Bumblebees room news

We made some bird feeders last term, here is how we made them –

You will need any bird feed, gelatin and ¼ pint of boiling or hot water, lengths of string and moulds.

Put the ingredients into a bowl and mix them together. The gelatin sets the mixture and binds it together or if you would like your child to be more hands on use lard instead of water. Spoon the mixture into the mould (we used yogurt pots) half way through push the string into the pot and fill the mould with more mixture. Put the moulds into a fridge to set the mixture. When ready take the mixture out of the moulds and put them in your garden to feed the birds!
Bumblebees kept safe in the hot weather with having activities inside as well as outside. We encouraged the children to get their hats and help each other to put them on. (Whilst adults ensured they had their sun cream on) This supported their physical development (self help skills) and Personal, social and emotional skills being with and helping others. We played with the sand in the garden as well as making our own seaside indoors. We enjoyed splashing in the paddling pool, whilst keeping safe at all times. We enjoyed a beach party with the older children too.

We explored the environment around us and took a stroll to the local market to visit the fruit and vegetable stall. We bought some vegetables and created some amazing printing pictures with the items. We used our communication skills by naming the various vegetables and colours. We looked at the different shapes and patterns they made and spoke about how the vegetables felt.  

Butterflies room news

After cutting the cabbages with Ladybirds, they spoke about how much they had cut up (using their mathematical language), they used some of the cabbage to do printing with paint looking at the various shapes, colours and patterns. Butterflies shared their ideas and thoughts as to what would be inside the cabbage. Mia suggested a bean, the conversation then moved onto Jack and the Beanstalk.
If you have never done this, it’s a must. The children then put the pieces of cabbage into water to see what happened. The water changed colour with the red cabbage (and it wasn’t red!!). They created their own technique of dying material by putting thin cloth into the water. (A muslin cloth is ideal for this) Why not twist and secure with elastic bands for a pattern.

During the hot weather we spoke about keeping safe, having plenty to drink, even if we felt we didn’t need it. We encouraged Butterflies to spread the sun cream after it being put on their skin. Butterflies were able to find their hats and put them on. This all supported their Physical development by recognising their own needs, looking after themselves – developing life skills and what our body needs.
We had a lot of shade in the garden and kept cool in the paddling pools with Ladybirds

Ladybirds room news

Ladybirds celebrated their children who were going off to school with a Graduation ceremony. They sang action songs and received their certificates of achievement. They dressed in their best clothes with their Graduation hats on. They all looked so grown up.

We had a Teddy bears picnic altogether in the garden. The children brought in their teddy bears or favourite cuddly toys. We shared some stories in the garden before enjoying and sharing our tea together. Why not set up a picnic in the garden, you could make a den with blankets. If the weather isn’t too good have it indoors. It could be a pretend tea party or a different social time with friends or family! Speaking of families, we created our own postcards. We drew our own pictures and with the help of the staff we wrote messages to our parents. We then walked to the post office, bought stamps and put them on our postcards. Then we put them into the letterbox.

A great fun activity was with a cabbage! We had a green cabbage and a red cabbage. We cut the leaves with scissors, tore them with our hands. We experimented with the different medias. The children communicated their ideas and views with key sentences and noises ‘Ahhh. I’ve done it’ ‘It’s crunchy!’ We then put the red cabbage into water to see what happens. Have you ever put red cabbage into water to see what happens