What are we doing in Dolphins in September?

September and early October is a big time of change for us at the nursery and particularly in Dolphin’s where we have seen our special pre-schoolers head off to their schools and a new rising group of pre-schoolers itching to take their places. It’s a social reshuffle and with that brings the need for a strong focus on our four rules in Dolphins; Be Kind, Inside Voices, Tidy Up and Walk Inside. They underpin a calm environment and a platform to build respectful friendships. This month, we will particularly be looking at working together and making new friendships.

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

Prime areas:
PSED: Making new friendships. PD: Working in partnership with others to tackle pair and group games, such as large scale construction, obstacle courses. C&L Working on ‘using words’ to express needs, wants and ideas.
Specific areas:
L: Referring to the rules and making the link between the written rule and the images. M: Working in partnerships to solve problems; puzzles, measuring, etc. UW: Being aware of how things change, growing up and moving on to new challenges and environments.  EA&D: Collaborating with peers on joint creative projects such as dance, junk modelling, and large scale art.

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

·         Large scale junk modelling. Marie-Claire will be supporting the children in making some large scale models out of cardboard boxes, recycled materials, etc.

·         Parachute games. Matt will be supporting the children to use the parachute in collaborative ways to reach a joint goal.

·         Playdough hearts for friendship. Christine H will be making salt dough hearts with the children to hand out to special friends and people who help them.

·         Team work. Shilpi will be focussing on team games with the children that require listening, responding and working together; passing balls, statues, hide and seek, etc.

·         Creating a ‘sharing book’. Laura Z will be working with the children to make a book on sharing. She will invite examples from children of good sharing, working together and friendships to share with the group.

·         Preschool circle times. Manjit and Jenny will be having ‘active circle times’ in preschool using parachutes, building things together, and working on a joint project that requires participation from everyone. Puppetry, picture cards, books all representing feelings, friendships and working together will introduce preschool for the year.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·       Talk to your children about the importance of friendships, working together and helping people to get a task done. Talk about your own friendships and why they are good friendships.

·       Take some books out of the library on friendships and feelings. Talk through feelings and how they can impact on friendships.

·       Remind your children to ‘use their words’. When children start to get physical in expressing their frustrations, we ask them to ‘stop’ and then to ‘use their words’. Then we give them words to use in the different situations. Keep this up at home. The more they are reminded, the closer they get to automatically doing it.

·       Reinforce our nursery rules at home. They apply everywhere and the more they are embedded, the more effective they are for supporting lifelong learning. Our nursery rules are at the top.

What are we doing in Sea Turtles in September?

The children had a lot of fun exploring colour in August and a lot of the colours were linked back to the fruits they were eating. Fruit is great fun to explore. They are an explosion of colour, interest, smell and taste. They link so many senses together and we are going to explore those senses this month to continue the interest in colour, reinforce the learning and explore through all their senses.

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Using play fruit in context and role playing with peers.  PD: Exploring the will to try new textures and tastes. C&L The understanding of words in context- to represent colour, fruit, etc.

Specific areas:

M: Beginning to organise and categorise objects. UW: Explore objects by linking together different approaches: shaking, feeling, tasting, pulling, looking, turning and poking.  EA&D Experimenting with colours, marks, media and materials.

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

·         Exploring more unusual fruits. Sarah G will be introducing more unusual fruit to the children to try, such as lychees, dragon fruit, Sharon fruit, including fruits we don’t always think of as fruits, such as raw courgette, unusual tomatoes and peppers.

·         Fruit printing. Alice will be decorating shapes of fruits by printing paint onto the shapes using the type of fruit that corresponds. E.g. stamping an apple shape with apple prints.

·         Jelly fruit. Cristina will be helping the children to make some jelly fruit salad. They will take part in adding the fruits to the jelly mix and then re-discovering them when they eat it.

·         Fruit collages. Latoya will be helping the children to make collages of different fruits by sticking a range of different materials of the same colour onto the right coloured fruit.

·         Fruit images. Laura will be displaying a variety of different images of fruits and their names around the environment to support the links between an object, its name and the familiarity of seeing a printed word with it.

·         Trip to the library. Sarah G will be organising a trip to the local library to collect some books about fruits and colours.

