The Rainbow Fish 2.6.14

This week we have been looking at the story 'The Rainbow Fish.' We have had a very busy week, We started the week off by making a spider diagram of all the things we know about 'under the sea.' The children came up with a lot of answers about what lives under the sea and wanted to know more.

We then made a huge picture of the Rainbow Fish as a team using different materials to cover the large fish. The children got really stuck into this activity and enjoyed working as a team. 

We then sat down and had a recap of the story, before completing a circle time of what makes a good friend. The children had lots of ideas about how we can be a good friend like the rainbow fish and shared with the group who their friends are in class and why they are a good friend. Below is a drawing one of the children completed of her friend and what she said about her friend. 

We also completed some number games this week to do with the rainbow fish. Nursery used a dotted dice to see which fish bowl they were going to add fish into. Here they used skills of matching numbers and amounts.

Reception's number work involved using early addition and subtraction by using language of more or less. The children had to turn over a card and recognise both the symbol (add, takeaway) before using their stickers to add an amount or take off an amount. The first child to cover their fish in stickers was the winner. The children loved this activity and got very competitive.

Finally, this week we had lots of fun making pizzas. The children used skills of kneading the dough, cutting a fish shape and decorating their pizzas with different toppings. This was a very popular activity which the children enjoyed completing. 

Ben builds a butterfly garden 12.5.14

This week we have been looking at the story 'Ben builds a butterfly garden.' Our caterpillars have made their cacoon so hopefully next week we will see the change into butterflies. We have been digging in the plant pots planting flowers for the butterflies to feed off when they appear. Children were fascinated by how the butterflies sucked up the nectar so we made our own butterfly snack. 

We have also been decorating butterflies in different ways. We used pastels to see the effect when we smudge the colour and see both colours mixing. This was also good for copying patterns as the children looked in books first to see a butterfly they wanted to copy. Children were drawing shapes and repeating patterns. 

We also made butterfly sun catchers. The children used their cutting skills to cut out a butterfly shape before snipping holes in each corner of the wings. They then decorated the holes with a variety of coloured tissue paper so that when placed on the window, the sun made different coloured light beam into the class. 

This week, the children in free play have been pretending to be butterflies, flying around the playground, so we made butterfly hats to support their play using card, pipe cleaners and googly eyes. The children loved making them and used them in their play well. 

Percy the park keeper 28.04.14

This week the children have been very busy learning about Percy the park keeper. We have been measuring and weighing carrots, concentrating on language such as heavier, lighter, longer and shorter. Outside the children went on a bug hunt to see which mini beasts they could find and what there homes looked like. Once they had looked at the mini beasts homes we created our own in the outside hut. 

Inside we decorated and prepared the role play area to look like Percy's park with plant pots, seeds, tools and a picnic. The children especially enjoyed painting Percy. 

We put our cooking skills to the test in the week by making hedgehog bread which looked fantastic. Children used fine motor skills by practicing kneading, cutting and mixing. They loved stretching and cutting the dough to look like a hedgehog and they even tasted yummy. 

Finally using our literacy skills we retold the story of Percy the park keeper by drawing pictures and sounding out simple words such as fox. We concentrated on how we hold our pencil and to use our letters and sound knowledge to help us segment words. 

The very hungry caterpillar 22.04.14

This half term our focus is on mini-beasts. This week we looked at the story The very hungry caterpillar. The children loved this book and picked up the order of the story very quickly. Using the story sack both classes were able to retell the story within free play, independently. 

The children loved the magic part when the caterpillar changed into the butterfly in the cocoon (chrysalis) which they repeated numerous times. 

We have also had some new additions to the foundation stage in the form of baby caterpillars. The children enjoyed taking care of the little caterpillars by placing them in there new homes, where we can now watch and describe what they are doing as they embark on their life cycle journey. 

We have also been making and creating this week, getting messy with the paints. The children were amazed by the end product. We painted one half of the butterfly and folding the paper over so that the butterfly became symmetrical. 

We also painted repeated patterns for the caterpillars. Using cotton wheels the children dipped them in paint making sure there pattern stayed the same along the caterpillar. 

We also played a caterpillar game using threading resources. The children rolled a dice to see how many beads they needed to thread on their string. The children loved this game as they made it into competition of who could roll the highest number, which was wonderful for the mathematical development. 

 

Space 17.3.14

This week is are last focused week on space we have been really busy finishing off activities and making, picking up on the last of the children's interests in this area. The children where interested in the star formations, so using star stickers we placed them on a piece of paper before using our pencil to join the stars up focusing on pincer grip and control over the pencil. 

We have also been completing some independent writing in reception by listing items we would take with us to space, children worked hard in this activity to listen to the sounds in each word before attempting to write it. 

This week in our cooking activity we made alien jelly using our senses to describe the taste and smell of the jelly we made lime jelly for the slime and we placed a variety of fruits in for the aliens. The children loved this activity especially eating the jelly. 

At the beginning of the week both classes made telescopes using paper, scissors, glitter and scelotape children found cutting the scelotape and rolling the paper difficult but with a bit of help and determination all children where able to complete one. 

Finally this week nursery have been practising writing there numbers using the number rhyme sheet. We cut out and glued a rocket at the top of our paper before using the number lines to write numerals 1-10. Children enjoyed this activity and made some really good attempts and writing numerals they weren't confidant with. 

Whatever Next!

This week we began looking at our new topic of Space. The children have been talking a lot about aliens so we decided to find out a bit more about space.

We began by reading the story of 'Whatever Next!' and acting out the story with a cardboard box, Wellington boots and a colander! 

                                      

We used chalks to draw our own alien pictures. 

                                     

We used papier mâché to cover balloons to make into planets. We are going to make our own space station and visit other planets to find out what else is in space. 

       

We also made our own rockets and we're practising counting backwards ready for 'Blast Off'! 

Aliens love underpants 6.3.14

This week we have been looking at the story book 'Aliens love underpants.' We have made collage underpants with children which have gone up on display. The children were engrossed in this activity spending at least 20miniutes each cutting, glueing and ripping the pieces of material. 

We have also made space mobiles this week, using skills including threading, cutting, sticking and sprinkling. This activity was very tricky due to the threading but children enjoyed the challenge. 

In the role play corner the children and adults worked hard creating our very own space station, we have made a rocket, information booklets on the planets, paper mâché planets, picnic from whatever next book and shooting stars. The children love playing in this area and are acting out the stories that we read in class in here. 

We have also made space aliens using chalk, it was great fun smudging all the chalk to blend the alien together and create funny looking aliens.