannah will help the children to make Christmas stockings, bake Christmas cookies and make a Santa’s sleigh using large boxes.

·         Nativity. Alice will work with small groups to create a nativity for the children to look at and play with.

·         Salt dough Reindeers. Afia will assist the children to make and paint Salt dough reindeers.

·         Christmas Carols. We will all be practicing Christmas carols for Carols by candle light.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Christmas treasure basket. Create a Christmas treasure basket for your child to explore, using tinsel, baubles and bits of ribbon.

·         Sing some Christmas songs. (Carols by candle light Christmas song sheet available by email or in reception)

What Dolphins did in October 2014

Dolphins topic for October was Autumn.

The children used lots of natural materials such as conkers, acorns, leaves and pine cones to make pictures and models, including conker animals, Autumn leaf hats, a tree display in Dolphins and sensory bags.

 Also this month we celebrated Pumpkin Day with pumpkin carving, pumpkin rolling and pumpkin soup!

What Sea Turtles did in October 2014

With the weather and season changing, new children starting, and the sun setting earlier, we decided to explore changes around us. We explored colours, shapes, textures and sound through both indoors and outdoor activities.

Children explored colour and texture by dipping string into paint and looking at the effect and pattern it made on card.

They used a variety of different tools to make prints on card, such as different shaped paint brushes and painting mittens.









We went out and collected leaves from the local park and Kew Gardens to use to make collages and explore the feel and sound of the crunch on the leaves in between our fingers .

We also had a "Pink Day" to raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness".  We had lots of pink activities going on children and staff dressed in all things pink!

What Dolphins did in September

Our topic for September was Outer Space. Previous to this, a lot of the children had been using a variety of construction materials to build rockets, and talking about going to the moon, so we decided to extend the children’s interest in Space.

The children made planets out of paper plates and decorated black paper with them to make a large space display.

Large boxes were used to make helmets and space suits for the children to become astronauts!

In preschool we used cotton wool and paint to make moon crater pictures, as well as attempting to make water bottle rockets using plastic bottles and bicycle pump!

This month the children particularly enjoyed making paper maché planets.

What Sea Turtles have been up to in September

In September we had a colour month, looking at a different colour every week and exploring colours in different ways!

Children enjoyed exploring and learning about colours using a range of different materials, textures and tools.  They made colour footprints and handprints, tracks through cling film. 

Our new outdoor colour board has been a particular favourite with the children.

What Dolphins are doing in October 2014

With Autumn finally here and the environment changing, this has started a lot of interest and questions from the children, so our topic for October will be Autumn, the children will be looking at the change in the weather, the change in our surrounding environment and how the days are getting shorter and the night longer.

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Adapt behaviour to different events, social situations and changes in routines. PD: Handle tools, objects, construction and malleable materials safely and with control. C&L Develop an understanding of simple concepts, lean new words and is able to use them in communication.

Specific areas:

L: Show an interest in illustrations and print in books and print in the environment. M: Notice simple shapes and patterns. UW: Develop an understanding of growth decay and changes over time. EA&D: Explore colour and how colour can be changed, Begin to be interested in and describe the texture of things.

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

·         Conker Streamers. Marie Claire will be supporting the preschool children to make conker streamers and then see how far they can make them fly.

·         Autumn tree.  Matthew will be assisting the children to make a large autumn tree that will change as the trees outside change.

·         Salt Dough Leaves.  Emma will be helping the children to create salt dough leaves using leaves collected on walks and looking at patterns as they use them to make prints on the salt dough.

·         Autumn walk and collage. Abongi will organise trips to the park to collect autumn items to take back to the centre and create autumn collages with them.

·         Autumn sensory feely bags.  Christine will create some sensory bags using a variety of materials for the children to explore.

·         Conker and acorn people. Victoria will be assisting the children to create little people using Conkers, Acorns and other autumn item that the children collect.

·         Hand print tree. Marie Claire and the children will be using their hand prints to make a large autumn tree display.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Autumn treasure hunt. Take to the woods with your child on an autumn treasure hunt ask your child to find items by colour, shape and size, Encourage them to really explore and look under logs and stones, around the bottom of a tree and look up into the tree.

·         Leaf mobiles. Collect leaves of different colour and sizes and hang them in arrangements using string and tape, try and see how many different types of leaves you can find.

·          Here is a link to a website that has a lot of different activities for children to do. http://www.naturedetectives.org.uk/

What are we doing in Sea Turtles in October 2014

With the weather and season changing, new children starting, and the sun setting earlier, we have decided that this month our topic will be changes around us. We will be exploring colours, shapes, textures and sound, through a range of activities both indoors and outdoors.

