One of the children told us their daddy had made them pancakes for breakfast, so together we decided to make banana pancakes for snack time. 

First we all washed our hands to make sure they were clean.

We talked about the ingredients and discussed where they came from. The children were very good at telling us eggs come from chickens, milk comes from cows and bananas come from trees.

Each child mashed up a banana before helping to put all the ingredients into a bowl. (Flour, eggs, milk and of course mashed banana.).

Jane supported the children as they dribbled their mixture into a small pan. We discussed why it is important to stay safe around the hot plate. The pan was then placed on to the hot plate by an adult, we waited and listened very carefully as the pancake sizzled, it smelt delicious.

When they had cooled down we all had yummy  pancakes for snack.

Next week’s request is chocolate chip cookies.

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We hope you have all had a good summer.

What a beautiful start to the Autumn term, it has been lovely to see the children happy and excited to come in.

The children have been very busy in their first week back at nursery getting to know each other, harvesting the vegetables, making wooden cars and painting them, cooking in the mud kitchen, learning to be independent by washing up after snack, building houses and towers with blocks and tyres, and celebrating birthdays. 

We now look forward to meeting all our new children.

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Today we celebrated our leavers final days in the nursery. We went to the Forest School site for our lunch, and had lots of fun playing in the woods, finding objects of different colours to make our own rainbow.To finish off the celebrations the children all received a special T-shirt and a small gift from everyone, and a special piece of Rainbow cake.

Have fun and shine, we will miss you all. 

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Today the pre-school children had a visit from Mr. Whitney, their new reception teacher. They were very excited to show Mr. Whitney around the nursery and tell him what they have been doing. It was lovely to hear the children chatting and giggling with him. We look forward to seeing him again next week.

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Woodwork allows children to experience risk in a controlled situation, providing opportunities for making judgements and learning to self-risk assess.

With adult support the children have experienced  working with their hands, constructing models, and working on their own projects. We discussed the use of each tool and how to use it safely.Woodwork is a powerful way of supporting their personal development, building their self-esteem, because the children feel empowered and valued by being trusted to work with real tools.

The children have followed their own interests, making what they want , and because of this they have been motivated to persevere, solve  problems and learn from their mistakes. Observing the children you can see them using their problem-solving skills, imagination, creative thinking, and  really flourish with the new challenge to get the result they want.

Just look at the pride in their faces.

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We have been learning about life cycles in particular ‘The life cycle of the butterfly’, learning new words such as ‘metamorphosis’ when the caterpillar changes into a butterfly inside its cocoon.The children have explored different ways of creating caterpillars, using paint and tubes, clay, playdough, loose parts and using the interactive boards to draw their own.We even grew our own butterflies and successfully hatched all five.

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It has been a busy few months preparing the garden for growing vegetables and fruit,  the children and staff have worked very hard together, and it is looking amazing.

The children have learnt, with support from the adults,  how to grow different plants from seeds and what we need to do to help them grow. We have talked about the different shapes and sizes of seeds and tried to guess what they might grow into, which has been great fun. We look forward to eating them when they are ready to harvest.

We are still waiting for our ‘dinosaur tree’ to grow , hopefully the Elsa scarecrow, the children made, will keep the birds away.

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On Wednesday we had a special visitor at the nursery.

Jane found a hedgehog and brought it in to show the children. We found a book that told the children a lot of special facts about the hedgehog. Together we discussed, where they live, why they roll up in a ball, what they like to eat, and how to take care of them.

The children watched patiently and quietly for the hedgehog to unroll from its ball. They were very excited to see it scuttle across the grass.

The hedgehog was then released in the woodland area of the nursery.

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The nursery children have been introduced to another way of being mindful to support their mental health.They sit or lay on the floor next to a hoop, whilst calming music is played in the background, they use the loose parts resources to create a mandala, either together or on their own. They can let their imaginations run wild.They have been very creative and deeply engaged with this activity.Why not try this at home, it is something the whole family can enjoy.

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Such a busy morning in the woods on Tuesday. It is lovely to see how confident the nursery children are in exploring and learning in their woodland environment.

The morning involved: Tree climbing, knot tying, bird spotting, tree hanging, turn-taking, dandelion clock blowing, Hungry caterpillar making, imaginative play, mindful moments, with a bit of time for fishing.

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