Nursery
During this month at nursery, we have been very busy exploring a variety of different Halloween themed activities. First, we went on a little adventure to our very own Red bus pumpkin patch! We were all so excited to get stuck into this activity. We came strolling over with great big smiles on our faces beaming with joy. We climbed into the tuff tray which was filled with cornflakes, leaves and pumpkins. We explored all our senses as we touched, smelt and listened to the different noises the cornflakes and leaves made. We picked the cornflakes up and began to crunch them in our hands. We really enjoyed the sensory experience! Crunch, pop and crackle! We had so much fun!
We then explored the Halloween split tray. This was filled with cotton ball ghosts, spider webs and spiders - how exciting!! We started to feel the different textures of the materials hiding in the tray. We used our fine motor skills by using the tweezers to transfer them into each of the trays and we even used them to try picking up the spooky spiders! We all did such a great job and had so much fun! As we explored this activity, our adults sang incy wincy spider using makaton which we absolutely loved - this made our experience so exiting and memorable.
We also enjoyed using our creative imagination and had fun making some "bat cookies". We worked together with our adults by using the different materials to create our cookies. This included shaving foam, pumpkin seeds, flour and coloured pasta. We used our imagination to pretend to eat the cream and sprinkles. We became so engrossed and interested in this activity, we wanted to create lots more!
Our adults supported us by popping our coats and shoes on for us to explore the garden. We were so excited! We used your imagination and cooked some yummy food. We used a range of different utensils to stir our ingredients in your our pots amd pans. We then explored bikes and used our gross motor skills to explore. We also noticed the seasons and weather board sitting in the garden so our adults spoke about the different seasons, weathers and what we could see around us.
Kindergarten
This month in Kindergarten we have been very busy exploring, creating, and getting a little bit messy! The children have really enjoyed all of our hands-on activities and have shown so much curiosity and creativity.
We started the month by painting our pumpkins. The children used lots of bright, bold colours and experimented with different ways to apply the paint. Some used brushes, while others explored using their hands and sponges. We even used special bat-shaped sponges to add fun Halloween designs to our pumpkins! Everyone concentrated so well!
Down in the dining room, we took part in a fruit cutting activity. Before we began, we made sure to wash our hands carefully with soap and water and dry them properly. We also put on our hair nets. The children practised using child-safe knives to cut soft fruits and explored the different textures, colours, and smells. It was a great opportunity to talk about healthy eating and how important it is to prepare food safely.
As Halloween approached, we got very creative and the children loved exploring our themed tuff trays, which were filled with pumpkins, playdough, and all sorts of Halloween treasures. They used their imagination to create Halloween decorations, pressing sequins, googly eyes, and other materials into the playdough. We also had fun carving pumpkins and talking about the shapes we could make for eyes, noses, and mouths.
Towards the end of the month, we celebrated Diwali, the festival of lights. We set up lots of colourful and exciting activities around the room to help the children learn about this special celebration. The children created their own beautiful rangoli patterns using crayons and felt tip pens. We invited all of the children to take part, and everyone worked so carefully to make their own unique designs!
Pre-School
This month we visited the top garden to explore the changing trees. We noticed that some of the leaves are starting to change colour! We observed and felt the texture of the leaves — some were soft and green, while others were brown and crunchy. We also talked about how the leaves look different because they come from different trees. Afterwards, we collected some fallen leaves and used them to create beautiful tree pictures!
We have also been making potions! We first added some vinegar to bicarbonate soda and watch how it bubbles and rises to the top of the pot. We talk about what kind of potions we could make, some of us said “my potion will make me fly and turn you into a frog.” You add coloured water using a pipette you add shaving foam, flower petals and some plastic bugs - we gave it a big stir and say “abracadabra!”
We also celebrated Diwali this month, making our own Diyas. We talked about the festival of light, and what the clay lamps are for. We then rolled the clay into a ball and then made the diya shape by stretching and squeezing the clay. We then decorated the Diya by imprinting patterns and adding colourful sequins and beads!
The start of November saw the arrival of Bonfire Night, so we made sure to have lots of discussions about fire safety. We went to the Red Bus library, we read books and watched some videos that told us all about firefighters and how they help us. We learnt more about the their job and how to stay safe. Then, you practiced calling ‘999’ on the role-play phone and we pretend to have a phone call. We also looked at a real firefighters hat and tried it on, we had a look at the fire extinguishers and spoke about how to use them too!
We have started a new season of poetry basket last month and learnt some lovely poems. We made witch’s hats which related to the ‘Pointy Hat’ poem. We read out the poem together loudly, then were asked to cut out a triangle and two strips from a black paper. We practiced our cutting skills. The adults helped us to stick those parts together as a witch’s hat, and we chose the decorations that you like to put on.
‘Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate...’
We talked about our pumpkins poem this morning, and had lots of fun scooping a big pumpkin and counting the seeds.
The adults helped to cut off the pumpkin top, we worked with our friends to scoop out the seeds and pulp, they were very slimy. After we had taken all the seeds out, we were asked to count the seeds and see who got the most of them. We kept the pumpkin seeds and we are planning to plant them!
To continue our poetry week, we did a chopping activity. We read out the ‘Chop chop’ poem out with confidence, then we chose a fruit that you would like to chop. We chose from different fruits, peeling them and chopping them carefully with our child safe knives. We said 'they are soft'!
