What are we doing in Dolphins in November?

Change and coping with it is the big topic this month!

All of the Dolphins (children, practitioners and families) have managed a huge change through relocation this month. For the children, it has meant new routines, varied rules, new practices, a loss of indoor/ outdoor flow and working in a split group- so a change of peers and access to some practitioners too.

And, then there is the weather. It is rapidly getting darker and colder and we will be talking about the changes in our environment as we head towards Christmas.

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Realising that the rules, boundaries and practices in some settings may be different to those in others. PD: Using gross motor skills to role play building. C&L Learning some new language associated with building.

Specific areas:

L: Using books to discover more about building  and appreciating them as a tool to learn more. Talking about the signs related to construction, what they mean and why they are needed. M: Size, shapes and measures in building. UW: Observing the world around, the changes within it and relating it to their world beyond the nursery.  EA&D: using a range of media to build structures, draw plans, and represent what they are seeing.

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

·         Making a book on the building works in Dolphins. Manjit and Jenny will be working with the preschool children to make a book on the development and progress of the building works.

·         Building role play. Jenny and Manjit will be supporting the children into role play around building and construction.

·         Weather charts. The pre-schoolers will be making individual weather charts to track the changes in weather on a daily basis to use as discussion and reflection on the weather.

·         Matt will be working with the group on making a group weather chart that records the daily weather and what the children have observed about the weather on their way to or at nursery. E.g. frozen windscreens, etc.

·         2D buildings. Christine H will be working with the children on designing buildings by collaging shapes together.

·         Building works model. Marie Claire will be making a model of the building works as they progress and getting children to add to it as the building progresses to aid discussion.

·         Excursion to the library. Shilpi will be organising an excursion to the local library to take out books on construction and building and bringing them back to the nursery with the children to aid discussion.

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.

·         If you pass a construction site, take the time to look at it. Talk about what they are doing.

·         Discuss the signs around construction sites and what they say. Talk about safety and why children and the public are not allowed on construction sites.

·         Sometimes construction sites have plans on them. Talk about the plans and what they are for.

·         Discuss with your children what has been happening at nursery. Talk about how they feel about it. What they like or don’t like about the new space they are working in.

 What are we doing in Sea Turtles in November

and December?

Festivities, fireworks, Christmas Carols, Diwali and Christmas season. Celebrating and exploring all of the bright lights, fun and festivities of the exciting season that is new to our little ones. We are going to take our time over this delightful season and spend a good six weeks enjoying it and bringing it to the children with enough time to really let the children have lots of festive fun!

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Exploring all of the bright lights and new experiences with the security of those they are familiar with. PD: Using their fine motor skills to explore and manipulate textures and items new to them.  C&L Enjoying rhymes and songs, listening and trying to join in with actions and vocalisations.

Specific areas:

L: Using books to see messages, items, ideas. M: Gaining the understanding that some things exist, even when they are out of sight. UW: Observing change as the festive world starts to emerge around them.  EA&D: Using a range of media to create festive works of art and decoration.

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

·         Making Christmas crackers, trees, fireworks pictures with Sarah and seeing them displayed.

·         Learning new songs. Christmas Carol practice for Carols by Candlelight.

·         Festive collages. Alice will be making collages with the children representing all the images of the festive season.

·         Divali shapes and colours. Alice will be sharing Diwali shapes and colours with the children to explore.

·         Christmas decorations. Cristina will be making some Christmas decorations with the children using salt dough.

·         Christmas surprises. We can’t share this one yet. It is a surprise, but what we can say, is the children will be having some fun with Laura for your benefit!

·         Sensory tent. Latoya will be setting the sensory tent up for the children with lots of light equipment and interesting discoveries.

·         Christmas Treasure Baskets. All of the team will be creating some Christmas treasure baskets for children to explore tinsel, baubles, decorations, etc.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Take your little one on a festive walk. Slow down and go past the shops, lit up houses, etc and take the time to stop and look in the windows with them while they are in their stroller. Imagine how it is for them, fleeting past all of these new things as you pace past fast and they never get to stop and look. So, give them a treat and make special time to do this.

·         Set up a treasure basket for them of Christmassy things. Let them touch, feel and enjoy being able to really investigate them.

·         Practice those Carols and come to Carols by Candle light! It will be great fun.

 

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.

What are we doing in Dolphins in October?

Well, it is going to be a big month for Dolphins this month.  We’ve got all the environmental changes that the children are getting excited about; bringing in autumn fall, constantly finding more and more leaves in our garden, our sunflowers and summer pots all starting to die. As the month goes on, we will be relocating whilst the nursery takes renovations to the Dolphins’ play spaces. So, we will mostly be looking at Autumn changes with a few changes for ourselves coming too…

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

Prime areas:

PSED: Noticing the change in weather and thinking about how to keep ourselves warm. PD: Taking steps and having a go at putting on jackets, shoes and warmer clothes to go outside. C&L Learning new songs about the season, new words to label what they learn, see and discover.

Specific areas:

L: Referring to books to discuss changes and link ideas with literature. M: Noticing colours, shapes and patterns in the environment. UW: Developing an understanding of change, processes, sequences from start to finish.  EA&D: Using natural materials to create art and using what we have observed to re-enact stories and ideas through dramatic play.

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

·         Leaf collections and prints. Christine H will be collecting leaves with the children and using them to make prints, compare, sort, order and discuss the qualities of them.

·         Natural materials collages with Manjit and Jenny, using acorns, conkers, twigs, leaves, and items brought in from home by the children.

·         Making Wigwams with leaf decorations. Matt will be making wigwams with the children and decorating them with leaves.

·         Harvesting. Shilpi will be bringing in and talking about harvesting and all of the fruits and vegetables that are available at present to eat- and trying them too.

·         Making hedgehogs. Marie-Claire will be talking about hedgehogs in the autumn with the children and making salt dough and pipe cleaner hedgehogs.

·         Autumn tree. Laura Z will be making a giant tree representing autumn using the children’s hand and finger prints, exploring the colours red, brown, orange, and yellow.

·         Talking about the change to our nursery. Su will be talking to the children about the changes to the nursery that will be happening soon. What will be different for us, how we will manage the change and charting the progress as we go.

What you could do to support your children at home:

·         Take some time out and go collecting. Collect leaves, conkers, acorns, sticks, bark, pinecones, etc. Sit down together and look at them, talk about them, compare, sort, order, match and play with them. What can you make with them? Acorn people? Stick men?

·         Remember to use a wide range of challenging language to describe the properties of the pieces and extend their word repertoire; spikey, jagged, rough, pocked, flecked, crisp, silky, brittle, flexible, etc.

·         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, what does it smell like, what happens to it when you cook it? What are all the things that you could make with it?

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

·         What’s changed in the supermarkets recently? Count how many different types, colours shapes of squash you can find in the supermarket.

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.