·         Sensory fruit. Alice will be setting up an activity for the children to explore some very fragrant and / or textured fruits. Smelling them, squeezing them, dissecting them and tasting them.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Take a trip to a green grocer or a market. Point out the different fruit (and veg). Name them, describe them, talk about them, try them. Always talk. They might not be holding up their end of the conversation yet, but they are taking it all in and it lays the foundation for communication and language development.

·         Buy some interesting fruits. Take the time to sit down with them and eat them together. Talk about the smell, colour, texture, shape, size, bumps and anything interesting.

·         Point out fruits, colours and different qualities from picture on posters on the street, books, magazines, etc.

Colours and Countries for August!

What are we doing in Sea Turtles in August?

Due to a keen interest of colours shown by both the young babies and the older children in the Sea Turtles we will be exploring colours through a variety of activities throughout August.

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

 

Prime areas:
PSED: Use pointing with eye gaze to make requests and share interests.  PD: Making connections between their movements and the marks they make. C&L Select familiar objects by name and will go and find objects when asked or identify from a group.
Specific areas:
M: Notice simple patterns & Shapes in pictures and activities UW: Explore objects by linking together different approaches: shaking, feeling, tasting, pulling, looking, turning and poking. EA&D Notice and is interested in the effect of making movements which leaves marks.  

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

·         Exploring colour bags. Laura will create some colour bags with a variety of everyday items for the children to explore.

·         Colour Den. Sarah will be making dens with the children using a variety of different coloured materials.

·         Coloured towers. Alice will help the children to use the building bricks to make towers in certain colours and then ask the children to knock the towers down by colour.

·         Colour Collage. Emma will help the children to make colourful collages using different coloured strips of paper.

·         Coloured gloop. Cristina will help the children explore mixing colours through messy play.

·         Printing with colour. Latoya will help the children create colourful pictures by printing with blocks and a variety of colours.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Colour is all around us, draw attention to different coloured objects while out for a walk or on your way to or from nursery (look at the green grass, what colour are the leaves, can you see the blue car).

·         Make your own colour exploring bags, collect different coloured items from around the house for the children to explore and name.

·         Visit the library and look at books about colour

·         Sing songs that involve reciting colours such as I can sing a rainbow & five little crayons

·         Go on a colour hunt, have a colour hunt inside or outside. Help your children to find items that are different colours (Let’s find something blue…. Now can you find me something green…..).

·         Have coloured themed bath nights, add a little bit of food colouring and toys to match the colouring to the water on bath night.

  

What are we doing in Dolphins in August?

The children enjoyed learning about Africa so much that we thought we would broaden the topic and look at other countries particularly those that the children have family from.

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

Prime areas:
PSED: Show interest in others and what they have to say. PD: Move in a variety of ways with pleasure and rhythm to music from around the world. C&L Learning words from another countries through greetings, counting and hearing different languages used in the music.
Specific areas:
L: enjoy rhymes and songs from around the world M: Notice shapes and patterns in flags and other items from different countries. UW: Learn more about the countries their family and friends come from. EA&D: Imitate Movement in response to a variety of music from different countries and cultures.

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

·         Learning new greetings. Jenny will help the children to extend their vocabulary by teaching them how to say hello and good bye in a variety of Languages. 

·         Baking. Manjit will be baking traditional snacks and cakes from different countries and cultures.

·         Where we come from. Marie-Claire with the children will be marking out on a map where they have family from and talking about those countries.

·         Pattern Making. Matt will be looking at patterns, shapes and colours found in flags from around the world and recreating theses with a variety of materials.

·         All about Mexico. Laura Z will be sharing her knowledge and passion for her home country Mexico with the children through songs, dances and stories.

·         Trip to the library. Christine will organise trips to the library to collect books about different countries and cultures to bring back to nursery and share with the other children.

·         Indian dancing. Shilpi will help the children to learn simple dances from India  

What you could do to support your children at home:

 

·        Do you have family who come from a different country? You could share photos, stories or experiences from that country with your children

·        Do some research together, use books, the Internet, documentaries about different countries to talk to your child about the different ways of life, the animals and the food people eat in other countries.

·       Get down and boogie to some music from around the world. We’ll be doing a lot of this at nursery- share some moves together at home too!

·       Sing together. sing songs and rhymes with your child, see if you can find some simple songs in different languages such as Frère Jacques.

 

Sea Turtles go on Safari for July

What are we doing in Sea Turtles in June?

