What we've been doing in Sea Turtles in January 2014

The children have shown a real interest in the refurbishment that has been happening next door in the Dolphin room. The children have listened to the noises the workmen have been making during the build and enjoyed going around to see them and what is happening.

So this month we have been looking at people at work and at what people use in their jobs.

 We've used a range of blocks to role-play the builders such as copying  actions like using a hammer  to bang, filling bags and then emptying them, using the saying ‘Ooh,no fix it.’

 Looking through books and gaining information about the different ‘jobs’. Reminding children of real places they have visited example- train driver.

The children also looked through books at pictures about different ‘jobs’. This gave children the opportunity to think about real places they have visited, for example train driver-getting on the train.

Outside in Sea Turtles this month the children have been exploring  movements by using their bodies to create shapes and by touching , looking  and  feeling.  We've been singing ‘Wheels on the bus’ and going on adventure walks into the big car park to watch the traffic. Children  enjoyed  observing what people and vehicles were doing.

 

 

 

 

 

January has been very busy for Dolphins!

We moved back into the newly refurbished Dolphin rooms and the children got to see some final touches being done.

As the children continued to show an interest in building and DIY, and were still talking about Haydon and Dennis and how they built Dolphins new rooms, we decided to extend this interest by doing lots of D.I.Y related activities.

The pre-schoolers enjoyed exploring different textures and looking at the effect of paint on the different materials.

All the children have really enjoyed having a play in our new sensory quiet room (the old office).

It's been an exciting month as there's been lots of interesting new things going on every week, ranging from deliveries of large appliances (washing machine and dryer) to smaller deliveries (lava lamp) and the odd pop through of the still very famous Hayden, Dennis or Jamie!

 

 

What are we doing in Sea Turtles in January

The children have shown a real interest in the refurbishment that has been happening next door in the Dolphin room. The children have listen to the noises the workmen have been making during the build and enjoyed going around to see them and what is happening.

So this month we will be looking at people at work and at what people use in their jobs.
Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) areas of learning:
Prime areas:

PSED: Explore new toys and environments but checks in with a familiar adult. PD: show a desire to help with dressing and undressing and hygiene routines. C&L Begin to ask simple questions.

Specific areas:

L: Handle books and printed material with interest. M: begin to organise and categorise objects e.g. putting all the blocks together and putting all the trucks and cars in separate piles. UW: Is curious about people and shows interest in stories about people at work.  EA&D: pretends that one object represents another especially when it has objects has characteristics in common. 

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

·         Making Vehicles that people use for work. Sarah will help the children to create vehicles such as police cars, ambulances, dump trucks and cranes.

·         Small world play. Alice will encourage the children to participate in small word play with police cars, fire engines & ambulances and get the children to organise them in to categories to match flash cards, and encourage them to make noises that match the vehicles.

·         People at work collages. Cristina C will support the children in creating collages of people at work and the equipment that they use in they jobs.

·         Junk modelling. Laura will support the children in creating junk modelling vehicles that are linked to jobs in transport i.e. Buses & Trains

·         Role play. Afia will set up a dressing up corner where children can dress up as people from different professions i.e. doctor, fireman, builder.

·         Sand play. The sand tray will be set up with diggers, police cars, ambulances and small world play people from different job roles.

What you could do to support your children at home: 

·         Take a trip to the library with your little ones. Look at books together and read stories about people in different professions.

·         Make flash cards. Print off some pictures of people from different job roles and items they use for that job and make matching game to play with your little one.

·         Encourage your little ones to repeats the sound they hear around them. For example the sound of a train or police car.

 

What are we doing in Dolphins in January?

We have moved back into the newly refurbished Dolphin rooms and the children have seen some final touches being done. The children have continued to show an interest in building and DIY, and are still talking about Haydon and Dennis and how they built Dolphins new rooms.

We will also be celebrating Chinese New Year.

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

Prime areas:
PSED: begin to express own interests and preferences  PD: gain new skills in doing things for themselves such as putting pictures on the pin board. C&L Learn new words associated with DIY i.e. decorating, sanding, Plumber,

Specific areas:

L:ascibe meaning to marks they see in different places. M: Gaining an awareness of different shapes and sizing of items in their environment UW: Show an awareness of change around us & the impact change has on our immediate environment EA&D: Explore new materials

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

·         Looking at Chinese letters and Symbols. Manjit will support the pre-school children in understanding that words and letters can be represented in different ways, by looking at Chinese letters and symbols.

·         Chinese New Year lanterns. Shilpi will be assisting the children to create and decorate Chinese New Year Lanterns.   

·         DIY role play. Christine will be supporting the children into role play around DIY and decorating

·         Looking at different professions. During circle time Matt will be looking at the different professions in the building industry such as decorators, plumbers and brick layers.

·         DIY Pyramids. Marie Claire will be helping the children to construct and decorate their own pyramid shapes.

·         Exploring textures. Manjit will support the children in exploring textures through activities such as painting on different Medias such as wood, sand paper and cloth.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Talk with your children about what is happening in Dolphins. Go through the photo library on the Facebook Group with your child to aid discussion. If you are not a Facebook user, bring in a memory stick for us to send home building works images.

·         Get the children involved. If you are planning any decorating get the children involved take a trip to a DIY store look at colour charts, look at decorating catalogues.

·         Discuss with your children how different cultures celebrate different celebrations. Take a visit to the library and look at books about celebrations all over the world.