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Explore new toys & environments but checks in regularly with a familiar adult as and when needed. PD: makes connections between their movement and marks they make. 

C&L: Have a strong exploratory impulse.

Specific areas:

L: Handles books and printed materials with interest. M: Say some counting words randomly.  EA&D: Express self through physical action and movement. UW: Explore & experiment with a range of media through sensory exploration & using the whole body.

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

·         Autumn food. The children will explore pumpkins, butternut squashes and other seasonal fruit & vegetables with Manjit. The children will then help to make a pumpkin cake.

·         Autumn walk. Afia be organising walks to collect leaves to bring back to the centre and create a collage with.

·         Weather pictures. Using a variety of materials such as tissue paper rice and cotton wool Christina will be helping the children to create weather pictures.

·         What we wear collages. Alice will be supporting the children in making collages using clothes shapes cut out of different textured materials.

·         Sounds like. Using musical instruments Amina will help the children to explore the sounds of the weather such as rain drops dropping, the wind howling and thunder crashing.

·         Day and night portrait. Hannah will work with small groups to create a day and night display and will be talking about the colours we can see during the day and at night.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Leaf collecting. Collect leaves of different shapes and sizes to explore with your child.

·         On the way to nursery. Whilst walking or driving to or from nursery, talk to your child about what they can see in their surrounding environment, talk about the change in the weather, the colours of the leaves on the trees and how they will begin to fall from the tree.

·         Have fun in the rain. Explore the rain by putting on your wellies and rain coats and go and splash in some puddle with your child, extend their vocabulary by using lots of descriptive words. 

What did Dolphins do in August

In Dolphins in August we have been focusing on People Who Help Us, focusing on the emergency services and other people who help us in the community.

The children made split-pin characters using their fine motor skills by drawing and cutting out their people who help us characters and then pinning them back together.

 

We have enjoyed various different role plays this month, including a doctor’s surgery, a police station and a lollipop person helping the children to cross the road.

 

We made a fire engine out of junk modelling and enjoyed role playing driving the engine and being fire fighters in the garden.

 

Children used their cutting, painting and sticking skills to make police officer hats.

 

What we did in August- Sea Turtles

This month we have been looking at different modes of transport and exploring colours and materials by linking them into different types of transport.

We started of the month by enjoying a visit from some animals, they ranged from some animals, they ranged from spiders to snakes and rates! All the children in the nursert got the opportunity to get up close to the animals.

 

We explored different materials to make a range of emergency vehicles such as police cars, fire engines and ambulances.

   Children used their fine and gross motor skills by pushing along different types of vehicles through paint to make marks and prints.

Children got to enjoy role playing using a road system with traffic lights and zebra crossings, they used ride on toys and buggies.

 



The most exciting part of the month was when we got a visit from the London Fire Brigade with a real Fire Engine!  The children were able to climb aboard the fire engine and use the fire hose!

 

 

 

What Dolphins will be doing in September 2014

Over the last few weeks a lot of the children have been using a variety of construction materials to build rockets, and talking about going to the moon, to extend the children’s interest in Space, our topic for September will be Outer Space.

 

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Begin to accept the needs of others and can take turns and share resources. PD: Show control in holding and using jugs to pour, hammers books and mark making tools, and to use simple tools to effect changes to materials. C&L Show an interest in playing with sounds, songs and rhymes, developing an understanding of simple concepts

Specific areas:

L: Listens to and joins in with stories and poems. M: Use shapes appropriately for tasks. UW: talk about why things happen and how things work. EA&D: Use available resources to create props to support play.

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

·         Bottle rocket experiments. Marie Claire will be supporting the preschool children as they experiment with building and testing bottle rockets.

·         Looking at the night sky.  Using the projector Matthew will be showing the children the sky at night looking at the solar system and star constellations.

·         Paper Mache Planets.  Emma will be helping to make planets out of Paper Mache and setting up a space display in the sensory room.

·         Paper plate spaceships. Abongi will support the children in making 3D spaceships using paper plates and other materials.

·         Junk Model rocket.  Christine will work with the children to make a rocket using large boxes and junk modelling and then use this in a role play session.

·         Songs and stories. The children will enjoy listening to stories about space and learn new songs about the planets and outer space.

 

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Science Museum. Take a visit to the science museum with your child to have a look at the space display, use lots of descriptive words as you walk around the museum,  get your child to talk about what their favourite thing was about the trip,   

·         Make rockets. Use tubes, boxes, tape and card to create rockets, alien and planets with your child, the internet has lots of ideas on how to create space themed items.

·         Learn some new songs. There are lots of space themed songs that you could learn with your child.