To get excited about our summer barbecue and prepare with decorations and associations of the colours, tastes, patterns, shapes, people and animals of Africa, we will be exploring some of the elements of Africa this month!

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Seeking to gain attention in others and drawing them in, in a variety of ways. E.g. dance, sharing a story, song.  PD: Making connections between their movements and the marks they make. C&L communicating using song and dance, also beats to make connections with others.

Specific areas:

M: identifying patterns, number, size, colour in small groups of up to three. UW: Discovery of the wider world; animals, people and places that look different to our own. EA&D Music and movement to African sounds, beats and music.

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

·         Musical instruments. Laura will be making some fun African inspired musical instruments with the children.

·         African animal shape art. Cristina will be using shapes of different animals for the children to paint, collage and decorate.

·         African costumes. Alice will be making some different African costumes with the children to dress up in.

·         African animal masks. Emma will be working with the children to make African animal masks and wear them in play.

·         Dance! Ella will be dancing with the children to different African music.

·         Books! Ella will be looking at different books and stories inspired by Africa.

·         Safari lodge. Sarah G will be setting up a safari lodge in the outdoor area for the children to rest in between role play trips out to look for animals.

·         Animals in the mud. Latoya will be setting up a small world safari in the water tray of African animals roaming about in the clay, grass, dirt and water pools.

Some ideas to support your children at home:

·         Children naturally love animals. Share books, toys, etc. of African animals, name them and play with them.

·         Print off a few African animal images for them to hold, look at and have around them. Name them.

·         Name the qualities of the animals; stripes, spots, patches, colours of fur and markings

·         Show them some YouTube footage of African animals. Talk about their size, shapes, sounds and actions.

·         Roar! Like a lion. Trumpet like an elephant! Make some animal sounds together.

·         Dance to some African music. There are so many different types.

·         Make some percussion instruments. Rain makers- rice and tissue paper in a bottle.  Bongo drums- plastic bucket upside down. Shakers- try rice, seeds, beans, beer bottle tops in a plastic jar or bottle.

·         The barbecue costume! Start thinking about your children’s costumes for the barbecue. It is a themed event. Team and children will be dressing up- parents can too!

 

Dolphins go to Africa for July...

What are we doing in Dolphins in July?

Well, this is our barbecue month and the theme this year is African Safari. So, we will be exploring the continent of Africa for July through taste, colours, patterns and music.

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

Prime areas:
PSED: Thinking about the similarities between their own and other cultures. PD: Gross and fine motor skill learning through a range of movements from being animals to some African style music and movement. C&L Learning words from another culture through greetings, counting and hearing different languages used in the music.

Specific areas:

L: Reading stories from other cultures, looking at different symbols and doing self-research from reading.  M: Identifying shapes and patterns from the African continent. EA&D: Exploring different designs and using ideas to build masks, shields, etc.

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

·         African patterned bunting. Jenny will be making bunting with the children looking at African designs and patterns.

·         African music and movement. Jenny will be exploring the different musical sounds of Africa and making dances with the children.

·         African flags. Manjit will be looking at a range of African flags, thinking about the colours in common and making a snap game for the children.

·         Handa’s surprise. Marie-Claire will be exploring the fruit from the story, Handa’s surprise with the children, tasting them and talking about their qualities and properties.

·         African shields. Matt will be making African Shields with the children, thinking about pattern, design and looking at images of African warriors.

·         African masks. Laura Z will be making African masks with the children and thinking about the expressions on the masks and what they say.

·         Rain makers. Christine H will be making rain makers with the children using rice, tissue and cups.

·         Counting to ten in Swahili. The children will learn a simple song and to count in Swahili, Kenya’s national language.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·        Do you have family who live in Africa? Is your familiy, or part of it, from any part of Africa? Can you share photos, stories or experiences of Africa with the nursery? Send in your child’s connections to Africa with them to share at circle times and small groups.

·       Do some thinking together about the animals of Africa. Do some research together in books , on the internet, documentaries about African animals and safaris. Take a pretend safari together- imagine all the animals you might see!

·       Share with your child images of children in different parts of Africa. Compare the differences and similarities to their own lives. For younger children, just have them available to look through.

·       Get down and boogie to some African music. We’ll be doing a lot of this at nursery- share some moves together at home too!

·       The barbecue costume! Start thinking about your children’s costumes for the barbecue. It is a themed event. Team and children will be dressing up- parents can too!