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.